BLADES POUR IT ON AND WIN SERIES IN IDAHO

BOISE, IDAHO – Five unanswered goals proved to be the difference, as the Florida Everblades cruised to a 6-1 victory over the Idaho Steelheads, winning the decisive final game of a three-game series Saturday night at Idaho Central Arena.

For the third time in the three-game series, the Everblades opened the scoring, with Jordan Sambrook striking from the right point for his fourth goal of the season, as the visitors jumped out to a 1-0 just over five minutes into the contest. 

Florida took the game’s first 11 shots on goal, but Idaho made its first shot on Everblades netminder Cam Johnson count, as Andrew Bellant knotted the game at 1-1 at the 14:19 mark, scoring his third goal of the season. Ultimately, the Blades held a 14-6 edge in the shot department after 20 minutes of play.

Coming out of the first intermission, the Everblades came out firing in the second period, scoring three goals in the first 10 minutes of frame to take a 4-1 lead. Gicewicz snapped the 1-1 deadlock with his 13^th goal of the season at the 1:24 mark, Craig Needham making it a 3-1 lead with his fourth of the year at 5:16, and Tarun Fizer extending the Blades’ lead to three goals with his first tally as an Everblade, a power-play goal, at the 10:00 mark. Florida dominated the shot count 18-10 in the middle frame, doubling up Idaho 32-16 after two periods. 

Sambrook extended the lead to 5-1 with his second goal of the game and fourth of the year at 15:12 of the third period. Cole Moberg closed out the scoring with his first goal of the year, a power-play marker, at 18:17.

In addition to taking 48 shots on goal – one shy of the team’s season-high – while holding the Steelheads to 28, four Blades chalked up two-point performances. Sambrook and Moberg each netted a pair of goals, Gicewicz registered a goal and added an assist on the first Sambrook goal, while Kile earned assists on the first goal by Sambrook and the tally by Gicewicz.

In goal, Johnson (19-2-1-0) was superb yet again. The ECHL’s leader in every major goaltending statistical category turned aside 27 of 28 shots en route to his fifth straight victory, while Idaho’s Ben Kraws (10-3-3-0) made 42 saves and suffered the loss for the Steelheads. 

The Everblades return to Hertz Arena to open a three-game set against the Savannah Ghost Pirates on Wednesday, January 15. Wednesday’s 7:30 p.m. series opener will feature an always popular Hump Day Deal, offering fans hot dogs, Bud Lights and Labatt Blues for just $3.00 apiece. The Everblades and Ghost Pirates will also meet on Friday, January 17 and Saturday, January 18 at 7:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., respectively. 

Friday’s Hertz Night contest features a special deal which includes two tickets, two Nutrl Seltzers and a souvenir program for just $39, while Saturday marks out third annual Star Wars Night. Come dressed as your favorite Star Wars character, enjoy a plethora of themed activities, pick up a light sword courtest of HSS at NCH, and enjoy live music at our pregame tailgate. Visit floridaeverblades.com for more information and to purchase tickets.

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BLADES BITS

In winning two of three games in Idaho, the Everblades scored four or more goals in each of the three games against the Steelheads, while also outshooting the hosts by a 123-81 margin. This season, the Blades are 16-1 when scoring four or more goals.

Carson Gicewicz and Alex Kile both turned in two-point performances. With his 13^th goal of the season, Gicewicz moved into a tie with Logan Lambdin for the team lead. Gicewicz also shares the squad’s top spot for multi-point games with seven, matching Colton Hargrove. Kile’s two-point effort was his fifth.

Now sporting a five-game winning streak, Cam Johnson picked up his ECHL-high 19^th win of the season, but saw his scoreless string snapped at 111:15 with Idaho scoring on the league’s top netminder at 14:19 of the first period. In addition to Johnson’s 4-0 shutout victory over Idaho on Wednesday, the veteran previously held Jacksonville scoreless for the final 36:56 of play in a 6-2 win over Jacksonville on January 3.

After not scoring a goal in his first 28 games of the season, Jordan Sambrook found the net for fourth and fifth times in the last six games. Thanks to his two goals, Sambrook made it nine points over his last eight contests, as the defenseman has tallied five goals and four assists since December 27.

Tarun Fizer’s first goal as an Everblade was the team’s first power-play goal in four games. The Blades connected on the power play twice in the team’s 6-2 victory over Jacksonville back on January 3, but went 0-for-2 each of the last three contests.

In his third game back with the Everblades, Cole Moberg picked up a goal and an assist for his first two points this season. Prior to this season, Moberg appeared in 127 regular-season game and 44 Kelly Cup Playoff contests for the Blades, notching 58 points on 17 goals and 32 assists in 171 total games. 

Colin Theisen saw his seven-game point streak draw to a close. From December 27 through Friday night, Theisen had registered six assists and one goal.

Saturday Night’s Scoresheet

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