Blades Sweep Mississippi Series

ESTERO, FL – The Florida Everblades enjoyed a successful week by sweeping the Mississippi Sea Wolves in four straight games; two in Mississippi and two in Florida.
 
TUESDAY 12/16/08 ( Mississippi) – Florida   9   / Mississippi 5
The first of this four game series was an early morning game played at 11am at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi.   The crowd was liberally peppered with excited school age children.
 
Florida had a rough start having to battle back from a three goal deficit.   But, they were up to the challenge and a wild first period produced five total combined goals.   Mississippi tried to take control early by scoring three goals in the first 10 minutes (Ryan Cruthers, Alexandre Parent, and (former Blade) Kyle Peto).
 
After this barrage Florida pulled starting goalie Anton Khudobin and sent in David Leggio.   Leggio stopped the bleed and allowed the Blades to score two first period goals (Kevin Baker, Colin Nicholson) and get the score to a more manageable 3-2.
 
The Blades came out fast and furious in the second, scoring three times (Danick Bouchard / pp, Yannick Tifu / pp, A.J. Thelen) to get a 5-3 lead by the mid-point of the period.   The goal by Thelen, his first of the season, turned out to be the eventual game winner.
 
Mississippi tried to keep up but only produced one opportunity with a second goal by Cruthers.
 
The Blades continued to dominate and scored two more goals (Ryan Lang, Colin Nicholson).
 
Mississippi had one proud moment where Ryan Cruthers scored his third goal of the night to earn his Hat Trick.
 
Blades Peter Metcalf finished the scoring for the night with his ninth goal of the season earning five points for the night with the addition of his four assists.
 
However it was not enough to take down the Blades who finished the evening with a four goal lead winning 9 to 5.
 
GOAL TENDERS:
David Leggio ( Florida) – played 49:43 – 12/14 – WIN
Anton Khudobin ( Florida) – played 10:17 – 3/5
Jason Duchesne ( Mississippi) – 35/44 – LOSS
 
POWER PLAY:   Florida 4/8; Mississippi 1/3
 
3 STARS: A.J. Thelen ( FLA), Ryan Cruthers (MIS), Colin Nicholson ( FLA)
 
 
WEDNESDAY 12/17/08 ( Mississippi) – Florida   2   / Mississippi 1 (OT)
Tonight was the second come from behind win for the Blades.   Although Florida came out strong and hard, only the Sea Wolves were able to post a first period goal.   With a full two minutes of a 5-on-3 advantage, Mississippi’s Alexandre Parent scored at the end of the period.
 
The second period also showed a continued level of strong play going back and forth with each team exchanging scoring chances.   Mississippi was again given the advantage of an extended 5-on-3, but could not get past the Blades penalty killers.
 
In the third set the Blades out shot the Sea Wolves 16-8 and finally tied the game with a goal by rookie Andrew Sweetland, the first of his career.
 
It was tied at 1-1 at the end of regulation.   Overtime was scoreless until Florida’s Kevin Baker found the back of the net with just 28.9 seconds left.   This was Baker’s 19^th goal and gave him a league leading 35 points.
 
GOAL TENDERS:
David Leggio ( Florida) – 29/30 – WIN (7-2-1)
Riku Helenius ( Mississippi) – 39/41 – LOSS (4-5-2)
 
POWER PLAY:   Florida 0/5 ; Mississippi 1/11
 
3 STARS: Kevin Baker ( FLA), Riku Helenius (MIS), Yannick Tifu ( FLA)
 
 
FRIDAY 12/19/08 ( Florida) – Florida   5   / Mississippi 2
The series moves both teams to sunny Florida’s Germain Arena after a short two day break.   The Blades continue their winning ways with a third straight victory over rival Mississippi.
 
Florida ’s Kevin Baker continued his scoring frenzy with a five point night (1 goal, 4 assists).
 
Florida took control early and never looked back.   They kept on the pressure and did not repeat their come from behind pattern that started in Mississippi.   They kept playing hard, stayed focused and out shot the Sea Wolves 45-22.
 
They kept control of the puck, and this time, limited the costly turnovers.
 
The Blade’s Brad Herauf opened the scoring in the first period.
 
Kevin Baker began his scoring run in the second by scoring his 20^th goal of the season 24 seconds into the period.   He was rewarded by the 6000+ fans who cheered his efforts.   Ryan Lang followed with a power play goal.
 
Mississippi started pressuring and scored two power play goals by Kyle McAllister to close the game to 3-2.   The momentum shift was short-lived and was not enough to earn the Sea Wolves an elusive victory in this series.
 
The game remained very tight was finally put away by the Blades with two goals by Mathieu Roy, one of them an empty netter.
 
GOAL TENDERS:
Anton Khudobin ( Florida) – 20/22 – WIN (11-3-1)
Ryan Munce ( Mississippi) – 39/45 – LOSS (9-7-0)
 
POWER PLAY:   Florida 1/4 ; Mississippi 2/7
 
3 STARS: Kevin Baker ( FLA), Kyle McAllister (MIS), Mathieu Roy ( FLA)
 
 
 
SATURDAY 12/20/08 ( Florida) – Florida   5   / Mississippi 2
Tonight gave Florida a clean sweep of the four game series with Mississippi.  
 
The Blades came out confident and once again scored three first period goals.   Peter Metcalf opened the period at the four minute mark with a power play goal.   Colin Nicholson continued the spree and Andrew Sweetland followed 39 seconds later.
 
Similar to Friday’s game, Mississippi cut the lead to just one in the second period with goals by Ryan Cruthers and (former Blade) Kyle Peto.   Peto’s goal was on another 5-on-3 power play advantage awarded to the Sea Wolves.
 
Blade’s scoring king, Kevin Baker, scored the final goal of the second period with just 13 second left on the clock.
 
Ryan Lang opened the third period for the Blades with a quick goal at 1:09, exciting the Florida fans, hoping for a series sweep.
 
That was all the scoring action for the final game of the set.   Mississippi was only allowed to get one shot on net minder, David Leggio, in the final 20 minutes of the game.
 
GOAL TENDERS:
David Leggio ( Florida) – 16/18 – WIN (8-2-1)
Ryan Munce ( Mississippi) – 35/40 – LOSS (9-8-0)
 
POWER PLAY:   Florida 1/4 ; Mississippi 1/6
 
3 STARS: Ryan Lang ( FLA), Yannick Tifu ( FLA), Kevin Baker ( FLA)
 
 
The Florida Everblades play their next game on 12/27/08 in Gwinnett, Georgia against fierce rivals, the Gladiators.