BLADES’ FIVE-GAME WIN STREAK ENDS

ESTERO, Fla. –   A Hertz Arena crowd of 7,386 fans – the 16^th sellout in 32 home games this season – was on hand Friday night hoping to see the Florida Everblades win a sixth straight game. Instead, the energetic Southwest Florida faithful saw the Toledo Walleye defeat the Blades 1-0. The game was the first between the teams since the Everblades knocked off Toledo four games to one in the 2022 Kelly Cup Finals.

With playoff-level intensity taking over The Swamp, the Everblades and Walleye battled through a scoreless opening period. Florida outshot the visitors 9-8 and even held a six-on-five advantage in the final minute due to a delayed penalty call, but the good guys were unable to strike first.

Offense remained at a premium deep into the middle frame, but Toledo’s Dylan Moulton did strike first, scoring an unassisted goal at the 16:05 mark to give the Walleye a 1-0 lead. Florida held a 10-7 edge in shots over the second period.

Neither team could muster a goal in the third period, as Toledo held on for the one-goal victory. Everblades goaltender Cam Johnson made 17 saves in a stellar effort for the Everblades, but suffered the hard-luck loss. Florida outshot Toledo 9-3 in the third period and 28-18 for the game.

 The Everblades and Walleye will be back in action Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. as the penultimate homestand of the regular season concludes. Saturday at The Swamp will be Blackout Night, complete with a specialty jersey auction that will benefit The Passion Foundation. Following a two-game jaunt to Savannah on April 5-6, the Blades will be back at Hertz Arena for three games against the Atlanta Gladiators on April 9, 11-12, a final tune-up before the 2025 Kelly Cup Playoffs get underway. Visit floridaeverblades.com for more information and to purchase tickets.

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BLADES BITS

The Everblades’ five-game winning streak came to an end with Friday’s 1-0 loss. The streak was the team’s second-longest this season, as the Blades previously rattled off seven consecutive victories from February 7 through February 21.

Carson Gicewicz saw his nine-game point streak – the longest by an Everblade this season – come to an end. Gicewicz had registered 11 points on eight goals and three assists during that span, with six of his eight goals coming in the final four games of the string.

Conor Doherty appeared in his 400^th professional game, all in the ECHL, while Cam Johnson was in between the pipes for his 200^th ECHL contest. 

With Friday’s setback, the Everblades (44-14-7-1) remained in second place in the ECHL South Division with 96 points. First-place South Carolina (47-14-3-2) topped Kalamazoo 4-2 on Friday and has 99 points on the year. Both teams have six regular-season games remaining. The bitter rivals remain the top two teams in the league-wide ECHL standings. In the South, playoff-bound Jacksonville holds steady in third place, while Orlando is closing in on locking up the final playoff spot.

Entering Friday’s game, three South Division teams had clinched playoff spots, while only two other teams in the other three ECHL divisions combined had already punched tickets to the postseason.

Friday Night’s Scoresheet 

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