ESTERO, FLA – The Florida Everblades (13-7-2-3) sent a Hertz Arena crowd of 5,188 fans home happy on Saturday night after a 5-1 rout of the Atlanta Gladiators (11-11-2-0). 
For the first time of the series, the Everblades were the first team to light the lamp. Blake Winiecki roofed a shot past Atlanta goaltender Chris Nell at 16:55 of the opening period. John McCarron and Chris McKay were listed as assistants to put the Everblades up 1-0 after the first portion of action.
The Everblades’ momentum carried into the second period with Nathan Perkovich earning a tip in front of the net for his second goal of the season. The power play conversion came 95 seconds into the new stanza. Perkovich continued his stellar night by firing in another goal point-blank to advance the Everblades lead to 3-0 with 8:40 to spare in the period. Winiecki’s assist on the play represented his second point of the evening.
Florida’s consistency did not falter going into the third period. Alex Aleardi scored unassisted from the slot just 32 seconds in to make it a 4-0 game. However, the Gladiators prevented a shutout courtesy of Derek Nesbitt, who buried the puck into a half-open net on a feed from Eric Neiley. Goaltender Devin Cooley’s lone hiccup cut Atlanta’s deficit to three with 12:51 left in the game.
Aleardi put the icing on the cake for the Everblades with a sharp-angle blast at 16:40 of the period. That would be the final highlight of the Saturday as Florida took the three-game series victory with a 5-1 final score. Cooley earned the much-deserved win in net, combining 42 saves across regulation.
Following a brief holiday break, the Everblades will return to the ice on Sunday, December 26th for a road tilt against the Orlando Solar Bears. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Amway Center. The game will be carried on FloSports.TV and ESPN Southwest Florida on 770 AM, 98.1 FM, 104.3 FM and online at https://espnswfl.com.
The next Everblades home game is slated for Wednesday, December 29th with the in-state rival Orlando Solar Bears visiting Hertz Arena.
Follow us on Twitter @prohockeynews
You must be logged in to post a comment.