DULUTH, G.A. – In a must-win game, with just six games remaining in the regular season, the Florida Everblades played some of their best hockey, and thumped the Atlanta Gladiators 4-1 in Georgia. The win helps maintain Florida in fourth place of the South Division, the final playoff spot. 
Scoring started right away in the first period, with Zach Uens lacing in a wrist shot deep on the blue line that pinballed through traffic and found the back of the net. Uens’ third goal of the season came with 11:16 elapsed in the first period and gave Florida a 1-0 lead at the first intermission.
Things began to open up in the second period. Bobo Carpenter fired home a one-timer from a Ben Brar feed to give the Blades a 2-0 cushion. Brar earned the puck in the attacking zone from a giveaway, and found the trailing Carpenter wide-open in front of the net. But the lead would not be held for long, as Parker AuCoin scored his third goal in two games for Atlanta to make it 2-1 into the second intermission.
The third belonged to Florida, as the red-hot Cole Moberg scored another goal just 30 seconds into the frame to give the Blades the two-goal cushion again. Mark Senden then added an empty netter to wrap things up for the Everblades as they took the 4-1 win.
In net, Florida netminder Cam Johnson stopped 25 of the 26 shots he saw. Meanwhile, Josh Boyko produced 31 saves on 34 shots on a busy night for Atlanta’s goalie.
The Blades are back in action tomorrow for another matchup against Atlanta, with puck drop scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Gas South Arena.
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