- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,170,403
- Reaction score
- 59
The Florida Everblades' faithful saw the No. 91 on the ice doing a lot of different things over the course of Game 4 of the Kelly Cup Finals on Friday night, June 12. Finessing an assist here, getting tripped up there, sitting in the penalty box for a couple of minutes here.
But the last time they saw Hudson Elyniuk’s number on the ice will be remembered the most. The Florida center took a Jordan Sambrook shot and redirected it into the net for the Everblades’ second-straight overtime win, a 3-2 victory over the Kansas City Mavericks that tied up the best-of-seven series at 2 games apiece.
“Scoring an OT goal in the finals,” Elyniuk said. “That’s honestly what you dream about. You kind of black out when it happens.”
The Blades, who remain undefeated at home this postseason, have the opportunity to take a series lead on Saturday night, June 13, when they host Game 5. The series will return to Kansas City next week for Game 6 and a potential Game 7.
“It’s now a hard reset for tomorrow,” Everblades coach Brad Ralph said. “Focus on tomorrow’s game.”
Sambrook, a defenseman who became the first player in ECHL history to finish the regular season over plus-60, had another big plus moment in overtime. Earlier in the period, former Everblade Bobo Carpenter sent an outlet pass from the far corner all the way to a wide-open Jack Randl skating through neutral ice. It could have been a potentially devastating breakaway, but Sambrook read the pass, skated over to cut Randl off and stole the puck from him in the left face-off circle.
“It’s going to be a big advantage or disadvantage in the first overtime when you switch sides,” Sambrook said. “So I got back and luckily enough got the puck away from him. I think we got it out, and it went down the other way. Whatever I can do on the home defensive side to help.”
While Game 3 was a more disciplined affair on both sides, Game 4 woke up some of the building animosity as a single hit cascaded into a line brawl – a “mini brawl” in Ralph’s words – that took several minutes to work out. It started with Kansas City defenseman Hudson Wilson poking his stick out at Elyniuk, tripping him up and sending him sprawling to the ice.
At first, it looked like a normal end of a play. The linemen skated in to break up any potential shenanigans. But then something snapped and everybody started going after each other. Florida defenseman Zach Berzolla took down Kansas City forward Landon McCallum. Defenseman Ryan Jones tried to pull Berzolla off of him, and then Everblades captain Oliver Chau pulled Jones away. Jones turned and took down Chau.
One of the linesmen got on top of Chau and Jones to try to end the conflict, but everybody else started looking for dance partners, and the party continued. The crowd was already energized, but when Berzolla came out of the scuffle raising his arms up and down, they exploded.
“It looked to me like they came out and tried to assert their physicality a little bit,” Ralph said. “And our guys stood tall. Great on a guy like Beezo to show that emotion. It’s the playoffs, right?”
Surprisingly, there were no misconduct calls, and it remained 5-on-5. Wilson and Jones went into the penalty box for the Mavericks, and Elyniuk and defenseman Connor Doherty for the Everblades, each getting two minutes for roughing.
The Everblades, who are 13-1-1 when scoring first this postseason, got the ever-important first goal on a power play, a type of goal that has been hard to come by this season. Reid Duke shot near the left point, going high and right to light the lamp and make it 1-0 at the first intermission.
“I think we’re just managing the game a little better than maybe we did,” Ralph said. “I think the guys understand that they’ve got a very good power play, and we’re trying to do our best to stay out of the box.”
But the second period is where the Mavericks cash their checks, with 36 goals during that frame this postseason. The Everblades, on the other hand, have given up (19) more than they have scored (17).
It did not take long to see this statistic in action as former Everblade Zach Uens scored just 16 seconds in. In the left face-off circle, he caught Florida goalie Cam Johnson on the wrong side of the crease and took advantage of the opening.
Some trickery with the puck helped get the game tied again. Elyniuk had the puck in the left corner with Carpenter charging at him for the back check. Elyniuk tapped the puck past Carpenter to Stange in the face-off circle, who put it into the cage to retake the lead.
“I found a nice little hole there and (Stange) got himself open,” Elyniuk said. “I mean, he is such an elite shot.”
The Everblades finished another power play later in the period, but as he came out of the penalty box, MacCallum lucked into picking up the puck and scoring on a breakaway to make it 2-2 and set up overtime.
Florida Everblades vs. Kansas City Mavericks
Game 1: Kansas City 6, Florida 0
Game 2: Kansas City 5, Florida 2
Game 3: Florida 2, Kansas City 1 (OT)
Game 4: Florida 3, Kansas City 2 (OT)
Game 5: Friday, June 13 at Florida, 7 p.m.
Game 6: Monday, June 15 at Kansas City, 8:05 p.m.
Game 7:* Wednesday, June 17 at Kansas City, 8:05 p.m.
* — If Necessary
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Florida Everblades beat Kansas City in overtime in Kelly Cup Finals Game 4
Continue reading...
But the last time they saw Hudson Elyniuk’s number on the ice will be remembered the most. The Florida center took a Jordan Sambrook shot and redirected it into the net for the Everblades’ second-straight overtime win, a 3-2 victory over the Kansas City Mavericks that tied up the best-of-seven series at 2 games apiece.
“Scoring an OT goal in the finals,” Elyniuk said. “That’s honestly what you dream about. You kind of black out when it happens.”
You must be registered for see images
The Blades, who remain undefeated at home this postseason, have the opportunity to take a series lead on Saturday night, June 13, when they host Game 5. The series will return to Kansas City next week for Game 6 and a potential Game 7.
“It’s now a hard reset for tomorrow,” Everblades coach Brad Ralph said. “Focus on tomorrow’s game.”
Sambrook, a defenseman who became the first player in ECHL history to finish the regular season over plus-60, had another big plus moment in overtime. Earlier in the period, former Everblade Bobo Carpenter sent an outlet pass from the far corner all the way to a wide-open Jack Randl skating through neutral ice. It could have been a potentially devastating breakaway, but Sambrook read the pass, skated over to cut Randl off and stole the puck from him in the left face-off circle.
“It’s going to be a big advantage or disadvantage in the first overtime when you switch sides,” Sambrook said. “So I got back and luckily enough got the puck away from him. I think we got it out, and it went down the other way. Whatever I can do on the home defensive side to help.”
While Game 3 was a more disciplined affair on both sides, Game 4 woke up some of the building animosity as a single hit cascaded into a line brawl – a “mini brawl” in Ralph’s words – that took several minutes to work out. It started with Kansas City defenseman Hudson Wilson poking his stick out at Elyniuk, tripping him up and sending him sprawling to the ice.
At first, it looked like a normal end of a play. The linemen skated in to break up any potential shenanigans. But then something snapped and everybody started going after each other. Florida defenseman Zach Berzolla took down Kansas City forward Landon McCallum. Defenseman Ryan Jones tried to pull Berzolla off of him, and then Everblades captain Oliver Chau pulled Jones away. Jones turned and took down Chau.
You must be registered for see images attach
One of the linesmen got on top of Chau and Jones to try to end the conflict, but everybody else started looking for dance partners, and the party continued. The crowd was already energized, but when Berzolla came out of the scuffle raising his arms up and down, they exploded.
“It looked to me like they came out and tried to assert their physicality a little bit,” Ralph said. “And our guys stood tall. Great on a guy like Beezo to show that emotion. It’s the playoffs, right?”
Surprisingly, there were no misconduct calls, and it remained 5-on-5. Wilson and Jones went into the penalty box for the Mavericks, and Elyniuk and defenseman Connor Doherty for the Everblades, each getting two minutes for roughing.
The Everblades, who are 13-1-1 when scoring first this postseason, got the ever-important first goal on a power play, a type of goal that has been hard to come by this season. Reid Duke shot near the left point, going high and right to light the lamp and make it 1-0 at the first intermission.
“I think we’re just managing the game a little better than maybe we did,” Ralph said. “I think the guys understand that they’ve got a very good power play, and we’re trying to do our best to stay out of the box.”
You must be registered for see images
But the second period is where the Mavericks cash their checks, with 36 goals during that frame this postseason. The Everblades, on the other hand, have given up (19) more than they have scored (17).
It did not take long to see this statistic in action as former Everblade Zach Uens scored just 16 seconds in. In the left face-off circle, he caught Florida goalie Cam Johnson on the wrong side of the crease and took advantage of the opening.
Some trickery with the puck helped get the game tied again. Elyniuk had the puck in the left corner with Carpenter charging at him for the back check. Elyniuk tapped the puck past Carpenter to Stange in the face-off circle, who put it into the cage to retake the lead.
“I found a nice little hole there and (Stange) got himself open,” Elyniuk said. “I mean, he is such an elite shot.”
The Everblades finished another power play later in the period, but as he came out of the penalty box, MacCallum lucked into picking up the puck and scoring on a breakaway to make it 2-2 and set up overtime.
2026 Kelly Cup Finals Schedule
Florida Everblades vs. Kansas City Mavericks
Game 1: Kansas City 6, Florida 0
Game 2: Kansas City 5, Florida 2
Game 3: Florida 2, Kansas City 1 (OT)
Game 4: Florida 3, Kansas City 2 (OT)
Game 5: Friday, June 13 at Florida, 7 p.m.
Game 6: Monday, June 15 at Kansas City, 8:05 p.m.
Game 7:* Wednesday, June 17 at Kansas City, 8:05 p.m.
* — If Necessary
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Florida Everblades beat Kansas City in overtime in Kelly Cup Finals Game 4
Continue reading...
