The Jacksonville Icemen face off with the Florida Everblades for game six of the Kelly Cup Playoffs in Jacksonville. The series has been a whirlwind of emotions for fans. The Icemen took games one, three, and four of the series. Florida took games two and five. Two of the series games have finished in overtime, and Florida and Jacksonville have both had shutout games this series. If Jacksonville wins, they will face the winner of the Greenville Swamp Rabbits or the Orlando Solar Bears for the second round of the Kelly Cup Playoffs. If Florida wins tonight’s matchup, the series will go into game seven, May 1st, at 7 pm, back in Jacksonville.
The first period started off with high tension. The Icemen would outshoot Florida in the first period 10 – 8, but the Icemen were not able to score.
The second period stood to be all Florida. The Everblades were able to capitalize hard against Matt Vernon and the Icemen’s defense. Bobo Carpenter would be the first Everblades to score on a one-timer from a bouncing puck in front of the net. Cole Moberg would follow behind Carpenter two minutes later. Josh Ho-Sang would give the no-look behind-the-back pass, and Moberg would score with the wrist shot. Florida would be up on Jacksonville, 2 – 0. Logan Lambdin would get the Everblade’s third goal of the period. The Everblades would go up 3 – 0 going into the third.
The Icemen needed to make a huge comeback in the third if they wanted to secure the win. Florida’s Matt Wedman would get a two-minute minor penalty for charging. The Icemen would get the power play. Justin McRea would go top shelf on Cam Johnson and get the Icemen power play goal. With three minutes left, the Icemen would pull Matt Vernon to try and add another man advantage. However, Florida’s Bobo Carpenter would score on the empty net and give Florida the 4 – 1 lead. Shortly after, many of the players would get into it. It seemed every player had someone on them. But only Jacksonville’s Justin McRae would get an unsportsmanlike conduct and a miscount for continuing altercations. Florida’s Zach Uens would also get a 2-minute unsportsmanlike conduct minor and a ten-minute misconduct for continuing altercations.
The Everblades were able to get ahead of the Icemen and live to fight another day. The Everblades will face Jacksonville for the final game of their series. The game will be played at the Vystar Memorial Arena at 7 pm, May 1st, 2024.
