ESTERO, Flor. – The Florida Everblades enjoyed a clean sweep of the Chicago Express at Germain Arena. Florida posted three consecutive wins this week on Wednesday (1/11), Friday (1/13) and Saturday (1/14).
Wednesday night was a precursor of what was to come for Chicago, as the Blades ran over the Express with an impressive 7-2 win. The Express were very sluggish and did not look ready to play. Some thought it may have been jet lag, but their play did not improve much over the weekend.
Florida came out energized and ready to play. They outshot the Express 42-15, relentlessly shooting pucks at Chicago’s net. Seven of those 42 shots made it in. Florida’s Pat Nagle kept out all but two of the 15 shots on his net.
Friday saw the return of John Muse in goal for the Blades. He was exemplary in net on both Saturday and Sunday, demonstrating his athletic abilities. Chicago showed some early life tonight, outshooting the Blades 15-7 in the first period; however they had no score to show for it at the end of the first period.
Florida’s first two goals of the game came from Kory Falite and Ryan Donald, with the final empty net goal from Brayden Irwin. The Blades sealed this game with a solid 4-2 win.
Saturday night’s game saw a very tight early first period. Florida’s David Rutherford scored his first of two, beating Chicago’s Peter Mannino in the net. Mannino saw 20 minutes of play for the Winnipeg Jets (NHL) earlier this season. The Express scored late in the first, to end the period in a 1-1 tie.
David Rutherford scored another goal and added an assist for a three-point night to earn the “first star” of the game designation.
At the end of regulation, the teams were tied 3-3. Five minutes of four-on-four overtime did not determine a winner, so the game went to a shoot-out. The shoot-out went 15 rounds with Florida’s Ryan Donald scoring to end the tie. The Blades won 4-3 taking three games and six hard-earned points.
Florida is now sitting at the top of the Southern Division. The Blades will travel to Gwinnett, Georgia to take on the Gladiators on Friday (1/20).
These players have recently returned to Florida:
Landry, Charles (D) –from the Norfolk Admirals (AHL)
Muse, John (G) – from the Charlotte Checkers (AHL)
Irwin, Brayden (F) – from the Toronto Marlies (AHL)
McGinnis, Ryan (F) – from the Syracuse Crunch (AHL)
Call-ups:
Beca, Matt (F) – to the Charlotte Checkers (AHL)
Bruess, Trevor (F) – to the Springfield Falcons (AHL)
Contact the writer at: sweatherhead@prohockeynews.com
