ECHL: Everblades Shutout Icemen and Raise Series Lead 3-0

Just Another In-State Matchup: 

Going into tonight’s game without a single loss in this Round 2 series against the Icemen, the Everblades had nothing much to lose. They played exceptionally well, as they have all season and postseason. Not only did they have a great win, but they gave Cam Johnson his seventh career playoff shutout. Head coach Brad Ralph said, “It was a tough game for us. I think we were holding on in the second period, and then in the third period, we came out with a little more confidence.” Both teams fought incredibly hard in all 60 minutes on the ice, however, the Everblades fought the hardest for the third game in a row. 

Second Period Scoring:

Sean Josling got the Everblades on the board to start the second period with a power play goal and was assisted by Oliver Chau and Joe Pendenza. At some point before the second period finished, the Everblades would strike again, this time from Tyler Irvine off of Cole Moberg and Levko Koper. When talking about his first goal of the game and seventh goal of the playoffs, Josling said, “It’s always nice to score before they do, and I think that gave us a bit of momentum.” He wasn’t wrong, as their energy as a team really seemed to pick up from that point on. Even though they only scored one more time and were outshot overall by the Icemen, their offense was accurate and on-point. 

Finishing Game 3 with a Shutout:

The game finished with a final score in favor of Florida 2-0, and with the final amount of shots on goal in favor of Jacksonville 26-22. Cam Johnson played remarkably well in net for Florida as he kept every single shot out of the net. The ECHL tweeted that Johnson recorded his 7th playoff shutout in last night’s game, tying him and Scott Stirling for the second-most ever. When asked how this shutout felt, his third of this year’s postseason, Cam Johnson said, “It’s the same as all of them. I just like winning.” In terms of the competition that we will see during the rest of this series, he said, “We know their season is on the line, and with one more loss and they’re done, so we’re gonna get their best hockey this next game. If we just keep playing the way we’re playing, we’ll be just fine.” 

3 Down, 1 To Go: 

The Everblades only need one more win to advance to the conference finals as they look to continue their quest for repeating as the Kelly Cup champions. The Icemen were anything but happy about losing a third game in a row, and in that sense, Florida Goalie Cam Johnson says, “We play them all the time, so they’re one of our biggest rivals. We always have good battles with them. Playoff hockey is the best time of the year. They’ve been playing hard, and they’ve all been pretty hard fought.” Game 4 will definitely be the hardest fight we will have seen from either team, and hopefully, the Everblades can have a repeat of games 1-3. 

The Everblades will play next on Friday at home at 7:30

And on Saturday, if needed, also at home at 7:00

For more on the Florida Everblades, follow me on Twitter @gabriellediane0