ESTERO, FL – The Florida Everblades and the South Carolina Stingrays met for a three game set in Florida. This was the first meeting between the division rivals since the Stingrays eliminated the Everblades in the second round of last season’s ECHL playoffs. The Stingrays went on capture the coveted Kelly Cup.
GAME 1 – Wednesday October 28th – (EVERBLADES-3 / STINGRAYS-2 ) – The Blades started off their home stance on a positive note with a win on Wednesday evening. The win was especially sweet for Blades coach, Malcolm Cameron, as this was his 500th win as a professional.
Crowd favorite Ernie Hartlieb opened the scoring at the halfway point of the first period. Florida played hard and held the lead at the end of the first.
South Carolina got on the board just 0:46 seconds into the middle period with a goal by Keith Johnson. Florida regained the lead about six minutes later with a tally by Mathieu Roy. Ten minutes after that, the Stingrays took the lead as Matt Scherer got one past Mike Morrison.
The game was sealed at 14:29 of the third when Rob Hennigar fed Brandon Buck a perfect pass. Buck blasted it into the Stingrays net and gave the Blades the lead and eventually the game.
GAME 2 – Friday October 30th – (STINGRAYS -3 / EVERBLADES-2 ) – The Blades wanted to get off to a quick start. They moved the traffic into the Stingrays zone and scored first assisted by a quirky bounce. Mathieu Roy scored on a redirect from A.J. Thelen at 12:13 of the first period.
A quick turnover in the Blades zone gave South Carolina an opportunity that they couldn’t pass up. Florida has had trouble controlling the puck when it gets behind their net. Matt Fornataro took a pass from Zach Takir and tied the game at 14:23. After the first the score was tied at 1-1.
The first half of period two was back-and-forth with no clear dominator. After the halfway mark, Carolina’s Gregg Johnson got a surprise pass from Nikita Kashirsky, as he was coming back onto the ice after a stint in the penalty box. Johnson took the errant Blades turnover and turned it into a lead for the Stingray’s at 12:40.
South Carolina had a goal waived off as one of their players very obviously knocked the puck into the net with his arm. Shortly thereafter, Florida favorite, Ernie Hartlieb, decided to make a statement when he challenged Nate Kiser into a brawl. Kiser had been taunting one of the Blades and Hartlieb decided enough-was-enough. His statement got the crowd going and seemed to energize his team.
The Blades had an opportunity and Mattieu Roy stepped up to the plate again. He received a perfect pass from Colin Nicholson and skated a breakaway at 3:46 of the third to tie the game.
South Carolina ended the scoring in the game by capitalizing on another Blades turnover behind the net. Trent Campbell found the back of Florida’s net at 6:09 of the third.
The score held up and South Carolina evened the series at one game each.
GAME 3 – Saturday October 31th – (STINGRAYS -3 / EVERBLADES-2 ) – I try to pay close attention to the opening faceoff to see which team has first possession. South Carolina jumped into the game and never let go.
The Blades faltered early and never were able to regain any focus. They recorded their first penalty just 0:37 seconds into the game. Their game deteriorated early as they once again had a pack of trouble with turnovers. This one resulted in a goal at 9:08 of the first period by Gregg Johnson.
Even though it’s still early in the season, the people in Florida have high expectations for the Blades. The Hockey News predicted that “this is the year” for Florida to finally win the elusive Kelly Cup. I wonder if this prediction has given the Blades the proverbial “kiss of death”?
Steve McJannett and Joe Finley decided to dance at 12:56 of the first. The gloves went down and the fists went up. Both went to the box for five minutes for fighting; Finley got the additional two for the original slashing.
The Blades evened the score at 14:40 with a goal by Rob Hennigar. The period ended with the tie.
The Blades troubles continued as they had problems controlling the puck and looked generally disorganized. South Carolina offered up plenty of opportunities but Florida’s lack of focus kept them from capitalizing on them.
Another Blades giveaway led to South Carolina scoring their second goal at 10:09 by Rob Ricci. At the end of two, the Stingrays led 2-1.
At 12:22 of the third, the Stingray’s tried to tally a goal, but it was disallowed due to a high stick call.
Near the end of the period, Florida tripped up a Stingray to prevent a goal. Morrison was out of his net and without a stick. South Carolina was awarded a penalty shop due to the obvious trip. Once again and error in judgment cost Florida a goal as Matt Fornataro converted the shot at 17:22.
The Blades pulled Morrison a few minutes later and Ernie Hartlieb showed why the crowd loves him. He got one past Todd Ford at 19:41. The Blades fought hard for the last minute and almost scored at the buzzer, but ran out of time.
Conclusion: Florida should have won all three of these games again South Carolina. Although the Blades had more shots on goal, they were not many quality shots; more quantity than quality.
Florida needs to regain focus on the game. They are not playing as a team. It looks like five guys out on the ice each playing their own game. Passing is erratic and skating is sluggish. Goal tending is still somewhat shaky and there is no experienced back-up.
They have a lot of work to do to get back into the race. The season is till young, but they’d better get moving quickly. The playoffs wait for no one. Contact the author at sharon.weatherhead@prohockeynews
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