All good things come to those who wait.
It wasn’t until 13 minutes into the second period that the Florida Everblades found their rhythm. Once they did, the defending Kelly Cup champions closed out the Greenville Swamp Rabbits 5-1 Wednesday night at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
Florida tallied four goals in the third period to break the game open. Three Everblades skaters had two-point performances, led by Carson Gicewicz with two goals. Jesse Lansdell chipped in with a goal and an assist, and Santino Centorame registered two assists.
The teams combined for just nine shots on goal in the opening frame, with the Everblades claiming a narrow 5-4 edge.
Each team had a power-play opportunity, but neither could capitalize and went to their respective dressing rooms scoreless after 20 minutes.
Gicewicz finally broke the scoreless drought with an unassisted goal at 12:59 of the second period. He picked up an errant puck at the Blades’ blue line, skated quickly past the Greenville defense and potted his team-leading 23rd goal of the season to put Florida on top 1-0.
It didn’t take long for the Swamp Rabbits to get the equalizer. John Parker-Jones tied the score with a power-play goal roughly three minutes later.
Jones fired a shot from the side of the net that ricocheted off of Connor Doherty and slipped past Everblades goaltender Cam Johnson. It was Greenville’s fourth consecutive game to score with the man advantage, and the game was 1-1 heading into the third.
That’s when the Everblades went into high gear offensively. For the second straight game, Florida exploded for four unanswered goals in a period.
Lansdell got the party started at the 7:45 mark, with Gicewicz lighting the lamp for his 24th of the year just 59 seconds later.
Dillon Hamaliuk and Alex Kile closed out the scoring with goals at 11:40 and 14:22 of the third to seal the 5-1 victory.
The Everblades outshot Greenville 23-18, with goaltender Cam Johnson stopping 17 of 18 shots. Pierce Charleson, making his second pro start in the last three games for Greenville, saved 18 of 23 shots to take the loss.
The victory eliminated Greenville from Kelly Cup Playoff contention with 10 games left in the regular season.
Florida continues their four-game road swing with a two-game stop in Savannah for a pair of games against the Ghost Pirates. Puck drop for Thursday is slated for 7 Pm ET, while Friday’s contest is scheduled for 7:30 Pm.
The Swamp Rabbits head to North Charleston to face the South Carolina Stingrays Friday. Puck drop is set for 7:05 Pm ET.