Blades impressive on road
The Florida Everblades are on one of their most grueling road trips of the season – five games in six nights in three different cities, traveling back and forth from their hotel every night.
Considering the conditions, it’s hard to believe they are 3-0 heading into the last two games this weekend at Gwinnett and Charlotte.
Tuesday, they fired off a team record 61 shots at the Charlotte Checkers en route to an 8-2 win. A 4-2 win Wednesday over Gwinnett was next, followed Thursday with a 4-0 win over South Carolina, handing the the Stingrays their first shutout of the season.
The three wins extended the Everblades’ current winning streak to seven in a row.
“No question about it, the team is playing really well right now,” said Blades coach Malcolm Cameron. “We haven’t played really well in the first period the last two games, but we have gotten some outstanding goaltending and have played great third-period hockey.”
Cameron’s praise of the third-period play is obvious. On the current road trip, the Blades have yet to concede a goal in the final period.
“We are playing simple hockey right now. We are playing great defense while at the same time we are taking advantage of the opportunities the other team is giving us,” Cameron said.
Thanks to the current win streak and their outstanding play, the Blades are an impressive 14-3-2 on the road this season, which happens to be three wins better than their home record.
Does that mean this year’s team is better away from home?
“All that means is we have played more road games than home games so far,” said Cameron, brushing aside the idea the Blades may be better away from Germain Arena.
“We’ve played so much on the road this year that we should be good at playing on the road,” said Cameron.
The Blades (26-8-2) finish the trip at Gwinnett Saturday and at Charlotte Sunday before returning home to face the Gladiators for two games on Jan. 23 and 24.