ESTERO, Fla. – Florida’s Cam Johnson was perfect, stopping all 23 shots he faced, as the Everblades moved one step closer to their second-straight Kelly Cup with a 1-0 game three win over the Idaho Steelheads in front of 6,983 fans at Hertz Arena on Wednesday night.
Idaho’s Remi Poirier was solid in his Kelly Cup Finals debut, stopping 27-of-28 shots faced in the goaltender’s duel. 16 of those saves came in the first period, as the Steelheads successfully killed off two penalties in the opening period. Florida held a 16-9 shot advantage heading into the first intermission.
Will Calverly scored the only goal of the night at 18:14 of the second, his third of the post-season, on an assist from Blake Winiecki. Winiecki sent a pass from the top of the left circle to Calverly, who then found the net past Poirier’s glove side on a wrist shot.
The Steelheads again killed off two penalties in the middle frame, with Willie Knierim and Justin Ducharme each serving two minutes for separate delay of game minors.
Florida’s only penalty of the night came mid-way through the third period, but Idaho could not convert on its lone power play.
Idaho ended the night 0-for-1 on the power play, while Florida was 0-for-4. In the series the Steelheads are 2-for-14 and Florida is 2-for-5 on the man advantage.
Florida looks to close out the series with a clean sweep when the two teams meet for game four on Friday night. If Idaho can solve Johnson on Friday, game five will take place in Estero on Saturday. Should the Steelheads win both of those games the series will return to Boise for game five on Tuesday.
Florida leads series 2-0
Game 1 – FLORIDA 3 at Idaho 2 (OT)
Game 2 – FLORIDA 5 at Idaho 3
Game 3 – Idaho 0 at FLORIDA 1
Game 4 – Friday, June 9 at 7:30 p.m. ET at Florida
Game 5 – Saturday, June 10 at 7:00 p.m. ET at Florida (If Necessary)
Game 6 – Tuesday, June 13 at 7:10 p.m. MT at Idaho (If Necessary)
Game 7 – Wednesday, June 14 at 7:10 p.m. MT at Idaho (If Necessary)
Contact the writer: John.Hall@prohockeynews.com
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