Re-Cap: Everblades vs. Jackals

After the Everblades big win against the Royals, a team they had struggled against during the post season, the Blades traveled to Elmira to take on the second best team in the entire league. Did I mention the coach that had been unable to lead the Everblades to victory last season was now behind the bench of one of the most dominant offenses in the ECHL? How about the three former Everblades players that have been putting up big numbers lately?

Needless to say, it didn't look good.



The Jackals opened up the game by applying intense pressure on the Blades. They drew first blood on the power play three minutes into the game. Scant minutes later, Alex Hutching's shot. Unfortunately, he couldn't get it pat the Jackals goaltender. A few minutes later Elgin Reid took on former Everblade Yannick Tifu in the Jackals end. This ultimately cost Reid, as he did not have his jersey secured and was thrown from the game as a result. This was a major blow to the Everblades as they had already been playing short a defenseman since the loss of Kyle Lawson to the Charlotte Checkers. That left the Blades with 4 defensemen for the rest of the game.



The Jackals continued the pressure but eventually the Blades seemed to find their stride and goalie Bobby Goepfert became a goal-tending machine. Around the nine minute mark Matt Pistilli notched his tenth goal of the year to even things up 1-1. Defenseman David Fischer followed that up with his first goal of the season sixteen minutes into the game. Shortly after that the Jackals thought they had the goal that would tie it up, but it was disallowed when the linesmen and referee agreed that Justin Donati had kicked it in. That lucky break gave the Blades the lead at the end of the period 2-1.

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Matt Pistilli opened up the second period right by scoring his second goal of the game two and a half minutes in. The rest of the period was spent in trade of pressure until Mike McKenzie scored his fourth goal of the year around the eleven minute mark.



There was a scuffle as both teams were leaving the ice. One of the Jackals players went after captain Mike Egener. This gave the Blades the power play to start the third.

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The Blades weren't ace, but another lapse in discipline, this time boarding, gave the Blades a second chance on the power play. Mike McKenzie continued his hot streak and scored a his second goal of the night. The Jackals continued to have trouble with discipline (this seems to be a hallmark of Cameron teams, huh?), and it cost them yet again when Matt Pistilli made it 6-1 and earned the hat-trick!


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The Jackals responded a minute later, but it was too late. The final score when the buzzer sounded was 6-2. The Blades came away with a well-deserved win. They have extended their win streak to three games, moved up into 5th in the conference and are 2-0 so far on this road trip. All in all, the Everblades are playing great and being rewarded for it. Hopefully, they can keep this up.