TOUGH THIRD PERIOD COSTS BLADES

ESTERO, Fla. –  A pair of third-period goals by the South Carolina Stingrays in a span of two minutes and 29 seconds proved to be the difference, as the visitors defeated the Florida Everblades 4-1 in front of 6,102 fans Saturday night at Hertz Arena. With the setback, the Blades and Rays split a two-game series between the top two respective teams in the ECHL South Division.

Following the opening draw, the going was slow for the Everblades, as South Carolina took the first five shots on goal of the contest, with Florida needing nearly six minutes to put its first shot on net. While the visiting Stingrays outshot the Blades 12-7 in the scoreless opening frame, Florida goaltender Cam Johnson stopped everything that came his way. The Everblades penalty kill unit was a bright spot in the first period, shutting down the ECHL’s second-ranked South Carolina power-play unit on both of its shifts over the game’s first 20 minutes.

Both Johnson and South Carolina netminder Seth Eisele, who came on in relief of starter Mitchell Gibson midway through the opening period, matched zeroes deep into second frame, but the Everblades’ Carson Gicewicz finally broke through with 2:15 to play, stuffing the puck past Eisele to give the good guys a 1-0 lead. The goal was Gicewicz’s team-leading 12^th of the season, with Logan Lambdin and Marc-Andre Gaudet picking up the assists. Florida turned the tables in the shot department in the middle frame, winning the battle 13-6.

Fortunes changed for South Carolina in the middle stages of the third period, as the Stingrays finally solved Johnson and took a 2-1 lead with a pair of goals. Austin Magera knotted the game with his fifth goal of the year at the 8:58 mark, while Erik Middendorf gave South Carolina its first lead of the series with his ninth tally of the year at 11:27.
 

Middendorf tacked on an empty-net goal with 45.1 seconds to play and Josh Wilkins added another with nine seconds left to close out the scoring for South Carolina.  Following the empty-net goal, the teams were assessed a combined 121 penalty minutes, including nine misconduct penalties.

Johnson (14-2-1) registered 26 saves and suffered the hard-luck loss. For South Carolina, Eisele (7-2-1) made 22 of the Stingrays’ 23 saves in a relief effort to earn the win.

Following the Christmas holiday, the Everblades will return to action on Friday, December 27 as the Orlando Solar Bears skate into town for the opening contest of a three-game series at 7:00 p.m. This will be another popular 239 Friday, as fans can purchase two tickets, two domestic beers and one souvenir program for the special price pf $39. In addition, Friday will be Y2K Night, a nostalgic evening filled with classic early 2000’s music, special promotions and the chance to relive the best of that era. Visit floridaeverblades.com for more information and to purchase tickets.

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BLADES BITS

Carson Gicewicz seized the team goal-scoring lead, potting his 12^th marker of the year late in the second period and running his point streak to five games in the process (3G, 3A). 

Marc-Andre Gaudet picked up one of the helpers, joining Gicewicz with a five-game point streak in the process (2G, 5A). Gaudet has tallied assists in three consecutive games. 

With the two-game split, the season series is deadlocked at two games apiece, with four regular-season games left on the docket. The bitter South Division rivals will meet in North Charleston, S.C. on January 24, with three games slated for Hertz Arena on February 28, February 28 and March 1. 

Saturday Night’s Scoresheet

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