Everblades Force Game 7

The Florida Everblades have forced a decisive Game Seven. On the strength of three second-period goals, the Everblades defeated the Jacksonville Icemen 4-1 in Game Six of the South Division Semifinals Tuesday night at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, tying the series at three games apiece. Game Seven will be played in Jacksonville on Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m.

With a second straight win after trailing the series three games to one, the Everblades will play in the organization’s first Game Seven since the 2018 Kelly Cup Finals and fifth time overall in franchise history.

Neither team was able to get on the board in the first period, despite both squads enjoying several prime opportunities to break the ice. For the Everblades, goaltender Cam Johnson turned aside all 10 Jacksonville shots, while his counterpart Matt Vernon stopped all eight Florida that came his way. Both sides went 0-for-1 on the power play in the opening frame.

For the Everblades, fortunes changed early in the second period as Bobo Carpenter and Cole Moberg potted back-to-back goals just over two minutes apart to give the Blades a 2-0 lead. Carpenter swatted home a loose puck in front of the Jacksonville goal for an unassisted tally just 5:04 into the frame to open the scoring, while Moberg wristed home a crafty behind-the-back pass from Josh Ho-Sang to double the lead at 7:07. Matthew Wedman also added an assist.

Logan Lambdin would extend the Everblades’ lead to 3-0, capping off an odd-man rush by one-timing home a pass from Joe Pendenza at the 16:37 mark, with Sean Josling adding an assist, on a much-needed insurance goal heading into the third period.

Jacksonville’s Justin McRae got the Icemen on the board with a power-play goal at 15:45 of the third period to spoil Johnson’s bid for a ninth career postseason shutout, as the Icemen trimmed the Blades’ lead to 3-1.

Carpenter added an empty-net goal at 18:01 for his second of the game to close out the scoring with Florida on top 4-1.

Florida won the shot battle 27-25. Johnson turned aside 24 shots in the Everblades’ victory, while Vernon made 23 saves and suffered the loss for the Icemen.

For the third time in the series, the Sunshine State rivals battled to a scoreless first period. Neither team was able to find the net in the opening 20 minutes in Games Two, Four and Six.

The Everblades’ three-goal second period was the second middle frame in the series in which the good guys scored three times, matching their output in a 4-3 overtime loss in Game Three at Hertz Arena. Bobo Carpenter and Logan Lambdin both scored for the second straight game, while Cole Moberg struck for the first time in the playoffs.

Josh Ho-Sang, Matthew Wedman and Sean Josling all had their third assists of the playoffs in the busy second period. Wedman added a team-high fourth assist on the final goal of the game.

The Everblades held Jacksonville to a series-low 25 shots on goal.

Tuesday Night’s Scoresheet