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Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Takeaways From Game 1 Action Of Kelly Cup Division Finals
Photo Courtesy of the Florida Everblades Three of the four Division Finals series got underway Friday, with some games featuring goaltending duels and others slugging it out on offense. Here are takeaways from the action. No Overtime Necessary The Florida Everblades won each of their four games in the first round of the Kelly Cup Playoffs in sudden-death overtime. They became the first team in ECHL post-season history to sweep a four-game series by winning each in OT. Advertisement So what would happen if the defending Kelly Cup champions were given a big lead? That question was answered in Game 1 of the South Division Finals Friday against the Orlando Solar Bears at Hertz Arena. The Blades built a 5-0 lead and hung on to win 5-3, taking the first game of the series. Florida used a four-goal second period to jump on the Solar Bears, with five different skaters lighting the lamp in the game. The Everblades grabbed the momentum in the first period when defenseman Cole Moberg fired in a one-timer from the right point at 5:38, giving Florida a 1-0 lead. A power-play goal by Jesse Lansdell 1:34 into the second period extended the Everblades' lead to 2-0. They struck for three more goals in a 6:33 span to pull ahead 5-0. Jordan Sambrook, Colton Hargrove and Carson Gicewicz each potted goals to give their team what appeared to be a dominant lead. Advertisement The Solar Bears tried to mount a comeback by scoring three unanswered goals of their own in the third period. Hudson Thornton scored at 1:25, Ara Nazarian added a tally at the 6:44 mark and Djibril Touré made the score 5-3 at 14:36. Florida hung on, however, claiming the 5-3 victory to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Florida outshot Orlando 27-18, and Cam Johnson made 15 saves to improve to 5-0 in the playoffs. Orlando goalies Jon Gillies and Ryan Fanti logged 14 and eight saves, respectively. Everblades Head Coach Brad Ralph picked up his 100th ECHL playoff win, becoming the first head coach to reach the century mark in Kelly Cup post-season play. Ralph is 100-58 all-time, including an 80-40 mark leading the Blades in the post-season. Advertisement Game 2 is Saturday in Estero, with puck drop set for 7 Pm ET. A First For Jones Great goaltending was the story at Colisée Vidéotron in Trois-Rivieres between the Lions' Hunter Jones and the Norfolk Admirals' Thomas Milic. It was Jones who got the better of the duel, stopping all 16 shots faced in a 1-0 thriller over the Admirals. Jones earned his first shutout in a Lions sweater, guiding his club to a 1-0 lead in the North Division Finals. The Lions limited Norfolk to just two shots in the second period and took the lead during a 4-on-4 sequence on a goal by Xavier Cormier, his first of the post-season. Advertisement Trois-Rivières maintained their defensive dominance in the third, successfully fending off a 6-on-5 situation late in the game. Milic stood tall in his fifth consecutive playoff start, stopping 34 of 35 shots in a tough loss. Game 2 is Sunday afternoon in Trois-Rivieres, with puck drop set for 3 Pm ET. Spectacular Spezia On the opposite end of the scale, offense was the order of the night in Toledo, with the Walleye edging the Fort Wayne Komets 5-4 to take a 1-0 lead in their best-of-seven Central Division Finals series. It's been a tough last couple of months for Walleye forward Tyler Spezia, as he returned following an injury. His team was certainly glad to get him back, as Spezia earned two points on a goal and an assist. Advertisement The Komets struck first on a Blake Murray goal at 8:30 of the opening period. The Walleye would even the score at the 12:12 mark as Colby Ambrosio got his first goal of the playoffs. Toledo took the lead just 41 seconds later on a Colin Swoyer tally from the blue line. Spezia earned the secondary helper on the play. At 14:20, Alex Aleardi tied the game back up 2-2 for Fort Wayne. The score remained that way headed into the first intermission. The offense picked up with five goals between both sides in the middle frame. The Komets would restore their lead with an unassisted goal by Ethan Keppen. Spezia would get his first playoff goal and tie the game 3-3 at 10:55. Advertisement Fort Wayne went right back in front at 13:13 with Aleardi getting his second goal of the game. After that, it was all Toledo. The Walleye took control in the final three minutes of the second period when Trenton Bliss tied the game 4-4 with a tip-in goal to the corner of the net, sneaking past Fort Wayne goaltender Nathaniel Day. Brandon Hawkins and Moulton tallied the assists on the play. With just 16 seconds remaining in the period, Matt Anderson would give Toledo the lead, 5-4, which ended up being the game winner. Bliss and Hawkins picked up the apples. The third period was playoff hockey at its best, featuring plenty of physicality and intense pressure on both sides. Advertisement A called-off Fort Wayne goal and a late power play chance gave them every opportunity to tie this game. But the Fish fed off their home crowd's energy and held on for the win. Game 2 is Saturday night at the Huntington Center, with puck drop scheduled for 7:15 Pm ET.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Everblades Sweep Icemen For Fourth Straight Season, Advance To South Division Finals
In each of their three consecutive Kelly Cup Championship seasons, the Florida Everblades have had to contend with their in-state rival, the Jacksonville Icemen. In each instance, the Everblades advanced with a series sweep. This post-season was no different. The Everblades moved one step closer to a fourth straight Cup by sweeping the Icemen once again. A 4-3 overtime victory Thursday ensured their spot in the South Division Finals as they await the winner of the South Carolina-Orlando series. All four games ended up being decided in overtime. On Thursday, it was Logan Lambdin who provided the heroics, firing in a missile from the low slot at 12:02 to secure the sweep. SWEEP COMPLETELOGAN LAMBDIN SENDS US TO THE SECOND ROUND — x - Florida Everblades (@FL_Everblades) April 25, 2025 For the first time in the series, the Icemen scored first. Logan Cockerill notched his second goal of the playoffs just 3:47 into the game. Kyle Betts made sure that lead didn't last too long, taking a feed from Oliver Chau and putting in a shot from inside the left circle with 19.3 seconds left on the clock to tie the score 1-1. Lambdin also picked up an assist on Betts' second goal of the post-season. Cole Moberg put the Everblades in the lead just over five minutes into the middle frame, rifling in a shot from the right point that deflected off a Jacksonville defender and into the net, putting the Blades on top 2-1. Colton Hargrove doubled the Blades' lead with his second goal in as many games from point-blank range with 1:52 left in the second period. Lambdin picked up another helper on the play with Dillon Hamaliuk tacking on a secondary assist. Desperately trying to prevent a sweep, the Icemen fought back. Shortly after what appeared to be a Florida goal that would have given the Everblades a three-goal lead was waved off, Christopher Brown trimmed the margin to 3-2 with his first goal of the playoffs at the 12:20 mark. Jacksonville pulled their goaltender in favor of an extra skater, and Cockerill's second goal of the game tied the score 3-3 at 18:13, sending the teams to a fourth consecutive overtime. Florida had numerous chances to put the game away until Lambdin finally broke through at the 12:02 mark on a power play. The Everblades outshot Jacksonville 36-21 through regulation and 47-28 through overtime. Everblades goaltender Cam Johnson turned aside 25 of 28 shots and factored in all four wins during the series. Justen Close made 43 saves and suffered the season-ending loss for the Icemen. Other results from Thursday night's playoff action: Charlie Combs scored 10 minutes into overtime to lead the South Carolina Stingrays to a 4-3 victory over the Orlando Solar Bears at the Kia Center. It was Combs' second game-winner of the series, giving the Rays a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven South Division Semifinals. Erik Middendorf tallied two goals for the Stingrays, while Alexander Suzdalev and Combs each had a goal. The game went back and forth until Alex Frye tied the score 3-3 with five minutes remaining in the third period, sending the game into overtime. CHARLIE COMBS WHATTA WAY TO WIN IT IN OT 😮💨 Stingrays lead the series 3-2 👏🏼@SCStingrays — ECHL (@ECHL) April 25, 2025 Combs netted his game-winner 10 minutes into the extra frame, wrapping around from behind the Orlando net and going bar down on goaltender Jon Gillies. Seth Eisele earned the win in his professional post-season debut, stopping 41 of 44 shots. The two teams head back to North Charleston Arena for Game 6 Sunday, with puck drop set for 6:05 Pm ET. The Heartlanders took a 3-2 lead in their best-of-seven Central division Semifinals series with a 5-2 win over the Fort Wayne Komets at Xtream Arena. A total of 10 Iowa skaters picked up points, while goaltender William Rousseau made 34 saves. Keltie Jeri-Leon tallied two goals to lead the Heartlanders with four in the playoffs. A scary moment occurred for the Komets late in the game. During a scramble for the puck in the Fort Wayne zone, forward Odeen Tufto went down in pain, grabbing his left leg and calling for help from the bench. He was tended to by paramedics and taken to a local hospital, and the game resumed after a 15-minute delay. Komets head coach Jesse Kallechy didn't have an update on Tufto's condition following the game, but here's hoping the former Heartlander makes a full and speedy recovery. Game 6 is Sunday in Fort Wayne, with puck drop scheduled for 5:05 Pm ET. Semifinals Marcus Crawford scored his second game-winning goal of the post-season for the Kansas City Mavericks, while goaltender Jack LaFontaine stopped all 29 shots he faced for his third win of the series in a 2-0 win over the Tulsa Oilers. Crawford put in a wrister through traffic 8:54 into the opening period. Justin Macpherson sent a similar wrist shot past Oilers netminder Talyn Boyko at the 8:36 mark of the third period to close out the scoring. Game 5 is Friday at the BOK Center in Tulsa. Puck drop is set for 7:05 Pm CT.
