END FIRST PERIOD
ESTERO, Fla. â€" Turnovers plagued the Kalamazoo Wings in Wednesday’s 7-0 loss, and a turnover Thursday led to the only goal of the opening period, giving the Florida Everblades a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.
David Rutherford intercepted the puck and put a backhander past goalie Riley Gill with three minutes left.
The K-Wings excelled on the power play during the first part of the postseason, but came up empty on both chances Thursday. They’re now 1-for-14 with the man advantage in this series.
The Everblades had not power-play chances.
The K-Wings outshot Florida, 12-7, in the period.
PREGAME
ESTERO, Fla. â€" After losing, 7-0, to the Florida Everblades Wednesday night, the Kalamazoo Wings will try to even the ECHL’s Eastern Conference final series Thursday night, again at Germain Arena.
The winner of this best-of-seven series will face the Las Vegas Wranglers in the Kelly Cup final. The Wranglers defeated the defending Cup Alaska Aces, four games to one.
Riley Gill, who was in goal when the K-Wings defense disappeared Wednesday night, was pulled 4:36 into the second period and will start again Thursday night.
A key for the K-Wings will be scoring early, which they haven’t done yet against the Everblades. Kalamazoo is 5-1 when striking first.
K-Wings rookie forward Dustin Cloutier makes his shots count. He has scored four times on 16 shots in the postseason and leads all ECHL rookies in shooting percentage at 25 percent.
K-Wings forward Eric Kattelus, who was a medical scratch the last few games, has been activated and Bryan Haczyk has been put on playoff reserve.
The Everblades have won eight consecutive games at home, dating back to the regular season. They’ve outscored their opponents, 25-9, at home during the playoffs.
K-Wings starters: Goal: Gill (8-4-0); forwards: Dean Strong, Justin Taylor, Dustin Cloutier; defense: Harry Young, Jonathan Harty.
K-Wings scratches: Playoff reserve: Brandon Svendsen, Bryan Haczyk, Prab Rai; medical: Elgin Reid; healthy: Joe Tolles.
Everblades starters: Goal: Muse (5-1-0); forwards: Justin Shugg, Cedric Lalonde-McNicoll, Matt Marquardt; defense: Kevin Quick, Charles Landry.
Everblades scratches: Playoff reserve: Ryan McGinnis, Rylan Galiardi, Leigh Salters; healthy: Joe Sova, Scott Pitt.
Referee: Joe Sullivan; linesmen: Francis Trempe, Alex Stagnone.
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