MANCHESTER, NH – Michael Kirkpatrick scored two goals while Brant Harris added two assists to lead the Florida Everblades (11-2-1-2, 25 points) to a 4-1 victory over the Manchester Monarchs (11-5-0-1, 23 points) on Friday night at SNHU Arena.
Jumping out to the early advantage, the Everblades came out firing and took a 1-0 lead just under two-minutes into the contest. Taking the feed from Brant Harris, Michael Kirkpatrick broke into the attacking zone. Deking around some Manchester defensemen, Kirkpatrick went backhand to forehand before stuffing his shot past Monarchs goaltender Sam Brittain.
Doubling their lead, the Everblades scored their first shorthanded goal of the season thanks to a nice team effort in their own zone. Deflecting the puck out to center, Harris picked up the puck and set off towards the Manchester zone. Heading down the right wing side, Harris took the puck all the way to the low circle before sending it across to an open Brendan O’Donnell. With Brittain out of position, O’Donnell buried his shot into the open net, giving Florida the 2-0 lead.
Proceeding to the second period, the Everblades continued to press as they looked to put Manchester away. Taking a 3-0 lead midway through the middle frame, Michael Kirkpatrick scored his second of the night off a nice feed from Brant Harris. Coming down the left wing side, Harris centered the puck towards Kirkpatrick. Taking the feed between the circles, Kirkpatrick fired the puck off the inside of Brittain’s pad and into the net.
Much like the first two periods of this game, the ‘Blades once again controlled the action in the third period. Taking advantage of a power play opportunity, the Everblades added to their lead with their fourth goal of the game. With traffic in front of goal, Matt Mackenzie blasted a wicked slap shot straight past a screened Brittian to put the Everblades up 4-0.
Attempting to try and prevent the Everblades shutout, Manchester threw everything they could at the ‘Blades late in game. Finally, with just over a minute remaining in the game, Manchester finally managed to get on the board. Getting to the side of the net, former ‘Blade defender Justin Agosta threw the puck at the net saw it deflect off some skates and traveled into the net.
Despite the late goal, Anthony Peters was absolutely brilliant in goal for the Everblades, earning the win after stopping 39 of the 40-shots he faced. Brittain played well in goal for the Monarchs but suffers the loss after allowing four goals on 35-shots.
Finishing off the northeastern swing of their current road trip, the Florida Everblades will faceoff against the Adirondack Thunder Saturday night at the Glens Falls Civic Center. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Eastern time.
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