ESTERO, Fla. – Lukas Kaelble’s late overtime goal propelled the Florida Everblades to a 3-2 win over the Toledo Walleye in front of 7,535 fans at Hertz Arena, moving the Everblades within one game of clinching it’s first Kelly Cup in 10 years.
Florida out-shot Toledo 47-42, while Cam Johnson stopped 40 shots to backstop the victorious effort for the home team.
Jake McLaughlin’s power play goal 8:21 into the game gave the Everblades the early lead. With Toledo’s Blake Hillman serving a minor for slashing, McLaughlin took a pass from Blake Winiecki and fired a shot past goaltender Billy Christopoulos to make it a 1-0 Florida lead. Zach Solow grabbed the secondary assist on the play.
Josh Dickinson knotted it up, 1-1, scoring for Toledo at 14:44 of the first period. Brandon Hawkins took a pass from TJ Hensick in the left circle, then spun and sent a quick pass to Dickinson at the goal mouth. Dickinson then re-directed the puck into the net to the left of Johnson.
That score would follow the teams into the third period, as Florida held a 16-8 shot advantage over Toledo. The Walleye bested the Everblades 13-8 in a scoreless second period.
The two teams traded late goals in the third period to send the game to an extra frame, while Toledo out-shot Florida 13-9.
The Walleye gained a 2-1 lead on a Matt Berry power play goal, his fourth of the postseason, with assists going to Hawkins and Hensick.
Standing on the goal line to Johnson’s right, Hawkins centered a pass to former Everblade Berry in the slot. Berry’s shot would beat Johnson low for the go-ahead goal.
Florida would answer in dramatic fashion 2:14 later to force overtime.
With Johnson pulled for an extra attacker, Joe Pendenza fired a shot from the top of the right circle that beat Christopoulos to the stick side and sent the home crowd into a frenzied cheer. Stefan Leblanc and Winiecki picked up assists on the goal. The score was his fifth of the postseason and gave the Everblades a 3-1 best-of-seven series lead.
After a highly defensive-minded overtime period, Kaelble found the net to claim the first win for the host team in this year’s Kelly Cup Finals.
Matteo Gennaro brought the puck in the Toledo zone, skated to the right circle and left a drop pass for Kaelble, who fired the puck past Christopoulos, high on the stick side for the game-winner, his first playoff goal at 15:45.
Florida can close out the series and hoist the Kelly Cup inside Hertz Arena on Saturday night. Game five is set for a 7:30 P.M. ET faceoff.
A Toledo win will force the series back to the Huntington Center in Toledo for game six on Tuesday night.
Game 5 – Saturday, June 11 at 7:00 p.m. ET at Florida
Game 6 – Tuesday, June 14 at 7:35 p.m. ET at Toledo (If Necessary)
Game 7 – Thursday, June 16 at 7:35 p.m. ET at Toledo (If Necessary)
Contact the writer: John.Hall@ProHockeyNews.com
Follow us on Twitter: @ProHockeyNews, @JohnHallPHN
You must be logged in to post a comment.