Re-Cap: Everblades vs. Royals (12/29/10)

Several Everblades had trouble making it back from their holiday vacations. In fact, defenseman Kyle Lawson was apparently stuck somewhere in the Midwest when the Blades took the ice. With the defensive core already shrunk thanks to injuries, forward Ross Carlson had to, once again, play defense.



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The Blades started off quite sluggish. That play led to the Royals getting the first goal of the game 2:30 into the period. The Blades had some good chances, but the puck just wasn't bouncing their way. Another goal from the Royals in the closing minutes gave them the two goal lead heading off the ice.

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The Blades played much stronger in the second. They played strong, and held the Royals off the board. A great effort from Francis Lemieux was rewarded with a short-handed goal that was assisted by Mitch Fadden and Phil Paquet. With that goal, you could almost feel the momentum shift and the Everblades wake up. The final score when they left the ice at the end of the second was 3-1.

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Unfortunately, the Royals weren't going down without a fight. About seven minutes into the third they managed to get one past goalie Bobby Goepfert. It looked bad for the Everblades.



Then they got a powerplay, and the Royals were dumb enough to get called for a second.

The Blades went on the offensive.

Mitch Fadden was the first to score. That narrowed the score to 3-2. Mike McKenzie followed that up with one of his own on the power play about a minute later to tie it up with less than three minutes to go.

Neither team was able to convert in the closing minutes, even with the Everblades on the penalty kill. It was time for a little overtime.

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The Blades were able to kill off the last seconds of the penalty kill that carried over to OT. There was a lot of back and forth and tons of opportunities. Then, a seemingly innoucuous shot from the blueline somehow managed to slip past.



The goal was credited to Matt Pistilli who somehow managed to tip in the slapper from Ethan Graham and the Blades got the win! the final score sheet is here.

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It was a really great effort against a team that is number one in it's division, and has the second best record in the entire league. Although they had a depleted roster, and some had just arrived in  Reading that day, the boys were able to overcome. It really says a lot about the team that they never gave up or let any of the adversities in their way cost them the game.