ECHL hockey: Everblades silence Thunder, move one game from clinching conference final

GLENS FALLS, N.Y. -- Special teams.

Thank you and good night.

The story of Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals will include names and plays, but at its root, the Florida Everblades’ special teams were far superior to Adirondack’s on Friday in a 7-3 win before 2,899 fans at Cool Insuring Arena.

Florida leads the series 3-1 and can close it out here Saturday night.

"We certainly need to be more disciplined," Florida coach Brad Ralph said. "… It’s a game of momentum. We were fortunate tonight.

All four of Florida’s goals through the first two periods were scored on special teams -- three via power play and one shorthanded. That one, however, was the first one of the game and the natural result of what had been brewing.

Thunder starting goalie Drew Fielding had already saved two good shorthanded scoring opportunities before the Everblades’ Logan Roe went off for hooking at 14:40 of the first period. It took Florida only 15 seconds to turn that situation into a goal, as it had a 3-on-2, with Stephen MacAulay notching his first of the playoffs.

More:ECHL hockey: Everblades pull out Game 3 win at Adirondack, lead series 2-1

“To get that shorthanded goal and get the guys going, I was just happy to get it past him and bury it,” MacAulay said.

Florida committed four penalties in the first and three more in the second period, but it wasn’t until Troy Bourke’s second goal of the playoffs made it a 6-2 Florida lead at 11:52 of the third period that Adirondack scored a power-play goal. It finished 1 for 9 on the power play, while Florida was 3 of 4.

“Everything that could go wrong did go wrong,” Thunder coach Brad Tapper said of Florida’s special-team goals.

True enough. Zack Kamrass scored with 43 seconds left in the first on a slap shot that bounced off a Thunder defenseman to make it 2-0.

More:ECHL hockey: Thunder beat Everblades in overtime to even conference finals at 1-1

The Thunder benefited from strange bounces as well. Ryan Schmelzer scored his team- and franchise-high 10th playoff goal at 5:41 of the second when he intercepted a pass and his shot started to go wide, but bounced off an Everblades defenseman.

Florida, however, tallied two more power-play goals, as David Dziurzynski scored on a rebound and Sam Warning wristed one over Fielding’s shoulder.

That goal forced Fielding to the bench in favor of Olivier Mantha.

“Even a simple pass from our d-man to a forward twice hit something on the boards and bounced five feet away from our player,” Tapper said. “Just one of those nights, we all feel terrible, but I tell you for (expletive) sure we’re not going to quit (Saturday).”

Florida increased the lead to 6-1 before Adirondack rallied slightly with Bourke’s goal and James Henry’s second goal of the playoffs on a nice cut to the goal and a good pass from Bourke.

The Everblades added an empty-net goal with 2:37 left to finish the scoring.

Clearly, Adirondack’s special teams have been worse than the regular season, but a lot of credit also goes to Florida. The Everblades are tall, big and very fast. The pokes that got the puck away from Worcester or Manchester aren’t doing the trick against the Everblades, so the Thunder will have to figure something out very quickly.

"We’re real loaded with skill up front and on the back, too, so we have done a great job of getting contributions from so many guys throughout the lineup," MacAulay said. "You could see the balanced scoring, and it paid off again tonight."

Henry said it all comes down to work ethic.

“They outworked us in all aspects of the game,” Henry said. “We didn’t give ourselves a chance. We were sloppy with our passes; we weren’t first on loose pucks. Things like that cost us the special teams battle and, ultimately, the whole game.”

Eastern Conference Finals

Florida 3, Adirondack 1

Friday, May 11: Florida 4, Adirondack 3

Saturday, May 12: Adirondack 3, Florida 2, OT

Wednesday: Florida 3, Adirondack 2

Friday: Florida 7, Adirondack 3

Saturday: Florida at Adirondack, 7:00 p.m.

x-Monday, May 21: Adirondack at Florida, 7:30 p.m.

x-Wednesday, May 23: Adirondack at Florida, 7:30 p.m.

x-if necessary

EVERBLADES 7, THUNDER 3

Florida 2 2 3 - 7
Adirondack 0 1 2 - 3

1st Period-1, Florida, MacAulay 1 (Mackenzie, Smallman), 14:57 (SH). 2, Florida, Kamrass 2 (Young, Smallman), 19:17 (PP). Penalties-McCarron Fla (slashing), 0:10; Dziurzynski Fla (roughing), 8:26; Lorentz Fla (tripping), 9:49; Roe Fla (hooking), 14:40; White Adk (tripping), 17:37.

2nd Period-3, Adirondack, Schmelzer 10   5:41. 4, Florida, Dziurzynski 4 (Kirkpatrick, Mackenzie), 13:18 (PP). 5, Florida, Warning 3 (McCarron), 16:54 (PP). Penalties-Cox Fla (cross-checking), 2:12; Riley Adk (roughing), 2:12; McCarron Fla (boarding), 7:59; Henry Adk (roughing), 9:22; Miller Adk (slashing), 13:04; Bourke Adk (hooking), 15:01; Heard Fla (hooking), 18:02; McCarron Fla (boarding), 18:28.

3rd Period-6, Florida, Heard 5 (Kirkpatrick), 4:35. 7, Florida, Lorentz 3 (Bulmer), 5:44. 8, Adirondack, Bourke 2 (Schmelzer, White), 11:52 (PP). 9, Adirondack, Henry 2 (Bourke, Brodeur), 14:50. 10, Florida, Bulmer 5 (MacAulay), 17:23 (EN). Penalties-Heard Fla (slashing), 0:25; Sheppard Fla (diving/embellishment), 1:35; Brodeur Adk (slashing), 1:35; Lorentz Fla (hooking), 11:14.

Shots on Goal-Florida 13-13-6-32. Adirondack 14-16-10-40.
Power Play Opportunities-Florida 3 / 4; Adirondack 1 / 9.
Goalies-Florida, Ouellette (40 shots-37 saves). Adirondack, Fielding (25 shots-21 saves); Mantha (6 shots-4 saves).
A-2,899
Referees-Alex Normandin (26), Jonathan Sitarski (23).
Linesmen-Charlie O'Connor (43), JP Waleski (51).