FORT WAYNE, IN – Michael Kirkpatrick and Mike Ferrantino each scored two goals while Brant Harris and Curt Gogol each added an additional tally to help lead the Florida Everblades (42-19-2-3, 89 points) to an amazing 6-4 come from behind win over the Fort Wayne Komets (39-18-6-2, 86 points) Sunday evening at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.
Fort Wayne got on the board first just over two and a half minutes into the first period after scoring on a third chance opportunity in front of the Florida net. The Komets began to pepper Everblades goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic with shots. With Florida unable to clear the puck, Brett Perlini converted the third chance opportunity to get the Komets on the board.
Less than three minutes later, Fort Wayne jumped out to a 2-0 lead on another chance from right in front of the Florida net. Attempting to clear the puck, the Everblades became the victim of an unlucky bounce that sent the puck towards the front of their own goal. Brett Perlini found himself at the right place at the right time and wasted no time jamming home his second tally of the game. The goal was also Nedeljkovic’s last piece of action as he was quickly replaced by Anthony Peters.
Just over five minutes after the change, Fort Wayne extended their lead to 3-0. Getting the puck in the high slot on a feed from Ryan Lowney, Trevor Cheek made a nifty looking spin move to get out of traffic. In the clear, Cheek wristed home his shot into the top corner of the net.
Jjust 21 seconds later, the Komets extended their lead to 4-0 and looked to be in cruise control as Cody Sol sniped home a wicked chance from inside the high slot. Quickly moving the puck into the attacking zone following the center ice faceoff, Jamie Schaafsma found Sol alone in the slot. With no one around him, Sol sniped home his shot top shelf past the glove of Peters.
The Everblades started the second period with a power play opportunity and began to crawl their way back into this game just 31 seconds into the middle frame. Mike Marcou gained possession just inside the blue line before firing a quick shot towards goal. The shot was tipped by Kirkpatrick just enough to slip by Fort Wayne goaltender Garrett Bartus.
Florida continued to fight back, and cut Fort Wayne’s lead in half late in the middle frame as Kirkpatrick scored his second goal of the contest. Brendan O’Donnell made a nice move before getting the puck to Kirkpatrick at the low circle. Kirkpatrick ripped a shot that banged off the opposite side post and into the back of the net.
Less than a minute later, the Everblades continued to build momentum and made the score 4-3. The Komets were forced into a turnover when Gogol lowered the boom on a Fort Wayne defensemen. The hit from Gogol forced the puck to deflect right towards the front of goal where an arriving Ferrantino buried it into the net.
Florida continued its assault in the third and tied the game at 4-4 just under two and a half minutes into the final frame. John McCarron sprung the Everblades on a two-on-one the other direction. McCarron lifted a shot across the ice to Gogol who buried his shot past a diving Garrett Bartus.
Midway through the third period, the Everblades completed the comeback bid and took a 5-4 lead when Ferrantino scored his second goal of the contest on a nice tip play out in front of goal. Dalton Smith raced into the zone on the left wing and sent a low shot towards the net. Racing to get there, Ferrantino managed to clip the puck with his stick, sending it flipping over goaltender and into the back of the net.
Following the goal, Fort Wayne would make a change at goaltender, bringing in former Florida netminder Pat Nagle to replace Bartus. Despite this change, it proved to be a case of too little, too late for the Komets.
Fort Wayne was continuously denied by a determined Everblades defense, and eventually pulled its goaltender for the last minute of the contest. However, it was not to be for Fort Wayne as Harris would bury an empty net tally late in the contest, clinching an amazing 6-4 come from behind victory.
Peters played extremely well after coming in midway through the first period, earning the win in goal for the Everblades after stopping 24 of the 26 shots he faced. Nedeljkovic started the game in goal for Florida but was pulled after allowing two goals on three shots. Bartus suffers the loss in goal for the Komets after allowing five goals on 26 shots. Former Florida goaltender Nagle also appeared in net for the Komets, stopping all five of the shots he faced.
The Florida Everblades now return home and will kickoff a three game slate against the Kalamazoo Wings this Wednesday night. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Eastern time.
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