ORLANDO – A late goal by Isaac Nurse thwarted the shutout, but a late rally by the Florida Everblades came up short, as the Blades came up on the short end of a 2-1 decision to the Orlando Solar Bears in Game Three of the South Division Finals Tuesday night at Kia Center.
The loss was the first suffered by the Everblades in the 2025 Kelly Cup Playoffs presented by Lexus and snapped the Blades’ postseason winning streak at six games. Florida leads the best-of seven series two games to one.
An intense and physical first period saw both teams come up empty over the opening 20 minutes of play. ECHL Goaltender of the Year Cam Johnson stopped 14 shots during a busy first frame, including six high-pressure stops throughout a five-minute penalty kill that closed out the period. All told, the Everblades stymied four different Orlando power plays and were outshot 14-6 in the opening period, due in large part to being whistled for 23 penalty minutes on six infractions, compared to just three minor penalties called against the Solar Bears. An interference major and game misconduct on Sean Allen at the 14:53 mark would leave the Blades’ roster down a man for the remainder of the contest.
Florida killed another 1:48 of penalty time without surrendering a shot on goal to open the second period, but Spencer Kerstin broke through for the Solar Bears with an unassisted tally on Orlando’s first shot just shy of the three-minute mark. Despite registering a one-sided 16-2 shot advantage over the middle 20 minutes, the Everblades could not get the equalizer against Solar Bears netminder Ryan Fanti before the second intermission as Orlando held onto its narrow 1-0 lead.
Orlando doubled its lead to 2-0 on a goal by Aaron Luchuk at 12:39 of the third period. Florida would respond late in the period as Nurse notched his first goal of the playoffs with the Everblades’ goal empty with 1:25 left to play, cutting the home team’s lead to 2-1. A final point-blank shot by Tarun Fizer with 1.9 seconds left in the contest was stopped as Orlando sealed its first victory of the series.
Florida outshot Orlando 31-22 in the game. Blades netminder Johnson registered 20 saves and fell to 6-1 in the 2025 Kelly Cup Playoffs, while Fanti made 30 stops in his first start of the postseason for the Solar Bears.
The teams will be back in action for Game Four Friday night at Kia Center, with the puck slated to drop at 7:00 p.m.
BLADES BITS
Isaac Nurse registered his first professional playoff goal, notching his first playoff tally since scoring eight postseason goals with the OHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs across three seasons.
Jesse Lansdell picked up his third assist in the last two games and currently sports a three-game point streak (1G, 3A),
Colton Hargrove saw his four-game goal scoring streak come to a close.
Cam Johnson remains tied for the ECHL record for career postseason wins by a goaltender with 53.
