EVERBLADES SET FOR FIRST OF TWO IN SAVANNAH

WHO: Florida Everblades vs. Savannah Ghost Pirates

WHERE: Enmarket Arena (Savannah, Ga.)

WHEN: Saturday, January 25 at 4:00 p.m.

BROADCAST: Watch every Florida Everblades game on FloHockey.TV. Listen to the exciting game action on ESPN Southwest Florida on 770 AM, 98.1 FM, 104.3 FM and online at https://espnswfl.com.

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ESTERO, Fla. – The Florida Everblades are primed for the first of back-to-back games in the Peachtree State, as the team visits the Savannah Ghost Pirates Saturday afternoon at 4:00 p.m., a game time that was moved up three hours due to inclement weather. Both teams will also lock horns Sunday at 3:00 p.m.

Saturday’s afternoon contest comes less than 24 hours after the Everblades wrapped up a 3-2 shootout loss to the South Carolina Stingrays Friday afternoon in the squad’s first game after the ECHL’s annual All-Star Break

In Friday’s contest, the Everblades held a 2-1 lead over South Carolina after getting second-period goals by Craig Needham and Colin Theisen. The Stingrays tied the contest later in the middle frame, but a scoreless third period and overtime session sent the contest to a shootout, the first for the Everblades this season. Both teams registered shootout goals in the second round before the Rays closed things out with a goal in the fifth round. ECHL All-Star Cam Johnson registered a season-high 37 saves for the Everblades.

The Blades enter the two-game set in Savannah in first place in the ECHL South Division with a 26-8-3-1 record and a league-best 56 points. Despite only picking up one point in Friday’s setback to South Carolina, Florida holds a five-point lead over the Stingrays in the race for the top seed in the division.

On the other side, Savannah is currently sitting in fifth place in the ECHL South, sporting a 19-16-2-0 mark. With 40 points, the Ghost Pirates trail Orlando and Jacksonville by seven points in the division standings. Savannah is led by top scorer Reece Vitelli, who is tied for 14^th place in the ECHL with 36 points. Vitelli has registered just eight goals, but ranks sixth in the circuit with 28 assists, while also sitting in a tie for third place with 14 power-play helpers. He has a team-high five points versus Florida, all by way of the assist. Ghost Pirate Ross Armour also leads all ECHL skaters with nine power play goals.

ECHL All-Star Carson Gicewicz and veteran Alex Kile lead the Everblades with four points versus the Ghost Pirates. Gicewicz and Ben Brar both have two goals through the first three games of the season series with Savannah, while Kile and Jordan Sambrook are tied for the team lead with three assists.

While the Everblades have captured an ECHL-record four league championships – including each of the past three – Savannah is one of the league’s newer teams, having joined the ECHL for the 2022-23 season.The Ghost Pirates authored a seventh-place finish in their debut season, while climbing to sixth place in the league’s toughest division a year ago.

This season, the teams did not meet until the final weekend before the All-Star Break, when the Everblades took two of three games from the Ghost Pirates at Hertz Arena. Savannah claimed a 2-1 victory in the series opener on January 15, but Florida bounced back to put five goals on the board in back-to-back contests, winning 5-2 on January 17 and claiming a 5-3 decision the following night. Saturday’s game is the first of eight games between team that remain on the docket over the Everblades’ final 34 regular-season games.

Among ECHL teams, Savannah is enjoying a solid season on special teams, ranking fifth on the power play, converting at a 23.8 percent clip, and ranking seventh on the penalty kill at 83.7 percent. While the Ghost Pirates rank seventh offensively with 3.43 goals per game, the Everblades continue to be the league’s stingiest defense, permitting a league-low 2.03goals per game.

The Everblades return to The Swamp on Friday, January 31 for a meeting with the Orlando Solar Bears at 7:30 p.m., the first of a three-game set between the clubs that moves to Orlando for games on Saturday, February 1 and Sunday, February 2. Friday’s game will be Affiliation Night as the Blades pay tribute to our new NHL affiliate, the St. Louis Blues. The Everblades will don specialty uniforms that will be made available to the public via the Dash auction app. Fans can take advantage of a special 239 Friday deal and pickup up two tickets, a souvenir program and two pretzels for the special price of $39.
 

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