ESTERO, FL- Ryan Martindale scores the game winning goal for the Everblades in the sixth round of a shootout to give the Florida Everblades the 3-2 victory over the Reading Royals Wednesday night at Germain Arena. Florida rallied from a two-goal third period deficit to earn the win.
In the first period back at Germain Arena in two weeks, the Everblades dominated the Royals in shots on goal 11-4, but were unable to put one in the net even after two power play chances.
After a scoreless first period, the Royals came out and shifted momentum in their favor, scoring two goals in the first five minutes of the second period.
2:26 into the second frame, Cam Reid screamed a centering pass from Justin Crandall from behind the net past Daniel Altshuller for the opening goal of the night.
Three minutes later, the Royals added another when Scott Tanski put in a rolling puck off a rebound from Altshuller’s glove putting the Royals up 2-0.
After a stagnate end to the second period, the Everblades battled their way back into the game in the third thanks to the captain Matt Marquardt.
One minute and a half into the final frame, Marquardt found the back of the net from below the left wing circle to score the first goal of the night for the Everblades. Marquardt’s shot banked off the body of Reading netminder Connor Knapp and into the net.
With just three minutes left in the game, Marquardt added another to the board as he found the net on his own rebound from a tough angle from the right side of the crease to tie the game up at two. The tally eventually sent the game to overtime.
After an eventful, but scoreless 3-on-3 overtime session, the Everblades and Royals went into a shootout, where Martindale was able to put one past Knapp in the sixth-round to seal the deal for the Everblades 3-2.
Altshuller earned the win stopping 26 of 28 shots, as well as all six shooters in the overtime shootout. Â Knapp takes the loss despite a solid outing allowing two goals on 35 shots.
The Everblades and Royals are back at it again Friday night Dec. 11 at Germain Arena. Game time is set at 7:30 p.m.
Follow us on Twitter @prohockeynews
You must be logged in to post a comment.