JACKSONVILLE, Fla – Friday night the visiting Florida Everblades faced off against the Jacksonville Icemen Lizard Kings at the Reptilian Pavilion (also known as the Vystar Arena). The Lizard Kings originally played in Jacksonville from 1995-2000. In a throwback weekend for Jacksonville, the team changed their name to the Lizard Kings. The announcers, rosters, scoreboards, and jerseys all referred to the team as the Lizard Kings. Fans chanted the Lizard Kings’ name and nineties music played during stoppages in play and intermission. Jacksonville ended their six-game winning streak losing 3-2 in a shootout.
The Everblades were the better team in the first period, with Jake Jaremko scoring 13 seconds into the game. Ben Hawerchuk would even it up less then two minutes later on a power play, but a goal by Michael Neville at the 12:02 mark put the Everblades back up by one. The Lizard Kings were outshot 18-7 in the period and Florida would end the first and begin the second with a two-man advantage.
The Lizard Kings dominated the second and third periods. Abbott Girduckis evened things up for Jacksonville in the second to make it a 2-2 game. The Lizard Kings outshot the Everblades 14-9 in the second and 20-3 in the third, for a total of 47-34. Parker Gahagen made some phenomenal saves for Florida, which kept them in the game, forcing it to overtime and then a shootout to decide the winner.
The Lizard Kings face the Norfolk Admirals at 7pm tonight.
Check out this photo gallery from Field Pass Hockey’s Andrew Fielder for highlights from the game.
