Three goal final frame rockets Gladiators over Everblades

ESTERO, FLA – A three-goal third period led the Atlanta Gladiators to a 5-3 victory on Friday night as they defeated the Florida Everblades in the first of two games this weekend at Hertz Arena.

After missing the past four games on the ECHL Commissioner’s Exempt List, Bobo Carpenter didn’t skip a beat in his Everblades return, scoring on the power play after a setup from Blake Winiecki at 8:46 of the first period. Jake Jaremko logged his 17th assist of the season as the Everblades cracked the scoreboard first. The Gladiators evened the score with Derek Nesbitt’s shorthanded goal just before the period’s end at 18:39.

At the start of the second period, Atlanta jumped ahead 2-1 on a power play marker of their own with 17:38 to go. Mitchell Hoelscher muscled a shot over Parker Gahagen’s left shoulder with a helper from Michael Turner. Exactly 14 minutes into the stanza, the Everblades made the most of their 5-on-3 as Avery Peterson hit the twine in his team debut to make it a 2-2 game. The feed reached the former Gladiator in front from Bobo Carpenter at the end wall. Florida netted their third power play goal of the evening courtesy of Xavier Bouchard (17:40) as they extended the lead to 3-2.

A costly Everblades turnover in the slot allowed Atlanta to knot things up at three apiece in the third period with a Gabe Guertler shot from between the circles at 5:07. Nesbitt (9:07) went on to score for the second time of the game on a cross-ice feed from Cody Sylvester, pushing the Gladiators in front 4-3 for the eventual game winning goal. Sylvester’s empty netter put the game on ice with 56 seconds left. The Everblades’ setback brings them to 19-11-3-3 this season as Atlanta advances to 20-14-2-1.

The Everblades and Gladiators conclude the weekend on Saturday, January 22nd inside Hertz Arena. We will honor all of the first responders who work tirelessly, especially throughout the pandemic, on First Responders Night presented by the Cape Coral Professional Fire Fighters. The Everblades will wear specialty first responders’ jerseys with auction proceeds of the jerseys donated to the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA).

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