ESTERO, FLA – Florida Everblades Captain John McCarron scored his franchise-record 146th regular-season goal early in the second period, but the Greenville Swamp Rabbits (19-22-4-3) scored two unanswered goals in the third period to claim a 3-2 victory Wednesday night at Hertz Arena. The setback snapped a six-game winning streak and a nine-game point streak for the Everblades (30-16-4-4).
The teams traded first period goals, but Winiecki netted his team-leading 24th goal of the season to stake the Everblades to an early 1-0 lead just 5:42 into the contest, just 27 seconds into Florida’s first power-play opportunity. Winiecki connected on a wrist shot from the right circle, with assists going to McCarron and Stefan Leblanc.
At the 11:09 mark, Greenville tied the game at 1-1, as Ben Freeman picked up a power-play goal, knocking in a rebound after a flurry of shots at Everblades’ netminder Parker Gahagen at the 11:09 mark. The 1-1 deadlock would hold up into the first intermission.
With 6:18 elapsed in the second period, McCarron put the Everblades back on top, 2-1, knocking the puck past Greenville goaltender Jacob Ingham to make history. Not only did the marker put the Everblades in the driver’s seat, but it gave Captain Everblade his 146th regular-season goal in a Florida uniform, a Franchise record. The milestone goal lifted McCarron past Reggie Berg atop the club’s regular-season leaderboard. McCarron and Berg, an Everblades legend from 1999 through 2007, are now tied for the franchise record with 164 career overall goals, which also includes playoffs. McCarron’s 24th goal of the season was assisted by Winiecki and Xavier Bouchard.
In the third period, Nikita Pavlychev scored at the 7:05 juncture to pull the Swamp Rabbits even at 2-2. Greenville’s Shawn Cameron registered the game-winner at 14:47 to seal the 3-2 win for the visitors.
For the Everblades, Gahagen (12-8-1-1) made 23 saves and saw a four-game winning streak come to an end. Ingham (6-4-1-1) turned aside 23 Florida shots and earned the victory for the Swamp Rabbits.
The Everblades continue the longest homestand of the year with the second of three meetings with the Swamp Rabbits Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Follow us on Twitter @prohockeynews
You must be logged in to post a comment.