Friday Five: North Division Clinched, Everblades Perform A Miracle

Another division was clinched, and a goalie fight seemed to energize the defending Kelly Cup champions. That’s just scratching the surface on another wild Friday in the ECHL.

Let’s get to our Friday Five top performances.

Trois-Rivieres Lions

The Trois-Rivieres Lions have won the ECHL North Division, thanks to a 6-4 road victory over the Maine Mariners on Friday.

The Lions dominated the majority of the opening period, but Mariners goaltender Brad Arvinitis was perfect in net, stopping all 16 shots he faced.

Maine netted the only tally of the first period. Robert Cronin made a nice move off the right wall and toe-dragged into the slot, beating Lions netminder Hunter Jones with a backhander at 14:29.

Chris Jandric and Andrew Coxhead each scored in the first minute of the second period to give the Lions a 2-1 lead. The Lions then scored two more and it was 4-1 for Trois-Rivières by the 6:38 mark.

The Mariners used the power play to close the gap midway through the frame when Sebastian Vidmar netted his 10th of the season at 10:59. After Maine squandered a 5-on-3 chance, Justin Ducharme tapped home a pretty passing play to put the Lions back up 5-2 after 40 minutes.

Isaac Dufort made it 6-2 just 20 seconds into the third period, and although the Mariners initiated a comeback with Sebastian Vidmar and Zachary Massicotte each beating Jones to make the score 6-4, that would turn out to be as close as the Mariners would get and the Lions skated off the ice as North Division champions.

It’s worth mentioning that Vidmar scored a pair of goals and added an assist in the loss for Maine.

Matt Radomsky: Rapid City Rush

The Kansas City Mavericks were riding the momentum of clinching the Mountain Division earlier this week heading into Friday’s matchup with the Rapid City Rush. Matt Radomsky brought that momentum to a screeching halt.

The Rush goaltender stopped 45 of 48 shots in a 6-3 road win over the Mavs at Cable Dahmer Arena. Maurizio Colella helped the cause with two goals.

Radomsky’s night didn’t start out well, as the Mavericks scored three minutes in and peppered him with 20 shots in the opening period. The Rush trailed 2-1 going into the first intermission.

The two sides went back and forth to start the second, with Kansas City answering a David Gagnon game-tying goal to re-take a 3-2 lead.

Colella scored the game-tying and go-ahead goals just three minutes apart. The Rush would not relinquish that lead, as Billy Constantinou added to it late in the second and Chase Pauls scored an empty-netter in the final minute of the third.

Rapid City’s offense scored six goals for the first time since Feb. 28. Despite the Mavs’ first-period onslaught, the Rush defense minimized the number of odd-man looks for Kansas City.

Radomsky slammed the door after the first 20 minutes, despite facing at least 14 shots in each period. He earned his 13th win and is now 2-1 against Kansas City this season.

Florida Everblades

No one can say the defending Kelly Cup Champions are resting on their laurels after three straight Kelly Cup titles, especially following Friday’s amazing comeback against the Savannah Ghost Pirates.

After trailing 3-0 and then 4-1, the Blades roared back with four unanswered goals for an incredible 5-4 win in a contest that featured a game misconduct and a goalie fight.

In the third, Florida’s Jesse Lansdell got hit with a match penalty for a check to the head, leading to a five-minute power play for the Ghost Pirates.

The Everblades then took another penalty to make it a 5-on-3. Devon Paliani capitalized to make it 4-1 Ghost Pirates.

A major scrum then broke out, clearing both benches and resulting in a goalie fight between Will Cranley and Evan Cormier.

That seemed to fire up the Everblades. Kyle Betts went upstairs on a shorthanded breakaway with his first shortie of the season to make it 4-2. A five-hole goal by Dillon Hamaliuk narrowed the margin to 4-3.

Before even needing to pull the goalie, Harrison Israels had the puck go off him and in for his first professional goal to tie the game at four. With time winding down in regulation, Isaac Nurse scored with two seconds left to complete the miraculous comeback for the Everblades.

Wow.

Anthony Callin: Worcester Railers

Callin notched a pair of goals and added an assist in Worcester’s 5-4 victory over the Adirondack Thunder on the road.

It was a wild first period, with five goals between the two teams. Adirondack carried a 3-2 lead after 20 minutes.

After trailing 3-1, the Railers struck with four unanswered goals. After Matias Rajaniemi made it 3-2 late in the first, Callin tied the score 3:36 into the second on a shorthanded goal.

Callin was followed by Cole Donhauser 13:27 into the middle frame. The period ended the same way it started when Callin buried his second of the night at the 19:18 mark for his second unassisted goal of the night.

Neither team was able to net a goal until 17:23 into the third, when Dan Ebrahim made it a one goal game with Jeremy Brodeur pulled to the Thunder bench. The Railers kept the Thunder off the board for the final 2:37 of the third period, leading to the 5-4 win.

Callin’s second unassisted goal marked his fifth unassisted tally of the season, breaking a tie with Barry Almeida and Nic Pierog for most in a single season in Railers history. His second goal also stood as the game-winner, marking his sixth of the season. That ties him with Anthony Repaci's six scored in the 2021-22 campaign.

Ryan McGuire: Iowa Heartlanders

Keltie Jeri-Leon scored on the breakaway three minutes into overtime to secure a 4-3 victory for the Iowa Heartlanders over Norfolk at Xtream Arena.

After opening the scoring on Iowa’s first shot of the game, McGuire then scored his second of the night on the power play with less than five minutes remaining in the third to tie it 3-3 and force overtime.

Following a Norfolk turnover in the offensive zone, McGuire capitalized on a breakaway with a one-timer to put the Heartlanders on top 1-0.

When the Admirals’ Brandon Osmundson went to the sin bin, McGuire got a lucky bounce off a shot to tie the game late in the third and send it into the bonus period.