The Florida Everblades began a crucial two-game series Saturday night against South Division leading Greenville, skating away with a 4-3 overtime victory at Germain Arena.

“That’s definitely the way we need to play hockey,” said Everblades coach Greg Poss.

The Everblades entered the contest in the middle of redefining their style of play due to call-ups, injuries and trades, going from an offensive oriented team to a defensive one. The new game plan was worked to perfection Saturday night as the Blades held the powerful Road Warriors to just three shots in the first period of play.

Mathieu Roy tallied a power-play goal that gave the Blades a 1-0 lead.

The new defensive style of play requires the Blades to take advantage of any scoring opportunities they may have. That need failed the Everblades, who had a two-man power-play advantage for 1:30 in the second period. Greenville gained some momentum against a stingy defense. The Road Warriors carried that energy through the final eight minutes of second period, eventually leading to the visiting squad beating starting goaltender Bobby Goepfert to tie the game going into the last period of play.

Florida’s defense kicked into high gear for the third period, holding the Road Warriors to only two shots through the first 11minutes. The defensive effort led the Blades to a brief lead in the period as Alex Hutchings scored his 11th goal of the year while the Everblades were killing off a penalty. The lead lasted mere seconds as Greenville won the ensuing faceoff and beat Goepfert (21 saves) to tie the game with less than 10 minutes of play.

The tight, playoff style of hockey between the rivals continued through the remainder of regulation, with the Bladed seeming to get the upper hand when Matt Beca regained the lead with less than two minutes to go in regulation.

The Warriors refused to go away quietly. As with their last goal, the Warriors won the ensuing faceoff, tying the game and forcing overtime, less than 30 seconds.

“For us, it’s right now,” said Poss. “Realistically, we can’t catch Greenville in the standings, but every point is important to keep us ahead of everyone else behind us.”

Beca wound up the hero in overtime, scoring the game-winner on a power play, inching the Blades one point closer to Greenville in the standings.

The Blades (32-16-4) and Warriors (37-22-3) square off for the final time in the regular season at 5 p.m. Sunday.