ESTERO, FL – The Florida Everblades played a three game series at home against the Greenville Road Warriors this weekend. Although the Blades won the first game of the set, they struggled through the other two. Both nights they gave up a lead only to lose the game and the critical points. Although Florida appears to be at the top of the heap (at least in points) they have four or five games on the other teams. The win percentage says it all. Wednesday, February 2nd: FLORIDA: 5 / GREENVILLE: 2 Florida drew the opening goal just 2:20 into the game scored by Bobby Raymond. A 5-on-3 advantage for the Blades led to a power-play goal at 19:03 of the first. Scoring his first goal of the year, Ethan Graham got the puck past Warrior net minder, Nic Riopel, to end the period 2-0 in favor of the Blades. Mathieu Roy added to the lead at 8:06 of the second. A turnover by the Warriors led to the opportunity giving Florida a three goal lead. Greenville finally got on the scoreboard with a power-play goal at 14:26 by Chris Chappell. As the players filed off to the break, the Blades had the 3-1 advantage. Ross Carlson gave Florida back their three goal pad, when he scored on the power-play at 6:07 of the third. The Warriors scored one last time when Jimmy Kilpatrick bounced one off the cross bar and into the net at 11:44 on the power play. Florida’s Mike McKenzie sealed the win when he put the puck in the net with just 1:04 left in the game. Greenville made a valiant effort out-shooting the Blades 18-1 over the last 18 minutes of the game. The Blades get the win 5-2. Bobby Goepfert was in the net for Florida, with 37 saves and goes 19-10-2 for the season. Greenville’s Nic Riopel (10-7-1) had 16 saves. Friday, February 4th: GREENVILLE: 3 / FLORIDA: 2 The Blades started the game in the penalty box. Net minder Nic Riopel skated out of the crease and got a nudge by Alex Imbeault. It looked like a retaliation play or some left over frustration from Wednesday. Florida had a lot of trouble with puck control this period. Halfway through the first period the Warriors had out-shot them 10-2. This lack of control led to a big turnover, giving Greenville a two-on-none opportunity. Andrew Carroll scored at 10:37. Two more consecutive penalty kills for the Blades lead to more frustration. Florida’s Lemieux had a great breakaway opportunity, made a great shot and was robbed by Riopel. The Blades had their own breakaway opportunity, while they were on the penalty kill. Ross Carlson scored a short-handed goal ( Florida’s tenth of the season) at 16:53, to even the score at one-apiece. Francis Lemieux made another attempt to get the puck past Riopel, this time meeting success. Lemieux gave Florida their first lead of the game scoring at 3:41 of the second. Jared Staal, the youngest of the famous Staal players, had a beautiful breakaway opportunity, but once again Riopel saved the day for the Warriors. Florida finally got their first power play opportunity of the night. They even had a 30-second 5-on-3, after a bad line change cost Greenville a “too many men” penalty before the previous one expired. Florida was not able to convert. At the end of the second period, the Blades held the 2-1 lead. Greenville took control of the game and limited Florida to just four shots this period. They continuously choked the Blades though the neutral-zone. Florida could not gain or keep control of the puck. They were out-worked from every area. Greenville scored two more times, with goals by Wes Cunningham at 4:38 and Brandon Wong at 16:32. A late tripping penalty on Greenville, gave Florida a golden opportunity to tie the game. The Blades pulled Goepfert for the extra man, giving them a six-on-four for about a minute, but Florida could not get past Riopel tonight. The Warriors held fast for the 3-2 win. Greenville ’s Nic Riopel had 22 saves and is now 11-7-1 while Blade’s Goepfert had 30 saves. Saturday, February 5th: GREENVILLE: 4 / FLORIDA: 3 (Shoot Out) Before the game, fans wondered which Everblade team would show up tonight. Is there some confusion with the mid-season change in jersey’s (white to blue)? The Blades lacked focus and on-ice communication, resulting in giving up a lead (again) and losing in a twelve-round shoot out. Greenville opened the scoring on a power play opportunity, with Jimmy Kilpatrick getting past Goepfert, to put the Warriors up by one. Florida continued with the penalty kill for way too many minutes. The second period was pretty much a replay of the first. The penalties continued for Florida with no power play opportunity as yet. However, once again a Blades player took command and scored another short-handed goal to tie the score at one. That honor on Saturday went to Ethan Graham. The Blades looked revitalized after the break. Florida’s Alex Hutchings scored two quick goals, giving the Blades a 3-1 lead. His first was on a 2-on-1 rush at 6:47. His second goal was at 8:56. The two-goal advantage lasted only 30 seconds. Greenville’s Andrew Carroll came back with a pair of his own. Scoring first at 9:28 and then at 14:57, tying the game at three apiece. The game moved to five minutes of 4-on-4 overtime, both teams were held scoreless forcing the shoot out. The shoot-out lasted twelve rounds. Twice the Blades had a chance to get the extra point after solid goals by McKenzie and Lemieux. Each time the Warriors answered with goals of their own by Jacob Lagace and Mark Voakes. In the twelfth round, Lagase scored again on his second go-round, giving Greenville the win and the extra point. Road Warrior’s Nic Riopel was the winning goaltender with 28 saves, while Goepfert posted 43 saves in the loss. BLADE NOTES: Florida signed forward Ian McDonald, from the University of Alberta, Canada. He made his debut with the Blades on Saturday night. Florida ’s next home game is Friday February 18 at 7:30 p.m. against the Gwinnett Gladiators at Germain Arena. Contact the writer at: sweatherhead@prohockeynews.com
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