GREENVILLE Sc. – It took until 13 minutes into the second period for the Florida Everblades to find their offense, but the good guys closed out the scoring with four goals in the third period to capture a 5-1 victory over the Greenville Swamp Rabbits Wednesday night at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
A trio of Everblades had two-point performances. Carson Gicewicz led the Blades’ attack with two goals, while Jesse Lansdell picked up a goal and an assist, and Santino Centorame registered two assists.
A tight first period saw the teams combine for just nine shots on goal, with the Everblades claiming a narrow 5-4 advantage. Both teams came up empty on two power-play shifts apiece, but the game was scoreless after the opening 20 minutes.
Scoreless hockey continued deep into the second period, but Gicewicz finally broke through for the Everblades with an unassisted tally at 12:59 of the middle frame. Gicewicz picked up an errant puck at the Blades’ blue line, skated quickly past the Greenville defense and potted his team-leading 23rd goal of the season to put the good guys on top 1-0.
Florida’s lead would be short-lived, as Greenville’s John Parker-Jones knotted with game with a power-play goal roughly three minutes later, eventually sending a 1-1 tie into the third period.
For the second straight contest, the Everblades erupted for four unanswered goals – this time all in the third period – to not only snap the deadlock, but break the game open. Lansdell snapped the 1-1 deadlock at the 7:45 mark, with Gicewicz tacking on a second tally – his 24th of the year – just 59 seconds later.
Dillon Hamaliuk and Alex Kile closed out the scoring with goals at 11:40 and 14:22 of the final frame to seal the Everblades’ 5-1 victory.
Florida won the shots on goal battle 23-18, with goaltender Cam Johnson stopping 17 of 18 shots to eliminate Greenville from the Kelly Cup Playoff picture.
Next up on the four-game road trip is a two-game stop in Savannah for a pair of games against the Ghost Pirates. Matchups at Enmarket Arena are slated for Thursday at 7:00 p.m. and Friday at 7:30 p.m. Following the pit stop in Georgia, the Everblades will return to Hertz Arena to launch a three-game homestand on Wednesday, March 26 with a 7:30 p.m. contest versus the Jacksonville Icemen. Visit floridaeverblades.com for more information and to purchase tickets.
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