ESTERO, Fla. – A three-goal second period and two-point performances by Logan Lambdin and Andrew Fyten propelled the Florida Everblades to an impressive 6-4 victory over the Greenville Swamp Rabbits before a highly-spirited sellout crowd of 7,412 fans Thursday night at Hertz Arena.
The Everblades struck first against the top team in the Eastern Conference standings, as Sean Josling connected with a blast from the slot. Josling’s seventh goal of the season gave the Blades a 1-0 lead at 12:48 of the opening period.
Florida’s lead would hold for the remainder of the first period, but would not last long into a busy middle frame in which the South Division rivals combined for five goals. Greenville took a 2-1 lead with the first two goals of the second period thanks to goals 47 seconds apart by Carter Souch (1:40) and Mark Louis (2:27).
The Blades responded in a big way with three goals to take a 4-2 lead into the second intermission. Fyten (6:45) and Oliver Chau (11:42) regained a lead that the Blades would not relinquish with their third and seventh goals of the year, respectively, while Lambdin tacked on his fifth goal with 1.4 seconds left in the period to open up Florida’s two-goal lead.
Both teams kept their feet on the accelerator in the third period with early unassisted goals. Bobo Carpenter extended the Everblades’ lead to 5-2 with his team-leading ninth goal of the year at 3:17, but Greenville’s Tanner Eberle responded 26 seconds later to trim the Blades’ advantage to 5-3. Souch’s second of the game cut the Florida lead to 5-4 with 5:54 to play in regulation.
Patrick Holway tacked on an empty-net goal with 22 seconds to play to close out the scoring.
Three different Everblades turned in two-point performances in the victory, with Fyten and Lambdin each picking up a goal and an assist, while Evan Nause made an immediate impact in his Everblades debut with two assists.
Florida dominated Greenville with a 38-22 advantage in shots on goal, claiming the edge in all three periods.
Cam Johnson (9-5-3-0) backstopped the victorious Everblades with 18 saves and provided an assist on Holway’s empty netter, while Greenville’s Ryan Bednard (7-7-0-0) stopped 32 Florida shots in a losing effort.
The Everblades and Swamp Rabbits will close out the two-game set on Friday, December 29 at 7:30 p.m. Blades fans can enjoy the final 239 Friday of the 2023 calendar year by purchasing two tickets, two Sunny-D seltzers and a souvenir program for the extra special price of $39.00.
Friday’s game will close out Decades Weekend as we pay homage to the 80’s and 90’s on Friday, while the game will be followed by a post-game skate with the players. Visit floridaeverblades.com for more information and to purchase tickets.
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