Re-Cap: Everblades vs. Cyclones (12/4/10)

The Everblades had their second game in as many nights against the defending Kelly Cup champion Cincinnati Cyclones. The Cyclones proved Friday that they wouldn't roll over and take a steamrolling quietly. Tonight was no diffrent.

On top of that, Drew Larman and Kyle Lawson were out with what Kevin Reiter, the Blades radio announcer, called a stomach bug, and Mike Kennedy and Alex Imbeault were placed on the IR list.

Because of that, the Blades had to play two players short.

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Once again, the Cyclones opened up the scoring, slipping one past goalie Jaroslav Janus two minutes into the game. The Cyclones held that lead until Alex Hutchings evened things up 1-1. Minutes later Hutchings was able to give the Blades the 2-1 lead thanks to a too many men call. The Cyclones answered back seconds later to tie it up once again. There were cries from the Blades that it was scored with a high stick. During the chaos, Mathieu Roy got into it with one of the Cyclones.

The goal stood, and Roy and his new friend went off to their respective boxes. Play resumed for a short while. then one of the Cyclones slashed a Blade, the Blades maintained possession during the delayed call and at some point during this time former Everblade Benn Olson was able to goad Evgeny Timkin into a fight.

Anyone who watched Olson fight will know how things went for Timkin.

With both pugilists off to the box as well as the player gulity of the slash, the Everblades were on their first power play of the night. The boys didn't disappoint when they were able to convert with Alex Hutchings third goal of the night to take the lead 3-2 lead an earn Hutchings his first professional hat-trick.



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About 30 seconds later, Matt Beca was able to get a dirty goal during a scramble to give the Blades the 4-2 lead. Francis Lemieux followed that up a few minutes later on the power play to make it 5-2. When the buzzer sounded the Blades left the ice with the comfortable lead, and two periods to go.

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The second period was for the most part back and forth. Both teams put up strong defenses, and were able to stay out of the box for the most part. The Cyclones were able to narrow the lead to 5-3 around the 16:00 mark, but the Blades were able to hang on after that, and left the ice with a slightly less comfortable lead than before.

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The third was similar to the second period, although the Cyclones really began to apply major pressure. The Blades managed to hold them off, including going on the penalty kill for the first time all night. The final score in the game was 5-3 and the Everblades had won their sixth straight. You can see the game sheet here.

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Some thoughts:
- How weird is it that what happened to the Blades Friday (no power play opportunity until the third) happened to the Cyclones this game? The refs were different though so maybe it's just an odd coincidence.
- I don't want to take away from Alex Hutchings great night, but this game is proof that whomever ends up on a line with Lemieux and Fadden is going to benefit. First Imbeault, then Pistilli, and now Hutchings are finding success with those two.
- The win puts the Blades in 2nd in the Division and 4th in the Conference.