NORTH CHARLESTON, SC – Kevin Lynch scored the game winning goal at 3:35 into overtime to lead the Florida Everblades (20-9-0-0, 40 pts) to a 2-1 win over the South Carolina Stingrays (15-9-2-1, 33 pts) at the North Charleston Coliseum Friday night.
The Everblades opened the night’s scoring midway through the first period thanks to an excellent pass from Kevin Lynch to Matt Marquardt. Skating 4-on-4, Lynch found a streaking Marquardt entering the zone. Receiving the puck, Marquardt would skate to the right wing circle where he fired a shot that beat Stingrays’ goaltender Mark Dekanich on the short side to give the ‘Blades a 1-0 lead.
Down 1-0, South Carolina began to take control of the game entering the second period. Multiple scoring chances were denied by Everblades goaltender Anthony Peters who played absolutely outstanding during the course of the game.
The best of Peters’ saves would come at the midpoint of the middle period when South Carolina would force two shorthanded breakaway chances. Both times the Stingrays shooters found themselves denied of a goal thanks to excellent saves from the Everblades netminder.
The third period would follow a similar formula as the first two. Both teams generated some scoring chances only to be denied by some outstanding goaltending from both Peters and Dekanich.
With both teams being denied on the offensive end for the majority of the period, South Carolina were forced to focus more on their attack in order to seek a potential game tying goal. This gamble would payoff for the Stingrays as midway through the third period, South Carolina would find a way to score.
Beginning to close on the Everblades net, South Carolina would have their initial shot and rebound attempt stopped by a diving Peters. However, the second rebound rolled right to the left wing circle where Stingrays defenseman Nick Jones fired his shot into the open net to tie the game at 1-1.
With neither side able to find a go-ahead goal late in regulation, the game would proceed to overtime. That is as far as the game would get. At the 3:35 mark of overtime, Captain Marquardt found Lynch streaking into the Stingrays’ zone. Putting on the brakes, Lynch deked around the goaltender before shooting the puck into the back of the net to give the ‘Blades a 2-1 victory.
Peters earns the win for the Everblades, stopping 31 of the 32 shots he faced. Dekanich takes the loss despite an solid night in goal, allowing two goals on 27 shots.
The Florida Everblades will conclude their two-game tilt at the South Carolina Stingrays tomorrow night before taking the following week off for the ECHL’s Holiday Break. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Eastern time.
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