WHEELING, W.Va. – The Florida Everblades are heading back to the Kelly Cup Finals.
Scoring early and often, the Everblades rolled to a 6-1 victory over the Wheeling Nailers in Game Five of the ECHL Eastern Conference Finals Saturday night at WesBanco Arena, wrapping up a third-consecutive playoff series on road ice four games to one.
Winners of the E.A. “Bud” Gingher Trophy as ECHL Eastern Conference Champions for an eighth time, the Everblades have advanced to the Kelly Cup Finals for the fourth time in five seasons and an ECHL-record eighth time in team history. Florida will be looking to win a league-record fifth Kelly Cup Championship.
Following a familiar script, the Everblades scored first, as Carson Gicewicz opened the scorefest just 37 seconds into the contest. Wheeling knotted the game at the 6:00 mark on a Nolan Renwick tally, as the teams took a 1-1 score into the first intermission.
Three Florida goals in the first 7:01 of the second period would essentially put the final nail in Wheeling’s coffin as markers by Sam Stange (1:54), Captain Oliver Chau (4:15), and Anthony Romano (7:01) gave the Everblades a 4-1 lead heading into the final frame.
Romano tacked on his second goal of the night and his league-leading 11th goal of the Kelly Cup Playoffs, just 1:23 into the third period. Reid Duke closed out the scoring at the 12:03 mark with his first tally of the postseason, finishing off the 6-1 victory.
In addition to Romano’s two-goal performance, Chau (1G, 1A) and Hudson Elynuik (2A) also turned in two-point outings.
In between the pipes, ECHL Goaltender of the Year Cam Johnson turned aside 28 of 29 shots, posting his biggest save total of the series.
Looking ahead to the 2026 Kelly Cup Finals presented by Lexus Dealers of Southwest Florida, the Everblades will face either the Kansas City Mavericks or the Fort Wayne Komets. KC currently leads the best-of-seven Western Conference Finals three games to one, with Game Five scheduled for Sunday in Fort Wayne. The complete game schedule for the Finals will be released once the Western Conference Finals are complete.
Tickets for games that will be played at Hertz Arena will go on sale Sunday, May 31, at noon, with a special presale for Blades 365 Members on Sunday, May 31, at 10:00 a.m. Visit floridaeverblades.com for more information and to purchase tickets for future games at Hertz Arena.
BLADES BITS
The Everblades have scored first in every one of the team’s 14 games in the 2026 Kelly Cup Playoffs. Carson Gicewicz picked up his second-straight lidlifter on Saturday, finding the net for the third consecutive game.
Saturday’s five-goal margin of victory was the largest for the Everblades this postseason.
Florida scored six goals for the second time this postseason, matching their output in Game Two versus South Carolina. The Blades erupted for seven goals in the following game. Saturday night’s performance was the Everblades’ fifth game with five or more goals in this year’s playoffs.
In addition to posting his biggest total of the series with 28 saves, Cam Johnson notched his third-highest save total in this year’s playoffs. Johnson registered 33 saves in the opening-round clincher versus Savannah, a week after logging 29 in that series’ opener. Johnson allowed just seven goals in the Eastern Conference Finals and posted a .945 save percentage.
The teams combined for 149 penalty minutes on 33 infractions, with Wheeling leading the way with 79 minutes on 18 infractions, including three game misconducts in a busy third period.
