Joe Pendenza tallied his team-leading fifth goal of the season just over two minutes into the game, staking the Everblades to a quick 1-0 lead. Jacksonville’s Ara Narazian knotted the game at 1-1 with a shorthanded goal at the midpoint of the frame, but Oliver Chau regained the lead for Florida at 2-1 with 1:21 to play before the first intermission.
Blake Winiecki added an insurance goal at 5:52 of the second period to put Florida ahead 3-1.
In the third period, Nazarian’s second goal of the game at 16:34 of the third period trimmed the Blades’ lead to 3-2, but Ben Masella closed out the scoring at 17:32 with an unassisted empty-net goal.
Fitzpatrick won his third straight game for the Everblades and improved to 4-1 this season. Jacksonville’s four-game winning streak came to a halt.
Chau (1 G, 1 A) and Leif Mattson (2 A) both posted two-point games, while Dominic Franco was credited with an assist to extend his point streak to seven games, tops by an Everblade this season. Chau and Pendenza saw their point streaks reach four games, as both have registered two goals and three assists in the last five contests.
The Everblades (9-3-1-1) will close out the road trip Saturday night in Orlando. Winless in their last five games (0-3-1-1), the Solar Bears were idle on Friday, but Orlando (4-8-2-1) holds a 1-0 advantage in the season series. The puck is slated to drop inside Amway Center at 7:00 p.m.
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