ESTERO- The Florida Everblades are now just one win away from lifting the Kelly Cup after a 1-0 win on Friday night in their first home game since May 22nd. Florida came out firing in the opening minutes, giving the Steelheads everything they could handle. Still, Remi Poirer, in his first ECHL start since February 25th, would stop all 16 shots he saw in the period, and Florida’s best chance came as Blake Winiecki had the puck all alone in front but got too fancy and shot it over the net. In the second, both teams would have a laid-back period as the two teams combined for 13 shots in the middle frame. However, the Everblades had two chances on delay of game penalties against the Steelheads but couldn’t find the back of the net on either of their chances.
Will Caverly would finally put the Everblades on the board at the 18:14 mark of the middle frame; Caverly only played in six games during the regular season but has four points in 10 Kelly Cup Playoff games, “It feels good; they say always stay ready, and you never know when your opportunity is gonna come” said Caverly when talked about his goal and his role on this team. Cam Johnson would make 23 saves as he tied Riley Gil for most career Kelly Cup Playoff Shutouts, “Nothing really, I can’t take all the credit; our team played unreal tonight; we’ve played really good in the playoffs, tonight, especially if I gotta make the occasional save the team’s trust me, I trust them, we got a great group of guys, and they all wanna buy in” said Johnson, however, Head Coach is impressed by Johnson, “I’m happy for him, I’m proud of him, he’s certainly deserving, he’s a hell of a competitor, and he’s getting the job done”Florida will look to complete the sweep on Friday at 7:30 pm
