Blades pad division lead
Goaltender Matt Ginn made 30 saves Wednesday night to enhance the Florida Everblades’ impressive 5-1 win over the Reading Royals.
The victory put more distance between the first-place Everblades (44-20) and their two nearest contenders in the ECHL’s East Division standings. The Blades lead the standings by seven points over the Royals (41-23) and eight points over the South Carolina Stingrays (40-25).
All three teams have clinched a berth in the postseason playoffs along with four other teams in the league. Only Allen in the Central Division of the Western Conference has clinched a division title so far.
The Everblades, who are unbeaten in the last 12 games, are in an enviable position in the standings heading into their final eight regular season games, starting with Friday and Saturday matches with the Jackals in Elmira, N.Y. They return to Germain Arena next Wednesday where they play five of their final six games.
Ray Kaunisto got the scoring started Wednesday just 33 seconds into the contest, taking a centering pass from Mike Aviani. Nicholas Deschamps jammed the puck home later in the period to make it 2-0.
Bonita Springs native Bobby Preece delivered a 3-0 lead 19 seconds into the second period with a laser shot from the point.
The Blades’ assault continued in the third when Aviani netted his second goal of the game on a rebound blast.
Ginn held the Royals scoreless for the first 57 minutes before grudgingly surrendering a goal to the Royals by Brett Flemming making it 4-1 at the time.
Just moments later, Matt Marquardt threw the puck into an empty net to nail down the four-goal victory.
Blades pad division lead
Goaltender Matt Ginn made 30 saves Wednesday night to enhance the Florida Everblades’ impressive 5-1 win over the Reading Royals.
The victory put more distance between the first-place Everblades (44-20) and their two nearest contenders in the ECHL’s East Division standings. The Blades lead the standings by seven points over the Royals (41-23) and eight points over the South Carolina Stingrays (40-25).
All three teams have clinched a berth in the postseason playoffs along with four other teams in the league. Only Allen in the Central Division of the Western Conference has clinched a division title so far.
The Everblades, who are unbeaten in the last 12 games, are in an enviable position in the standings heading into their final eight regular season games, starting with Friday and Saturday matches with the Jackals in Elmira, N.Y. They return to Germain Arena next Wednesday where they play five of their final six games.
Ray Kaunisto got the scoring started Wednesday just 33 seconds into the contest, taking a centering pass from Mike Aviani. Nicholas Deschamps jammed the puck home later in the period to make it 2-0.
Bonita Springs native Bobby Preece delivered a 3-0 lead 19 seconds into the second period with a laser shot from the point.
The Blades’ assault continued in the third when Aviani netted his second goal of the game on a rebound blast.
Ginn held the Royals scoreless for the first 57 minutes before grudgingly surrendering a goal to the Royals by Brett Flemming making it 4-1 at the time.
Just moments later, Matt Marquardt threw the puck into an empty net to nail down the four-goal victory.
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