ESTERO, Fla. – Cam Johnson stopped all 23 shots he faced to lead the Florida Everblades to a 1-0 win over the Idaho Steelheads on Wednesday in Game 3 of the 2023 Kelly Cup Finals in front of 6,983 fans at Hertz Arena. With the win, Florida takes a 3 games to 0 lead in the series and can win its second consecutive Kelly Cup title on Friday.
The shutout is the eighth career Kelly Cup Playoffs shutout for Johnson, tying him with Riley Gill for the most in ECHL postseason history. It is his fourth shutout of the 2023 Kelly Cup Playoffs, which is tied for second in a single ECHL postseason.
Neither team was able to find the back of the net in the opening period as Idaho goaltender Remi Poirier stopped 16 Everblades shots while Johnson stopped all nine shots he faced. It was the first scoreless period in the series.
Florida’s Will Calverley broke the scoreless deadlock with his third goal of the playoffs 18:14 into the second period. Calverley gathered in a pass from Blake Winiecki at the hash marks and swept a quick shot past the reach of Poirier.
Game 4 of the series takes place at Hertz Arena on Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET. Catch all of the action live by tuning into FloHockey.
2023 Kelly Cup FinalsGame 1 – FLORIDA 3 at Idaho 2 (OT)Game 2 – FLORIDA 5 at Idaho 3Game 3 – Idaho 0 at FLORIDA 1Game 4 – Friday, June 9 at 7:30 p.m. ET at FloridaGame 5 – Saturday, June 10 at 7:00 p.m. ET at Florida (If Necessary)Game 6 – Tuesday, June 13 at 7:10 p.m. MT at Idaho (If Necessary)Game 7 – Wednesday, June 14 at 7:10 p.m. MT at Idaho (If Necessary)