ESTERO, FL – This weekend saw two very important games played between fierce division rivals – The Florida Everblades and the South Carolina Stingrays. They sit in positions one (Stingrays) and two (Everblades) in the South Division of the American Conference. Prior to these two games, South Carolina was considerably ahead of Florida by fourteen points. With two wins this weekend, one in overtime and one in a shootout, Florida picked up two valuable points in the standings.
The games this weekend were played on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon. The original schedule was for Friday and Saturday night, but Friday’s game was changed to Sunday.
SATURDAY, February 27th FLORIDA EVERBLADES: 5/SOUTH CAROLINA STINGRAYS: 4 (overtime)
Both teams came out looking flat this evening. The Blades had two great scoring chances but could not focus enough to capitalize on rebound chances. The skill of the goaltenders kept this game alive. The Stingrays scored first right after a power play opportunity concluded. Gregg Johnson scored at 7:49. They continued to create a lot of confusion in front of Florida’s net. The Stingrays dominated at this point, out-shooting and out-playing the Blades. Another turnover and The Stingrays scored again at 16:53 by Keith Johnson. The same scenario played out a few minutes later and Keith Johnson earned his second goal of the period at 19:02. The line of 11,18,19 – Gregg and Keith Johnson and Trent Campbell – is a very high-powered dangerous line for South Carolina. At the end of the first: Stingrays-3, Blades-0.
The Blades broke Stingray goalie Shane Connelly’s shut-out streak at 4:45 of the second by Milan Gajik. Connelly had three straight shut-outs and did not allow any goals for over 220 minutes of play. The Blades had a scare after that goal, but managed to negate a dangerous turnover while they were on the power play. South Carolina looked like they were the team with the man advantage. Tempers flared at the end of the period when Florida’s Brady Calla took on South Carolina’s Spencer Carbery. At the end of two, the Stingrays led 3-1.
The Blades picked up the pace in the final period of regulation. Great play set-up, the best all night, earned an early goal by Kevin Baker. The Stingrays were on the power play, peppering Chris Beckford-Tsu with shots and managed to score at 4:06. After a blatant take down of an Everblades player, Florida’s Kevin Baker added his second goal of the night at 4:42. Florida continued their dominance as Ernie Hartlieb tied up the game at 11:46. South Carolina’s Grant Farrell tried to draw a penalty on Hartlieb, but it back-fired as Farrell was called for holding the stick (he actually pulled the stick out of Hartlieb’s hands). The goalies traded great saves late in the period but the game ended tied 4-4.
While penalties are not common in overtime, South Carolina’s Nick Klaren was called for pulling down a Florida player in front of the next. The crowd wanted a penalty shot, but was satisfied with the penalty call as that gave Florida a power play 4-on-3. Kevin Baker, last season’s point leader, scored again to win the game. The third goal gave Baker a hat trick. Florida wins 5-4 in overtime.
WIN – Chris Beckford-Tsu (Florida) LOSS – Shane Connelly (South Carolina)
SUNDAY, February 28th FLORIDA EVERBLADES: 3/SOUTH CAROLINA STINGRAYS: 2 (shoot-out)
The Sunday night crowd was sparse, but they were treated to a great show. The Blades had an early point-blank shot opportunity but missed the rebound to capture an early lead. The first half of the period saw little action and few shots on goal. The period ended in a scoreless tie.
Florida made an early error as they passed the puck to a Stingray right in front of the net. Beckford-Tsu made a great save to keep the game scoreless. Florida’s Mathieu Roy literally got run over on the ice by a Stingray, but he received the penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. The Blades lost focus and let South Carolina get two quick goals at 8:42 and 10:44. The goals were followed by the Blades taking too many frustration penalties. At the end of two, the Stingrays lead 2-0.
The Blades seemed to catch Stingray goalie, Parker Van Buskirk, off guard as they scored at 5:06 to pull within one goal. With a streak of frenzy in front of his net, Van Buskirk had to make a spectacular save by doing a flying belly-flop to stop Florida from scoring. Florida scored again at 8:41 courtesy of Ernie Hartlieb. At the end of three the score was tied 2-2.
This was the second straight game between these two teams to go into overtime. Tonight it wasn’t settled there and had to go to a shoot out.
This was only Van Buskirk’s second try with a shootout. He lost his first attempt – and his second. The shoot-out only went four rounds with Florida scoring twice and Beckford-Tsu holding off the Stingrays. Florida wins 3-2 in a shoot-out.
WIN – Chris Beckford-Tsu (Florida) LOSS – Parker Van Buskirk (South Carolina)
NOTES: The Florida Everblades announced the Paul Healey is their new Assistant Coach. Healey played in 13 games with the Everblades earlier this season. He has a 15-year professional career and has 77 games of NHL experience. Chris Beckford-Tsu was with the Florida Panthers (NHL) but was recalled to the Everblades to play the weekend series against South Carolina.
NEXT GAME: Thursday, March 4th at 7:30pm at Germain Arena against the Gwinnett Gladiators.
Contact the writer at: sharon.weatherhead@prohockeynews.com
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