ESTERO, Fla. — The Savannah Ghost Pirates, proud ECHL affiliate of the Florida Panthers, fell 7–3 to the Florida Everblades on Wednesday night at Hertz Arena.
Florida opened the scoring just 3:07 into the first period when Jesse Lansdell worked his way in and finished his own rebound to make it 1–0.
The Everblades extended their lead with 5:15 remaining in the period as Oliver Chau scored from below the right circle to make it 2–0. Florida added another before the end of the frame when Reid Duke converted a Hudson Elynuik pass from the slot on the power play, giving the Everblades a 3–0 lead after one.
Florida made it 4–0 at the 6:51 mark of the second period when Craig Needham scored from the left side near the crease.
Savannah got on the board at 8:15 of the second as Will Riedell snapped a shot in from the point. Ivan Chukarov and Nick Granowicz recorded the assists.
The Everblades responded late in the period, with Needham netting his second of the game after multiple chances in front to extend the lead to 5–1 heading into the third.
Florida added two quick goals early in the third period—scored by Logan Lambdin and Tarun Fizer within 16 seconds—to push the lead to 7–1.
The Ghost Pirates answered at the 6:46 mark of the third when Dennis Cesana found Reece Vitelli in the left circle, and he buried the chance to make it 7–2. Vitelli added his second of the night on a 5-on-3 power play later in the period, finishing from the left circle off a feed from Cristophe Tellier to round out the scoring at 7–3.
Cam Johnson earned the win for Florida, stopping 21 of 24 shots. Vinnie Purpura made 22 saves on 29 shots for Savannah, while Noah Giesbrecht did not face a shot in relief.
The Ghost Pirates continue their road trip Friday night against the Florida Everblades with puck drop scheduled for 7:30 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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