ESTERO, Fla. – The Florida Tortugas came out their shell and closed out the three-game series with an impressive 3-1 victory over the South Carolina Stingrays Friday night in front of a sold-out Hertz Arena crowd of 7,181 festive hockey fans on Hispanic Heritage Night.
Putting the Florida Everblades moniker on hold for one night to celebrate Southwest Florida’s rich Hispanic heritage, the Tortugas set the tone early, controlled the tempo on both ends of the ice and snapped a three-game losing streak. The sellout was the team’s 14th in 28 openings at The Swamp this season.
A first-period goal by Colin Theisen six minutes into the contest gave the Tortugas a lead that would hold up for the remainder of the game. Logan Lambdin doubled the good guys’ lead just over seven minutes into the middle period as the Tortugas took a 2-0 advantage into the final frame.
While Josh Wilkins got South Carolina on the scoreboard early in the third period, Alex Kile tacked on an empty-net goal just before the final buzzer to seal the Tortugas’ 3-1 victory.
In goal, Cam Johnson stopped 26 of 27 shots to earn his ECHL-leading 28th victory of the season, setting his career-best regular-season total with the Tortugas. Previously, Johnson posted 27 victories in 2023-24, while also winning 26 games with Florida and posting one with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers in 2022-23.
Next up, the Everblades head north for a three-game series against the Norfolk Admirals, opening a stretch that sees seven of the team’s next nine games played away from Hertz Arena. The three-game set in Virginia gets underway on Wednesday, March 5 and continues with contests on Friday, March 7 and Saturday, March 8. All three games in Norfolk will see the puck drop at 7:05 p.m.
The Everblades will return to The Swamp for a pair of games versus the Savannah Ghost Pirates on Wednesday, March 12 and Friday, March 14. Visit floridaeverblades.com for more information and to purchase tickets.
You must be logged in to post a comment.