Out To Prove That Smokin' Hot Babes Do Exist In A Gamers World!!!( But i do love my boys as well )

Jarret Lukin, center, of the Everblades scores the team's first goal around Texas Wildcatters goalie Kris Tebbs and Cleve Kinley, right, Saturday night, April 5, 2008, at Germain Arena in Estero.

(Amanda Inscore/news-press.com)









The Everblades topped the Texas Wildcatters 5-3 on Saturday night in ECHL action in front of 6,419 at Germain Arena.

Florida players and coaches talked about not wanting Texas to win the Brabham Cup as the regular season points leader on their ice. That accomplished, the Everblades (29-25) will enter the postseason with a jolt of momentum. They'll open playoff action at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday against Columbia at Germain.

"I don't want to take anything away from Texas, but we didn't want to be the team they broke a record on," Everblades coach Gerry Fleming said. "We had one record broken on us (career wins by Pensacola coach John Marks) and we didn't want another one.

"I think it's important to have confidence going into the playoffs.

"It shows we can compete with top teams in the league."

Center Jarret Lukin said: "It's awesome. What we wanted to do was finish hot. But that's over now and we have to get ready for Wednesday."

Florida center J.B. Bittner's goal early in the third period broke a 3-3 tie and Everblades goaltender Kevin Nastiuk made it stand up as he made a number of key saves, including on a penalty shot.

The Everblades put the game away when they killed off a 5-on-3 power play, then saw forward Brad Herauf come out of the penalty box and skate right into a loose puck, taking it to the other end of the ice and scoring. To show what kind of night it was for Florida, No. 17 scored with 7:17 left in the game.

"I was just thinking about getting back in the play," Herauf said. "Luke (Lukin) put a stick on it and I was off to the races."

Lukin had a goal and two assists for Florida. Toby LaFrance scored twice to lead Texas (52-9).

The Wildcatters took a 2-0 lead with a pair of power-play goals in a 1:33 span. The first came with 12:50 left in the first period when LaFrance scored. Forward Dan Welch made it 2-0.

Florida's efforts - it had 13 first-period shots - paid off in Lukin's goal with 2:28 left.

The Everblades kept the positive vibe going in the second period. On a play set up by forward Ernie Hartlieb, center Adam Taylor sent a pass to center Preston Callander, who blistered a shot to tie the game at 2.

The Wildcatters took a 3-2 lead on LaFrance's second goal but defenseman Peter Aston evened the score with 8:55 left in the period.

At 3:16 into the third period, Bittner put Florida up 4-3 off a great pass by Lukin.

Nastiuk then came up big when he stopped LaFrance on a penalty shot with 15:18 left.

Does Nastiuk think the Everblades can maintain this level of play? "That's the objective," he said.

But can they?

"We'll see," Nastiuk said with a smile.

Texas 2 1 0 -3

Florida 1 2 2 -5

First period: Texas, 7:10, pp, Toby LaFrance (John McNabb, Dan Welch); Texas, 8:43, pp, Welch (Cleve Kinley, Kevin Baker); Florida, 17:32, Jarret Lukin (Ryan Van Buskirk, Brad Zancanaro). Second period: Florida, 1:54, Preston Callander (Ernie Hartlieb, Adam Taylor); Texas, 5:49, LaFrance (Tim Cook, T, Riddle); Florida, 8:55, Peter Aston (Callander, Derek Damon). Third period: Florida, 16:44, J.B. Bittner (Lukin); Florida, 12:43, Herauf, sh.

Penalties: Texas 5-10, Florida 7-14. Saves: Texas, Kris Tebbs 12 6 6 - 24; Kevin Nastiuk 6 5 19 - 30. A: 6,419.

blades first-round playoff schedule

• Game 1: Columbia at Florida, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday

• Game 2: Columbia at Florida, 7:30 p.m. Friday

• Game 3: Florida at Columbia, 7:05 p.m. Saturday, April 12

• Game 4: Florida at Columbia, 7:05 p.m. Monday, April 14, if necessary

• Game 5: Columbia at Florida, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 16, if necessary