INDEPENDENCE, MO – John McCarron had a goal and two assists while Martin Ouellette made 26 saves to help lead the Florida Everblades (35-11-1-4, 75 points) to a 3-2 come from behind victory over the Kansas City Mavericks (25-26-0-2, 52 points) Sunday evening at the Silverstein Eye Centers Arena.
Mark Cooper gave Kansas City a 1-0 lead midway through the first period, using the power play to full effect. Corey Durocher fired an initial shot from the left wing side that was stopped by Ouellette. However, an onrushing Cooper managed to corral the rebound and quickly bend his shot around a still recovering Ouellette.
John Schiavo doubled the Mavericks lead midway through the second period. Danny Smith fired a shot off the leg pad of Ouellette. However, similar to the early goal, the rebound went right to the onrushing Maverick with Shiavo quickly flipping his second chance shot high into the net.
McCarron would end Florida’s goal drought and get the Everblades back into the game. Joe Cox got the puck down to McCarron in the corner. McCarron flipped the puck from a bad angle in the corner and banged the puck off the back of Kansas City goaltender Adam Carlson and into the net.
Brett Bulmer continued to help build momentum for the Everblades and tied the game at two. John McCarron cycled the puck around in the offensive zone and flipped a pass over to the slot. Whiffing somewhat on his shot, Bulmer got just enough of the puck to send it trickling past Carlson and just across the goal line.
Gus Young gave the Everblades a 3-2 lead as he somehow managed to score from his own zone while fighting off the Mavericks power play unit. Young picked up the puck and hurled it down the ice from his own right wing circle. Young’s clearance sailed right past Carlson who mishandled the puck and it buried itself into the back of the net.
With the momentum firmly in their favor, the Everblades defense would come up big throughout the third period. Keeping Kansas City off the scoreboard for the remainder of the contest, the Everblades earned an extremely hard fought 3-2 win.
Martin Ouellette came up big multiple times and earned the win in goal for the Everblades, stopping 26 of the 28 shots he faced. Adam Carlson suffered the loss in goal for Kansas City, allowing three goals on 21 shots.
On Wednesday, the Everblades will head to the Amway Center take on the Wawa Sunshine Cup rival Orlando Solar Bears. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. Eastern Time.
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