ECHL: Jacksonville Wins in OT; Blades Bounce Back

JACKSONVILLE (Florida Sports Wires) – Jacques Bouquot (2), Tim Heinke, and Colby Ambrosio all scored for Jacksonville while goaltender Michael Bullion made 23 saves in the victory in a 4-3 overtime victory over the Atlanta Gladiatiors. The Icemen have now won back-to-back games for the first time this season and end the month of October with a 2-2-2 record. Jacksonville will host the Savannah Ghost Pirates on home ice on Tuesday morning at 10 am.

FIRST PERIOD

Jacksonville got on the board first on their first power play of the game. Tanner Kelly stepped in over the line on the right side after making a nifty move at the blue line to gain the zone. Kelly then sent a cross-ice pass to the left-wing side to find Jocques Bouqout in stride as he skated down to the left-wing circle. Bouquot then rifled home a quick snap-shot to put Jacksonville up 1-0. It marked the second straight power-play goal for the Icemen dating back to Friday night. The Icemen continued to carry the play for much of the first period, turning defensive stops into offensive chances. However, the Gladiators converted on a late power-play goal to tie it 1-1.

SECOND PERIOD

After the Icemen weathered an early storm as the Gladiators peppered Jacksonville goaltender Michael Bullion with shots in an attempt to take the lead. Instead, Jacksonville went on the attack midway through the period as Kyle Bettens sent a shot to the front of the net from the left wing that Gladiators goaltender Ethan Haider saved. Still, it produced a rebound right in the crease, and Timothy Heinke was quick to the net to bury it and put the Icemen up 2-1. Just a few minutes later, on an offensive zone faceoff, Jesse Tucker won a draw right back to Bouquot, who one-timed a shot off the draw into the back of the net for his second goal of the game.

THIRD PERIOD

After taking a commanding 3-1 lead going into the 3rd period, the Icemen opened the third period in a penalty kill. On the Gladiators’ power play, the Icemen shut them down and made three defensive stops to protect their lead. However, Atlanta scored a power-play goal that was upheld after a lengthy review, trimming the Icemen‘s lead to 3-2. The Gladiators converted on a late shot with the goaltender pulled to tie it 3-3 with 48 seconds remaining. For the second time this weekend, the Icemen went into overtime.

OVERTIME

Tied 3-3, the Icemen entered their fourth post-regulation contest in five games. Icemen goalie Michael Bullion made three critical saves to keep the game tied. Soon after Bullion’s heroics, Colby Ambrosio began to race the puck up the ice. Ambrosio quickly dished a pass to Drew Kuzma, who zipped it right back to Ambrosio as he skated towards the net. Ambrosio, without hesitation, wired a shot blocker-side past the Atlanta netminder to score his second goal of the season and lead Jacksonville to a 4-3 win.

Nurse and Johnson Lead Blades to 2-0 Win

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Isaac Nurse’s late first-period goal provided the necessary offense, while Cam Johnson’s turned aside all 21 shots he faced for his 22nd career ECHL shutout, as the Florida Everblades claimed a 2-0 victory over the Greenville Swamp Rabbits Saturday afternoon at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. The victory secured a split of the two-game series for the Everblades.

The opening period went the way of the Everblades, as Nurse’s second goal in as many nights came from the low slot off a feed from Mark Senden at the 18:32 mark that got the scoring started. Jordan Sambrook also added a helper on Nurse’s third tally of the season.

In addition to dominating the shot count 13-4 over the first 20 minutes, including an 8-0 edge over the first 10:27 of play, the Blades saw netminder Johnson come up big on the other end, thwarting a Jake Percival shorthanded breakaway with 6:48 to play in the opening frame.

Florida’s 1-0 lead would hold up throughout the second period, despite the Blades winning the shots on goal battle for a second consecutive period, this time by a 15-9 count. With just under two minutes left in the period, Florida crafted a great opportunity, but Senden hit the post and Maleek McGowan was unable to convert the ensuing rebound, as the 1-0 edge carried into the second intermission.

The 1-0 lead held deep into the third period, as continued late pressure by the Everblades prevented Greenville from pulling goaltender Owen Flores for an extra attacker until only 30 seconds remained on the clock. Max Graham tacked on an empty-net goal in the closing seconds for the Everblades. Florida outshot Greenville 11-8 in the final frame and 39-21 for the game.

Johnson, the reigning Warrior Hockey ECHL Goaltender of the Week, posted his second clean sheet in six games this season. His 22 career regular-season shutouts ranks third in ECHL history and is three shy of the current league record.

ECHL Notes: South Carolina Stingraysgoaltender Garin Bjorklund has been returned on loan by Hershey to South Carolina. Bjorklund, 24, was recalled by the Bears on Oct. 23 after being loaned to South Carolina on October 12. He appeared in the Stingrays’ season opener on October 16 against the Jacksonville Icemen stopping 21 of 22 shots in South Carolina’s 5-1 victory over Jacksonville. The victory for Bjorklund marked his 50th career win in professional hockey…..the Savannah Ghost Pirates fell to the South Carolina Stingrays 7-3 on Friday night at North Charleston Coliseum….the Greensboro Gargoyles announced that forward Tyler Paquette has been traded to the New Mexico Goatheads for future considerations. Paquette appeared in three of the Gargoyles’ first four contests of the 2026-27 season, recording an assist on the game-tying goal in Sunday’s overtime win over the Greenville Swamp Rabbits. Greensboro acquired Paquette as part of the return in the Tyler Weiss and Trevor Zins trade with the Indy Fuel.