The Florida Everblades returned victorious Wednesday night, defeating division-leading Greenville 5-2 in the first of three crucial games this week at Germain Arena.

The win lifts the Everblades (27-21-2) into a points tie with the Road Warriors in the South Division.

The Blades got the scoring started early as defenseman Bobby Raymond scored his fourth goal of the year just 2:20 into the game. Ethan Fisher added his first goal of the season while on the power play, with less than a minute to go in the opening frame, giving the Blades a 2-0 edge.

“Our game plan was to play a lot smarter with the puck, and puck management and we did a good job of that through the first two periods,” said Blades coach Greg Poss.

Greenville (27-16-2), which has won seven of 11 meetings with the Blades this season, got on the scoreboard with a power-play goal of its own in the last five minutes of the second period, but not before the Blades grabbed a 3-0 lead. Mathieu Roy tacked on his ninth score of the year.

Despite shaky play through most of the third period, mostly due to penalties, Ross Carlson made it 4-1 Blades, guaranteeing there would be no comeback for Greenville this night. Alexandre Imbeault scored the final goal on the empty net in the final of minute of play.

“This is the first game of three this week against these guys,” said starting goalie Bobby Goepfert (34 saves). “Each game is going to get tougher … but we got the two points, that’s what matters.”

The Blades and Road Warriors continue the series Friday night.