The Florida Everblades took the ice with eight days of rest and looked anything but rusty.
Opening the South Division Finals in commanding fashion, the Blades jumped all over the Orlando Solar Bears en route to a 5–3 win in Game One at Hertz Arena. The defending champs, who are chasing an unprecedented fourth straight Kelly Cup title, now hold a 1–0 series lead.
Florida struck early and often, building a 5–0 lead by the end of the second period. Cole Moberg got things started just over five minutes into the first, ripping a shot from the blue line to ignite the scoring.
“It’s a great start to a series when you go up five-nothing by the second period,” Moberg said. “We knew we had nine days off, so just getting right back into it from the start."
The second period was all Everblades. Jesse Lansdell doubled the lead on the power play, and goals followed from Jordan Sambrook, Colton Hargrove, and Carson Gicewicz, whose tally capped off a dominant middle frame.
"Just a tremendous effort by our group,” head coach Brad Ralph said. “We got out to a great start. Obviously, we had a 5-0 lead, something we're not accustomed to. So I think it's a great sign for our team, just how badly we want it.”
Orlando fought back in the third, scoring three unanswered goals to make things interesting. But Florida’s early explosion proved enough to seal the win and give Ralph his 100th career ECHL playoff victory.
“It feels good,” Ralph said of the milestone. “Those numbers, I don’t really think much about — I’m just happy we’re one of the teams still playing this year.”
Despite the strong start, the Blades weren’t satisfied with letting the Solar Bears back into the game late.
“Just take a breath. Let's be proud that we won the game,” Ralph said. “We kind of let them back in the game with a couple of easy goals late. And the great sign is our guys aren't happy with that. So the message was: great effort, let's find ways to get better, and rest and recovery for tomorrow.”
Special teams were a bright spot for Florida, who scored twice on the power play — an area Ralph admitted hasn’t always been a strength.
“We had two power-play goals,” Ralph said. “It's something that hasn't really been a strength of ours all season long. But this time of year, guys are really focused and bought in, and we're finding different ways to score. And power play has been one of them.”
Moberg echoed the team’s focus heading into Game Two.
“Obviously it’s game one of a series — can’t get too high,” he said. “But obviously we're all very happy to get the first win.”
“At the end of the day, 5–3 win in playoffs is a 5–3 win,” Moberg added. “I think just the rest and recovery was the best part, honestly... just being able to rest and then tweak our systems, tweak everything and get ready for this one was perfect.”
Florida will host Orlando again for Game Two on Saturday at Hertz Arena. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m.
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