NORFOLK, VA – Brant Harris scored twice while John McCarron, Mike Ferrantino, Kevin Raine, Evan Bloodoff, and Curt Gogol each scored a goal to help lead the Florida Everblades (35-10-2-3, 75 points) to a 7-4 come from behind victory over the Norfolk Admirals (19-29-4-0, 42 points) Wednesday night at the Norfolk Scope.
Midway through the first period, Norfolk got on the board first thanks to some nice play inside the attacking zone. Keeping the puck down in the Everblades zone, Brady Vail managed to send a pin point pass to T.J. Foster down at the low right wing circle. All alone, Foster wasted no time in wristing a quick shot past Everblades goaltender Anthony Peters.
Norfolk took advantage of a second chance opportunity to take a 2-0 lead. Despite seeing an initial breakaway attempt be disrupted, the Admirals kept with the play. Picking up the loose puck, Frankie Simonelli turned a shot towards goal. Bouncing off the pads of Anthony Peters, the puck fell right to the stick of Paul Rodrigues who quickly plucked it into the back of the net.
The Everblades needed less than three minutes of the middle frame to cut the Norfolk lead in half. Having a power play opportunity, the Everblades managed to win the faceoff and control the puck down in the Admirals’ zone. Cycling the puck around, Clark Bishop sent a pass over to Harris. Setup in the right wing circle, Harris hammered the puck past Norfolk goaltender Philippe Desrosiers.
Stunting any momentum the Everblades had generated from that early second period goal, the Admirals responded back in style to once again extend their lead to two. On a two-on-one rush, Rodrigues brought the puck quickly into the Florida zone. Rodrigues made a nice move to freeze Anthony Peters before deking right around the goaltender and burying his shot into the open net.
Continuing to fight back, the Everblades once again cut the Admirals lead in half, this time thanks to the play of the penalty kill unit. Reading Norfolk’s passing lanes, Harris stepped into an attempted pass took off the other direction on a breakaway. Harris skated towards goal and made a nice deke move before flipping the puck over the shoulder of Desrosiers and into the top corner of the net.
The Everblades began the third period with an extremely aggressive attack that eventually led to a game-tying goal just over three minutes into the frame. Denying Norfolk of a clearing attempt, Gogol retrieved the loose puck and flipped a pass towards the front of goal. Collecting the pass, McCarron made a spin move before backhanding his shot into the net.
Despite this strong offensive push, the Everblades could not keep the Admirals down for long. Taking advantage of a power play, Norfolk grabbed a 4-3 lead midway through the third period. Brodie Dupont flipped a shot over to a waiting Joey Benik at the right wing circle. Benik fired his shot right behind Peters for the goal.
The Everblades once again battled back to tie the game. Getting to the middle of the ice, Ferrantino ripped a shot through some traffic that managed to find its way into the past Desrosiers.
Taking their first lead of the game, the Everblades completed their comeback attempt as they took a 5-4 lead with just over five minutes remaining in the contest. Driving into the attacking zone, Ferrantino came within inches of his second goal of the game, banging his shot off the post. However, Raine was right there to collect the rebound as he blasted the puck into the back of the net.
Adding some insurance to their lead late in the contest, the Everblades added two more goals to their tally as Bloodoff and Gogol each scored to boost the Everblades to a 7-4 come from behind victory.
Earning his 54th win as a member of the Florida Everblades, Anthony Peters moves into a tie for second all time with Craig Kowalski for wins in franchise history. Peters earned the win after stopping 33 of the 37 shots he faced. Desrosiers suffers the loss in goal for the Admirals after allowing seven goals on 48 shots.
The Florida Everblades continue on their northern road trip this Friday night when they head to Elmira, New York to take on the Elmira Jackals. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Eastern time.
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