ESTERO, FLA – The Florida Everblades (33-17-0-2) fell 4-1 to the Jacksonville Icemen (23-19-3-3) on Friday night at Hertz Arena. Mike Szmatula netted two goals for Jacksonville, and Abbott Girduckis recorded three assists to lift the Icemen. Florida maintains first place in the Eastern Conference despite the loss, while Jacksonville moved up to fifth place in the conference after the win.
FIRST STAR: Mike Szmatula (JAX) – two goals, plus-2, four shots
SECOND STAR: Abbott Girduckis (JAX) – three assists, plus-2
THIRD STAR: Charles Williams (JAX) – 27 saves
Tensions quickly boiled over when Florida’s Myles Powell cross-checked Icemen captain Wacey Rabbit in the first period. Powell and Rabbit wasted no time in dropping the gloves, and the two 5-foot-9 forwards gave the crowd at Hertz Arena a tilt to remember. After some right-handed hammers from both sides, Powell ended the bout with a vicious blow that dropped Rabbit down to the ice.
A Jacksonville power play resulted from the original cross-checking call on Powell, and Mike Szmatula scored on a one-time feed from Girduckis to give the visitors a 1-0 lead at 16:41.
Szmatula struck again early in the second with Jacksonville skating 6-on-5 during a delayed penalty against Florida just 1:07 into the period. Girduckis earned his second straight primary assist of the night when he slid the puck across the slot for Szmatula to tap in.
Florida got one back later in the second period with some help from Lady Luck. Everblades forward Alex Kile sent a centering pass from the far post that Jacksonville defenseman Jacob Cederholm deflected into his own net at 5:25 of the frame.
Jacksonville took a 3-1 lead in the middle of the second stanza when Jacob Friend snuck a wrist shot underneath Florida goaltender Jake Hildebrand at the 11:28 mark.
Ara Nazarian sealed the 4-1 win for Jacksonville with an empty-netter late in the third period at 18:45.
Hildebrand finished with 24 saves on 27 shots, while his Jacksonville counterpart Charles Williams stopped 27 of 28 Florida shots.
Florida and Jacksonville meet again on Saturday, April 24th at 7 p.m. at Hertz Arena. Help the Everblades fight the good fight on Marvel Super Hero Night. The team will be masked as Groot, decking out in specialty jerseys for the game. Bid on the special jerseys by downloading the Handbid App. Also featured are Marvel-themed intermission games and activities, references to the movies, and more! In addition to Marvel Super Hero Night, there will be a cooler bag giveaway to the first 1,000 fans presented by Arthrex. In addition, enjoy free live music from James Prather from 5:00-7:00 p.m. outside of Hertz Arena.
The weekend wraps up on Sunday, April 25th when the Everblades take on the Icemen at 7 p.m. at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville.
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