With Saturday's 4-3 overtime victory over the visiting Chicago Express, the Florida Everblades earned their first 3 game sweep of the season. More importantly, the win moves the team into a tie for first place in the South Division.
Both the Blades and the Gwinnett Gladiators sit atop the group with 45 points after 38 games. As winners of 8 of their last 10 contests, however, Florida now possesses 21 wins. That total is 3 more than the Glads and provides the tie-breaking edge. It is also rates third best in the ECHL's Eastern Conference and reflects just how profoundly the Everblades have improved their once sluggish season.
After earning two fairly comfortable wins over Chicago, completing the sweep proved far more burdensome. Propelled by 2 goals from team-leader David Rutherford, the Blades carried a 3-1 lead into the final frame.
Yet, the Express would not fall without a fight, as they posted a pair of third period goals on Florida's newly-returned net-minder John Muse.
Forcing overtime, the visitors battled capably, as goalie Peter Mannino stopped all 6 shots faced in the extra session, including stonewalling a 2 minute Everblades' power-play.
After 65 minutes of hockey, the real drama unfolded in the decisive shoot-out. Both teams managed 2 scores on their allotted attempts, which resulted in a sudden-death continuation. As the goalies began to dominate, each then yielded only one score during the 7th round. The denials continued until the 15th round, when Florida defenseman Ryan Donald broke the deadlock and ended the game happily.
In besting Chicago's Peter Mannino, the Everblades defeated an NHL goalie for the second consecutive night. While the ECHL prides itself for serving as a feeder league, occasionally fans get the opportunity to watch top-level professional talent.
Back in December, attendees at Germain Arena saw longtime Montreal Canadiens' defenseman Craig Rivet accrue his first ECHL goal for the visiting Elmira Jackals.
On this occasion, fans witnessed back-to-back triumphs over Mannino, a 27 year-old prospect for the Winnipeg Jets, who actually posted 20 shutout minutes in a game for the NHL team earlier this season.
Mannino began his career with the New York Islanders. He competed in 3 NHL games for that franchise during the 2008-09 campaign, sporting a 1-1 record with an underwhelming 4.52 GAA.
The Michigan native has spent most of the current season with the St. John's IceCaps of the AHL, where he posted a capable 2.77 GAA. In the middle of the series in Florida, Mannino was surprisingly assigned to Chicago on Friday, after the team lost Paul Dainton to an intra-league transfer.
The Blades take to the road next week for 3 games against division rivals. The trip begins on Friday, January 20, with a key match-up against the Gladiators, before the club heads to South Carolina for two additional contests.
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