ESTERO, FL – Michael Kirkpatrick netted his first career hat trick as the Florida Everblades (14-3-1-2, 31 pts) rallied from a 3-0 deficit to defeat the Elmira Jackals (5-11-4-0, 14 pts) by a 7-4 score Wednesday night at Germain Arena.
Elmira opened the scoring when Vaclav Karabacek put back a rebound from a Matt Lane shot to put the Jackals on top 1-0.
The Jackals built up their lead to 3-0 when Kyle Rankin and Sebastian Sylvestre recorded second period tallies.
The Everblades got on the board on newcomer Rory Rawlyk’s first goal of the season at 6:41 of the middle frame.
Nine minutes later, Florida received a three-goal outburst from Brendan O’Donnell, Adam Brace, and Brant Harris in a span of one minute and forty-nine seconds to grab a 4-3 lead at the end of 40 minutes of play.
In the third, Kirkpatrick added a fifth unanswered goal by Florida, when he caught the puck at the top of the the crease and slid it past a sliding Jason Kasdorf to put the score at 5-3.
The Jackals later pulled within one on the power play. Matt Lane hurled a wrist shot from the left wing circle that clipped past Florida netminder Anthony Peters at 7:51 of the period.
However, Kirkpatrick scored twice more, including an empty-net tally in the final minute to secure the hat trick and the 7-4 victory for the Everblades. Kirkpatrick’s hat trick was the second in an many games for the Everblades, as John McCarron recorded four goals in last Saturday’s game against Orlando.
Harris and O’Donnell each finished the game with five point nights (1g, 4a).
Prior to the game, the Everblades added defenseman Rawlyk who recorded his first goal in his Everblades debut. The 6-5, 220-pound blueliner recorded ten points (3g, 7a) in 28 appearances with the Orlando Solar Bears last season.
The Two teams will meet again on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and again on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. for the annual IBERIABANK Teddy Bear Toss.
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