When the Florida Everblades began their weekend series against the Texas Wildcatters they weren’t just looking to build momentum as they headed into the playoffs, they were also looking to send a message to the league’s elite that they were going to be a team to contend with.

After a 5-3 come-from-behind victory over the Wildcatters Saturday night that message was sent.

Coach Gerry Flemming brushed off the importance of the two-game sweep at home by saying simply that it is “important that our confidence is high heading into the playoffs.”

Others on the Everblades recognized the importance of a pair of dominating wins over the Wildcatters, who lead their division and finished second in the Brabham Cup standings.

“It was a big (win),” said Jarrett Lukin, who contributed a goal and two assists in Saturday’s victory. “It’s what we wanted to do — get hot going into the playoffs.”

Forward Derek Damon, who had three total points against Texas over the weekend, said, “Everybody came and did their job this weekend. We had great goaltending, production from all three lines and our defense played unbelievable.”

Except for a couple fortunate bounces of the puck Saturday that allowed Texas to score goals on back-to-back power plays, Florida’s penalty killers stopped one of the highest scoring offenses in the league eight of 10 times on the extra-man advantage.

“You can’t get too high or low in this league,” Lukin said. “We finished hot, but that’s over now. It’s time to get right back to work and keep trying to get better.”

The Blades open playoff action at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday against Columbia at Germain Arena.