Entering this weekend, the Florida Everblades needed to send a strong message to the division-leading South Carolina Stingrays. The message is they still are a team to be reckoned with come playoff time.

The message was delivered Saturday night in a hard-fought 5-3 victory over the Stingrays at Germain Arena.

“It was more that we needed to send (a message) to us how good we can be,” said Everblades coach Malcolm Cameron. “At this time of year, and especially against the very good teams, you can’t take periods off or have off games. We need everybody competing for 60 minutes and we did tonight.”

From a defensive standpoint, this weekend’s two games were as different as night and day.

Friday night, the Blades failed to control the neutral zone or clear the puck from their end of the ice, resulting in Blades netminder Chris Beckford-Tseu being peppered with 43 shots in a 5-3 loss.

Saturday night’s contest saw a reversal of defensive play. Florida’s defense was on lockdown all night, allowing just 20 shots to find Tseu – a performance the Blades need to see more of if they wish to be successful come playoff time next month.

“That’s how good we can be on any given night,” said Cameron. “We just need to demand that out of ourselves every night because we have proven that we are capable of it.”

Unlike Friday night, Saturday night’s game was a stalemate through 28 minutes before the teams found their offensive strides, each scoring three times over the final 11 1/2 minutes of the second period.

The Blades wouldn’t quit on their effort and energy, and broke away from the Stingrays in the third period, dominating with two goals while only allowing the Rays only seven shots.

“It was very important for us as a team (to play) this way,” said team captain Ross Carlson, who led with two goals and gritty play killing off penalties. “I think it was a very clear message that we sent.”

Though not officially in the playoffs, the Everblades currently are in sixth place in the American Conference standings, which sends eight teams to the playoffs. To get in, the Blades only need to win one of their final six games.

The Everblades (35-22-9) leave town for their final road trip of the season – a four-game tour of all divisional foes beginning Tuesday against fifth-place Charlotte before returning home for their final two games on April 2 and 3.