ORLANDO, Fla. – The Florida Everblades fell behind early and came up short in an opportunity to close out the South Division Finals in four straight games, dropping a 4-2 decision to the Orlando Solar Bears Thursday night at Kia Center. Despite the Game Four setback, Florida still leads the best-of-seven series three games to one and will have a chance to wrap up the series on enemy ice in Game Five on Saturday night.
For the first time in the series, Orlando struck first in a busy opening period. The Solar Bears took a 1-0 lead at the 7:37 mark as the Everblades inadvertently put the puck in their own net, with the goal being credited to Marc-Andre Gaudet. Orlando would double its first lead in the series exactly three minutes later on a tally by Darik Angeli at 10:37. Despite trailing 2-0 after 20 minutes, the Blades held a 16-15 in shots on goal in the first stanza.
Following the first intermission, the Everblades wasted little time getting on the board. Just 26 seconds into the second frame, a wide-open Matt Wedman slammed home a feed from Oliver Chau in the low slot for his third goal of the playoffs. Josh Ho-Sang fed Chau to pick up his team-best 10th playoff assist as the Blades cut the deficit to 2-1.
Unfortunately for the Blades, Orlando responded midway through the period, as Jaydon Dureau put the Solar Bears ahead 3-1 at the 11:39 mark. Dureau scored from the doorstep, beating Blades netminder Cam Johnson, who had lost his goalie stick moments earlier. Florida claimed a 13-10 shot advantage in the second period.
The Everblades picked up an early goal for the second straight period, as Logan Lambdin trimmed Orlando’s lead to 3-2 at 2:19 of the third period. Lambdin followed up on a shot by Jordan Sambrook, who assisted on the Lambdin’s third goal of the playoffs.
Despite numerous looks over a frantic final two minutes, Angeli closed out the scoring with an empty-net goal for the Solar Bears with 27 seconds left to play.
Florida outshot Orlando 39-34, as the Everblades posted the team’s highest shot total of the series. Johnson stopped 30 shots for the Blades, while Orlando goaltender Evan Fitzpatrick registered 37 saves.
With the Everblades needing just one more victory to close out the series, the teams will meet in Game Five Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. in Orlando’s Kia Center. Should the series require a Game Six or Game Seven, those contests would be played at Hertz Arena on Tuesday, May 14 and Wednesday, May 15, with both contests slated for 7:30 p.m. Fans may purchase tickets for games that will be played at Hertz Arena may be purchased at the Fifth Third Bank Box Office at Hertz Arena, online HERE, or by calling the Everblades office at 239-948-PUCK.
Visit floridaeverblades.com for more information on the Kelly Cup Playoffs presented by Germain Lexus and Scanlon Lexus and to purchase tickets for games played at Hertz Arena.
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