With their backs against the wall and needing a victory to remain alive in the 2024 Kelly Cup Playoffs, the Florida Everblades did exactly that, claiming a 3-1 victory over the Jacksonville Icemen in Game Five of the South Division Semifinals Saturday night at Hertz Arena. With Jacksonville leading three games to two, the series shifts back to North Florida and the Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena for Game Six on Tuesday.
Three different Blades scored goals, nine different Florida players tallied points, and first star of the game Cam Johnson stopped 27 of 28 shots in a total team effort as the Everblades extended the series in front of 5,247 diehard Southwest Florida hockey fans that stuck around to salute the Blades after the final whistle.
It took almost the entire first period, but for the first time in the series, the Everblades struck first. Following a big hit by Jesse Lansdell that dislodged the puck from a Jacksonville player in the visitors’ end, Bobo Carpenter slammed home the game’s first goal from the doorstep to give the good guys a 1-0 lead. Carpenter’s first goal of the playoffs came at 19:35 of the opening period and resulted in Florida’s first lead of the series. Riese Zmolek joined Lansdell in the assist column.
Florida wasted little time doubling its lead, as Logan Lambdin connected for the first time in the series just 1:34 into the second period, giving Florida a 2-0 lead and setting off an eruption inside Hertz Arena. Joe Pendenza won a faceoff in the right circle and Sean Josling immediately fed Lambdin for the score.
While Jacksonville’s Chris Grando trimmed the Everblades’ lead to 2-1 at 10:10 of the second, Mark Senden restored the home team’s two-goal lead, putting the Blades on top 3-1 with exactly three minutes left in the middle frame. Defensemen Jordan Sambrook and Zach Berzolla both earned helpers as the duo set up Senden’s insurance goal from the left circle.
Neither team scored in the third period. The Everblades claimed a 31-28 edge in shots on the night.
Bobo Carpenter gave the Everblades the team’s first lead of the series with his first professional playoff goal in the final minute of the opening period. Carpenter, who was sidelined throughout the Blades’ 2023 Kelly Cup championship run, lit the lamp with 25 seconds remaining in the first stanza.
Logan Lambdin’s first goal of the playoffs was his ninth postseason tally in a Blades sweater. He found the net eight times in 22 contests a year ago, as the Everblades claimed the organization’s third Kelly Cup.
With assists on Bobo Carpenter’s goal, Jesse Lansdell and Riese Zmolek earned the first postseason assists of their professional careers.
Mark Senden’s first pro playoff marker came off assists by Jordan Sambrook and Zach Berzolla. Sambrook’s helper was his second point of the series, while Berzolla’s playoff assist was his first in an Everblades sweater since 2021.
CLIP 1
Game 5 between the Icemen and Everblades… Florida strikes first as Bobo Carpenter puts home the rebound from a Jesse Lansdell shot 1-0 FLA.
CLIP 2
Halfway through the second, Everblades leading 2-0, Icemen get on the board when Chris Grando puts back the rebound in front to make it a 2-1 game.
CLIP 3
However, later in the period, the ;Blades strike back as Mark Senden scores on the wrist shot to make it 3-1CLIP 4
Icemen would fight back, but Florida goaltender Cam Johnson refused to allow another goal, as he stops these 3 opportunities in front of him, and the Everblades win 3-1 and the Icemen will host Game 6 on Tuesday at Vystar Arena 7 pm for another chance to close out the series.
