Boise, Idaho — Logan Lambden scored two goals and added an assist as the Florida Everblades sealed a 5-3 road win over the Idaho Steelheads in front of 5101 at Idaho Central Arena Sunday night in Game 2 of the Kelly Cup Finals.
For the second straight game, Idaho found the net first. Veteran defenseman Matt Register scored his first goal of the playoffs 11:49 on the first burst across traffic from the blue line. Jordan Kawaguchi and Dawson Bartowe are credited with assists.
Florida found the tying touchdown eight minutes later, when Ashton Calder fell for his third of the postseason on the power play. Calder hit the shot home from the high hole, after being tackled to the right of Idaho goaltender Adam Schell. Shaun Gosling and Lambden had both assists on the goal that made it 1-1 after one period of play.
Then Lambdin took over, finishing the second half with two goals on the night.
With just 50 seconds left in the middle goal, Florida’s Joe Pendenza won a tackle to Scheel’s right and returned the ball to Lambdin, who sailed his wrist past Scheel’s glove-side goal to give the Everblades a 2-1 lead.
The Idaho power run unit would then fail to connect with two playing opportunities in the period.
Lambden scored again with 5 seconds left in the period to give Everblades a two-goal lead. Lampdin took a long pass from John McCarron, walked over the net on his own, then faked the ball into the left side of the net to give Florida a 3-1 lead going into the second intermission.
Florida added the lead at 13:42 of the third period on a goal by Lefko Cooper, assisted by Shawn Gosling and Will Calverley.
Moving the puck into Idaho territory on a 3-on-2 rush, Josling tacked a pass to Koper in the low hole. Then Cooper swooped right, pulled the ball to his back and hit it into the left side of the net to put it up 4-1 for the Everblades.
Feeling the urgency to score, Idaho will make things interesting two minutes later.
With Florida’s Stephane LeBlanc in the penalty area a secondary target for cross-checking, Idaho coach Everett Sheen pulled Schell for an extra tackler during the ensuing power play. A solid 6-on-4 play resulted in a goal from Justin Misiak scoring.
The puck skate scored down the circle, then found Misiak sneaking towards the net. The well-timed pass found Misiak’s stick and Misiak didn’t waste his chance, burying the puck past Florida goalie Cam Johnson to make it 4-2.
The reinvigorated Steelheads kept the gas, adding a Ty Pelton-Byce goal after just 21 seconds to move within one.
Willie Knierim jumped a space puck in Florida territory, then sent a pass from the left circle to the right circle, where Belton-Base slammed a shot past Johnson to make it 4-3 at 15:57.
The drama intensified less than a minute later when Florida’s McCarron was sent into the sin bin due to a sticky double minor.
The Steelheads pulled Schell again for an extra tackler and turned up the pressure, but were unable to score the tying goal and Florida’s Ben Masella would freeze the game with a short, empty net goal with 29 seconds left.
The series now moves to Estero, Florida for Game 3 on Wednesday. The opening time is set at 7:30 PM ET. Game four will be played on Friday, with game five tentatively scheduled for Saturday, if required.
Idaho will have to win at least two of their three games on the road if they want to see the Kelly Cup awarded in Boise. The Steelheads did just that in the Mountain Division Semifinals against the Utah Grizzlies. The Steelheads lost their first two games at home to the Grizzlies, and swept all three games in Utah before returning to Idaho Central Arena where they closed out the series in game six.
Florida leads the series 2-0
Game 1 – FLORIDA 3 in Idaho 2 (extra time)
Game 2 – FLORIDA 5 in Idaho 3
Game 3 – Wednesday, June 7 at 7:30 PM ET in Florida
Game Four – Friday, June 9 at 7:30 PM ET in Florida
Game Five – Saturday, June 10 at 7:00 PM ET in Florida (if required)
Game 6 – Tuesday, June 13 at 7:10 PM Idaho Time (if applicable)
Game 7 – Wednesday, June 14 at 7:10 PM Idaho Time (if applicable)
Contact the author: John.Hall@prohockeynews.com
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