EVERBLADES LOOK TO MELT ICEMEN AGAIN IN GAME TWO

WHO: Florida Everblades vs. Jacksonville Icemen

WHERE: Hertz Arena (Estero, Fla.)

WHEN: Saturday, April 19 at 7:00 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. – After ending the 2024-25 regular season with three straight wins, the Florida Everblades picked up right where they left off in Friday’s postseason opener, defeating the Jacksonville Icemen 3-2 in overtime and jumping out to a 1-0 series lead in the best-of-seven South Division Semifinals.

The in-state rivals will lock horns for Game Two Saturday night at Hertz Arena, with puck drop slated for 7:00 p.m. before the series shifts to Jacksonville for Game Three, Game Four and, if necessary, Game Five.

Game One saw the Blades pepper Jacksonville goaltender Matt Vernon with 52 shots on goal, dominating the game’s tempo from start to finish. Florida opened the scoring with a power-play goal by Jordan Sambrook just over two minutes into the contest. After surrendering a pair of second-period goals to the Icemen, the Blades forced overtime with Kyle Betts’ shorthanded goal with 3:29 to play in regulation, before Alex Kile sent the Hertz Arena crowd of 6,165 home happy with his game-winning goal 13:05 into OT. ECHL Goaltender of the Year Cam Johnson notched 31 saves to earn the victory for the good guys.

In addition to the three different goal scorers, three different Everblades recorded assists in Game One, with Colin Theisen, Conor Doherty and Jesse Lansdell each picking up a helper.

Winners of 12 straight playoff series en route to three consecutive Kelly Cup Championships, the Everblades are in search of a second straight win to open the Kelly Cup Playoffs presented by Lexus and taking a 2-0 lead in the opening round series.

The Everblades have eliminated Jacksonville from the Kelly Cup Playoffs each of the last three years, including a seven-game epic comeback after trailing three games to one in last year’s South Division Semifinals. Florida has ended the Icemen’s playoff hopes each of the four times that Jacksonville has qualified for the ECHL postseason.

After the series shifts to North Florida for as many as three games April 23, 24 and 27 (if necessary), potential Games Six and Seven would be played back in Estero on Tuesday, April 29 and Wednesday, April 30. 

The winner of the Florida-Jacksonville series will meet the winner of the South Carolina-Orlando series in the South Division Finals. South Carolina leads that series 1-0 after winning the opening game 5-3 on Friday.

Visit floridaeverblades.com for more information and to purchase tickets.

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