ESTERO, FL – Brendan O’Donnell scored twice while, Brant Harris posted a four-point night as the Florida Everblades (37-12-2-3, 79 points) defeated the Atlanta Gladiators (21-26-6-2, 50 points) by a score of 7-2 Friday night at Germain Arena.
The Everblades added some fire power to their lineup in their return home following a lengthy six-game road trip. Brendan O’Donnell and Jake Baker rejoined the team Friday from the AHL, while Adam Brace returned from the IR, along with the addition of Nelson Armstrong from the University of Prince Edward Island.
In a period controlled for the majority of the time by the Everblades both teams entered the intermission locked in a 1-1 tie. Peters and Vladar both had highlight saves early, but Peters came away with easily the best save of the night when he found himself down on the ice and the puck in front of him in the slot before a shot was fired off from right in front of the net only for Peters to sweep the glove robbing the Gladiators from getting on the board first.
Florida got on the board first a little over halfway through the period when Josh Wesley blasted a shot from the point by Vladar who never saw the puck.
The Gladiators tied it up a few minutes later with 5:30 left in the period, as Tyler Murovich squeezed the puck under Peters pad, tying the score and sending the game into the first intermission even.
The Everblades grabbed a 2-1 lead after spending the first nine minutes of the second period almost entirely in the Gladiators end, when on an odd man rush Dalton Smith dropped a pass to the slot to Adam Brace who was prepped for the one-timer that blew by Vladar. Brace picked up the goal in his first game back since being injured on January 13th.
The Gladiators would again answer rather quickly, as Justin Buzzeo sneaked in behind the net before dishing it out to Derek Nesbitt in the slot who was able to sling one by Peters.
After an icing by the Blades they would win the draw, and showing no signs of fatigue Brant Harris hit Brendan O’Donnell on the breakaway as he turned on the jets blowing through the middle of the ice and wristing his 30th goal of the year past Vladar, to give the Everblades a 3-2 lead headed into the second intermission.
Florida opened the flood gates in the third, scoring four unanswered goals to pad their lead. Just 41 seconds into the third on the power play, Stephen MacAulay would take Brant Harris’ second drop pass assist of the night in the slot before wiring it into the back of the net.
A little over a minute later, the Blades added another goal as Clark Bishop sped into the zone and wound up on the left side boards before slapping it past Vladar to extend the Florida lead to 5-2.
The Everblades weren’t finished with their early onslaught as Jake Baker was able to reach up and make a baseball-esque glove catch at the blue line to keep it in the zone, before setting up the play and the puck eventually finding its way to O’Donnell’s stick. O’Donnell deked into the slot and tallied his second of the night.
Captain Brant Harris capped off the Everblades offensive explosion on the power play. O’Donnell sauced a pass across the middle of the zone down low to Harris who was waiting to fire it by Vladar’s blocker side, capping off the Blades 7-2 victory.
Peters earned his 26th win of the season in goal stopping 11 of 13 shots, while Vladar took the loss allowing seven goals on 45 shots faced. Newcomer Nelson Armstrong recorded an assist in his professional debut.
The two teams will meet again on Saturday at Germain Arena with a 7:00 p.m. start time.
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