Lambdin leads Everblades to 5-3 win in Game 2

Logan Lambdin scored a pair of goals to lead the Florida Everblades to a 5-3 win in Game 2 of the 2023 Kelly Cup Finals on Sunday in front of a standing-room only crowd of 5,101 fans at Idaho Central Arena in Boise, Idaho.

The Everblades lead the best-of-seven series 2 games to 0 as the series heads to Florida.

Box Score

Idaho opened the scoring 11:49 into the opening period as Jordan Kawaguchi fed Matt Register at the center of the blue line, and the ECHL’s all-time leader in postseason games played blasted a shot past Florida goaltender Cam Johnson for his first goal of the 2023 Kelly Cup Playoffs.

Florida pulled even with a power-play goal in the final minute of the first period. Sean Josling fed Ashton Calder between the circles, and he one-timed a shot past Idaho goaltender Adam Scheel at 19:39 for his third goal of the postseason.

The Everblades struck quick in the second period to take a 2-1 lead. Joe Pendenza won a face-off to Lambdin at the top of the left-wing circle, and his wrist shot eluded Scheel’s reach 50 seconds into the period.

Lambdin picked up his second goal of the night with 5.8 seconds remaining in the second period as he gathered in a pass from John McCarron and skated in alone on Scheel, tallying his eighth goal of the playoffs.

Levko Koper scored his third goal of the postseason 13:42 into the third period to extend Florida’s lead to 4-1 before Idaho scored twice in quick succession to make it a one-goal game.

Justin Misiak notched a power-play goal at 15:36 and then 21 seconds later, Willie Knierim intercepted a clearing attempt and centered for Ty Pelton-Byce who beat Johnson for his ninth goal of the playoffs.

Ben Masella scored an empty-net shorthanded goal with 29.6 seconds remaining to set the final.

Johnson notched his sixth career Kelly Cup Finals win, which is tied for the fourth most in Riley/Kelly Cup Finals history.

The series shifts to Hertz Arena in Estero, Florida for Game 3 on Wednesday 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 – Wednesday, June 7 at 7:30 p.m. ET at FloridaGame 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)