ESTERO, Fla. — The Savannah Ghost Pirates, proud ECHL affiliate of the Florida Panthers, dropped their fourth straight game in a 5–2 loss to the Florida Everblades on Friday night at Hertz Arena.
Savannah opened the scoring 7:11 into the first period when Evan Nause weaved into the offensive zone and centered a pass to Liam Walsh, who finished it off to make it 1–0. Bryce Brodzinski recorded the secondary assist.
Florida tied the game in dramatic fashion with less than a second remaining in the period as Sam Stange scored five-hole from the right circle, sending the teams into the intermission tied 1–1.
The Everblades took their first lead 3:10 into the second period when Oliver Chau set up Carson Gicewicz, who finished from the left side to make it 2–1.
Savannah responded just 52 seconds later on the power play. Dennis Cesana’s point shot rang off the post, and Riley Hughes buried the rebound to even the score at 2–2. Cristophe Tellier added the secondary assist.
Florida regained the lead midway through the period when Sean Allen’s point shot found its way through traffic to give the Everblades a 3–2 advantage after two.
The Everblades extended their lead in the third after a Savannah turnover led to Gicewicz scoring on a one-timer from the left circle to make it 4–2.
Gicewicz completed the hat trick with 5:13 remaining, tipping in a Gianfranco Cassaro shot to cap the scoring at 5–2.
Cam Johnson earned the win for Florida, stopping 28 of 30 shots. Vinnie Purpura made 31 saves on 36 shots for Savannah.
The Ghost Pirates return to action Saturday night against the Florida Everblades with puck drop scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET. The game will be streamed live on FloHockey and broadcast on Mixlr. Tickets and additional information about upcoming home games are available at ghostpirateshockey.com.
— GHOST PIRATES —
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