Icemen Even Series on Berdin’s 36 Saves

JACKSONVILLE, FL – Goaltender Mikhail Berdin made 36 saves, while Kris Newbury and Cam Maclise each finished with a goal and two assists to lead the Jacksonville Icemen to a 3-1 victory over the Florida Everblades in Game 4 of the South Division Semifinals Friday night.  The Icemen even up the series at 2-2 in front of an announced crowd of 7,719 at the Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena.  

The Icemen stormed out of the gates in the opening period and assumed a 2-0 lead.  The first goal came at 6:08 when Cam Maclise led a 2-on-1 opportunity into the Florida zone.   Maclise passed the puck across the slot to Maxime Fortier who delivered a shot behind Florida goaltender Jeremy Helvig for the game’s first tally. 

Nearly three minutes later, Fortier dropped a pass back to Maclise at the right wing circle. Maclise wristed a shot that clipped off Helvig’s body and then trickled across the goal line for the tally to give Jacksonville a 2-0 edge.

The Everblades countered with five minutes remaining in the opening frame when Michael Downing snapped shot from the point that clipped high into the net behind Jacksonville goaltender Mikhail Berdin to put the score at 2-1. 

Florida outshot the Icemen 15-1 in the second period, but was unable to find the back of the net as Berdin turned aside every shot faced in the middle period to secure a 2-1 lead for the Icemen at the second break.

Near the halfway mark of the third, Michael Downing was assessed a five-minute major for an illegal check to the head penalty, which put Jacksonville on a lengthy power play.  The Icemen took advantage at 11:56 of the third when Kris Newbury hurled a shot from the left wing that beat a screened Helvig to extend Jacksonville’s lead to 3-1. 

Florida posted several quality scoring chances down the stretch, but Berdin was there to make all of the necessary stops to close out the 3-1 Game 4 victory. 

Berdin stopped 36 of 37 shots faced, while Helvig allowed three goals on 18 shots in the contest.

With the series now tied, the two teams will now play a pivotal Game 5 on Saturday at Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.

Broadcast Information: Fans can catch all Icemen playoff game broadcasts on Mixlr, and on ECHL.TV. 

#1 Florida Everblades vs, #4 Jacksonville Icemen (The best-of-seven series is tied  2-2)

Game 1:  Thursday, April 11, Jacksonville – 2 at Florida – 3 (Overtime)Game 2:  Saturday, April 13, Jacksonville – 1 at Florida – 4Game 3:  Thursday, April 18, Florida – 3 at Jacksonville – 4  Game 4:  Friday, April 19, Florida – 1 at Jacksonville - 3Game 5:  Saturday, April 20, Florida at Jacksonville, 7:00 p.m. (Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena)Game 6:  Monday, April 22, Jacksonville at Florida, 7:30 p.m. (Hertz Arena)Game 7:  Wednesday, April 24, Jacksonville at Florida, 7:30 p.m. (Hertz Arena) ****If Necessary

To purchase pickets for Saturday's Game 5  CLICK HERE

The 2018-19 Jacksonville Icemen Season is Presented by Community First Credit Union

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