BOISE, Idaho — The Florida Everblades completed a comeback for a third period to force overtime, then took advantage of the mayhem in the extra frame to claim a 3-2 victory in front of 5,032 fans at Idaho Central Arena in Game 1 of the Kelly Cup. Saturday night finals.
Oliver Chow scored the game-winning goal at 14:06 of extra time to give the defending Premier League champions the win on the road. Florida quarterback John McCarron jumped the Idaho hole and then found the late Chow, who edged past Idaho goaltender Adam Schell for his seventh goal of the Kelly Cup playoffs.
Idaho jumped onto the scoreboard first, taking a 1-0 lead at 15:38 into the first period on a power play goal from Jordan Kawaguchi’s Dawson Bartow and Justin Ducharme. With a 5-on-3 advantage, Partio hit his first goal of the playoffs from just over the right circle, slotting past Florida’s Cam Johnson, much to the delight of the home crowd.
The Everblades tied the game 7:06 into the second period with tying goals by Cole Moberg with assists from Zach Owens and Cam Darcy. Darcy won the puck to the left of Shiel and passed to Owens, who then kicked the ball to Moberg, who fired a shot over Shiel’s glove to tie the game. The match would remain tied 1-1 with a head until the second break.
The Steelheads retook the lead 6:54 into the third period with Ryan Dimovski’s ninth post-season goal, with help from Willie Knierim and Ty Belton-Baes to make it 2-1. From behind the goal, Knierim sent a pass to Dmowski, who slotted home from the low slot.
Florida won again at 12:40 with a power play goal by Blake Winicki, his ninth in the playoffs, from Macaron and Zhao, making it 2-2. As he outmaneuvered the man, Macaron fired at Schell from close range, and Schell made the initial save before Weniki jumped in on the rebound and shot the ball into the open net.
The ice was tipping in Idaho’s favor in the extra frame, with the Steelheads nailing the Everblades 7-4 before Florida took advantage of an Idaho mistake to clinch the win.
Florida had a total of 37 shots to Idaho’s 36, while both devices stopped 34 shots on the night.
Florida was 1-for-2 on the power play, and Idaho was 1-for-4.
The two teams now face a brief turnaround, as they duel again at 4:10pm GMT Sunday in Boise.
Florida leads the series 1-0
Game 1 – FLORIDA 3 in Idaho 2 (extra time)
Game 2 – Sunday, June 4 at 4:10 PM Idaho Time
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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