BLADES SWEEP INDY AND WIN FIFTH STRAIGHT

FISHERS, Ind. –  The finale was not as easy as the first two games of the series, requiring a shootout to declare a winner, but the Florida Everblades came away with a 3-2 victory over the Indy Fuel Saturday night at Fishers Event Center. Will Cranley stopped 26 shots and was perfect in goal during the three-round shootout, while Alex Kile was the only player from either team to find the net, as the Blades closed out a three-game sweep and extended the team’s winning streak to a season-high five games.

Indy dominated the shot count in the first period by a 14-5 margin, but the Everblades scored the only goal of the game’s first 20 minutes. Dillon Hamaliuk picked an opportune time to register his first goal with the Blades, lighting the lamp with just over two minutes to play in the opening frame. 

The Everblades’ 1-0 lead held up for the better part of a relatively quiet second period in which Florida outshot Indy 9-4, but Lucas Brenton knotted the game for the Fuel with his first professional goal at the 14:54 mark of the middle stanza.

Goal-scoring opportunities remained hard to come by for most of the third period, but Carson Gicewicz struck for a team-high 19^th time of the season to regain the lead for the Everblades at the 13:57 mark. A streaking Gicewicz blasted home a rebound of Kyle Betts blast to but the Blades on top 2-1. Unfortunately, Colin Bilek knotted the game at 2-2 with 2:22 left in regulation as the game went into overtime. Indy claimed a 9-8 edge in shots on goal to hold a 27-22 edge after 60 minutes.

The Everblades controlled the tempo in overtime, outshooting the Fuel 3-1, but despite several strong opportunities for the visitors, the game was scoreless for the additional seven minutes of action, sending the contest to a shootout.

In the three-round shootout, Cranley stopped Indy’s first three shooters, allowing Kile to post the only goal for either team and seal the Everblades’ 3-2 victory.

With the series sweep of Indy now complete, the Everblades will head back to Southwest Florida to meet up with the Tahoe Knight Monsters on Hertz Arena ice Wednesday evening at 7:30 p.m. The midweek battle not only opens a three-game set with the ECHL’s newest team, but marks Tahoe’s first-ever visit to the Sunshine State. Visit floridaeverblades.com for more information and to purchase tickets.

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BLADES BITS

Florida has a five-game winning streak for the first time this season. The Everblades had three separate four-game winning streaks in the season’s first 16 games en route to a 13-3 start to open the campaign. In addition, the Blades won four straight contests to close out December and open the new calendar year.

Dillon Hamaliuk got the Everblades on the board with his first goal since making his debut with the club on February 1. One night after recording his first point with the Blades in Friday’s 7-3 win, Hamaliuk found the net for the first time late in Saturday’s opening period. The former second round pick of the San Jose Sharks who opened the 2024-25 season with Nove Zamky Mikron HC in Slovakia, previously scored 19 regular-season ECHL goals with Wichita and Wheeling from 2022-24. Hamaliuk also has three AHL goals to his credit, netting all three with San Jose in 2021-22.

Carson Gicewicz did not register a point in the Blades’ two blowout victories to open the series, but his third-period goal turned out to give Florida a 2-1 third-period lead. The Everblades’ leading goal scorer struck for the first time since tickling the twine twice in last Saturday’s 3-2 win over Greenville.

Alex Kile has scored the only two shootout goals for the Everblades this season. The Blades are 1-1 in shootouts on the year.

Saturday Night’s Scoresheet 

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