DULUTH, GA – Brandon Buck’s hat trick, his second against Gwinnett this season, powered the Florida Everblades past the Gladiators 6-2 Sunday afternoon. Florida netminder Adrien Lemay stopped 28 shots in his first professional start to record the victory.

Forward Ryan Lang chipped in three assists for the victorious Everblades.

For the second straight game the Everblades struck first.Buck raced down the ice shorthanded and slid the puck under Gwinnett goaltender David Brown for a 1-0 advantage. The Gladiators answered just 37 seconds later as they converted on the same power play opportunity.

The Blades recaptured the lead at the 10:22 mark after killing off a double minor for roughing to defenseman Phil Paquet. Paquet received a pass from Ryan Lang who skated behind the net and fed Cedric Lalonde-McNicoll on the left circle and he fired the puck top shelf for a 2-1 Blades lead heading into the intermission.

The Everblades outscored Gwinnett 2-1 in the second period to extend the lead to 4-2. Chris Higgins tied the game 3:42 into the second period.The Everblades responded with a Dominic Osman tally at 12:53 to give the Blades the lead 3-2.

Brandon Buck extended that lead with a power-play goal with just 20 seconds remaining in the period.

The Everblades started the third period with Buck’s penalty shot goal.Buck was dragged down by Chad Denny to set up the penalty opportunity. Ross Carlson finishrf the scoring for Florida firing in a shot from the slot to make the final 6-2.

The Everblades return home for the final two regular season home games Friday and Saturday in Germain Arena against the Charlotte Checkers.