SERIES PREVIEW | MARCH 22-25 VS. FLORIDA

The Newfoundland Growlers visit Estero for a rematch of last year’s Eastern Conference Finals as they face the Florida Everblades in a three-game set beginning on Wednesday night at Hertz Arena.

Newfoundland head to the sunshine state following a six game homestand which saw them go 3-2-1-0 overall in three games against both the Reading Royals and Adirondack Thunder.

As has been the case for most of the month of March, the Growlers remain 10 points clear of the pack in the North Division while officially clinching their spot in the postseason this past Saturday with an epic 5-4 shootout win over Adirondack.

Florida find themselves fourth in a rather congested South Division thanks to an inconsistent month of March where they’ve gone 3-5-1-0 to date. The good news for the Everblades is just three points separate them from the division leading South Carolina Stingrays with two games in hand to make up the ground.

It was the eventual Kelly Cup champions who knocked the Growlers out of the 2022 playoffs with this series marking the first matchup with the Everblades since their Game 5 Eastern Conference Finals defeat.

In a pivotal series between two teams well in the hunt for their respective division titles, expect a hotly contested three games in Estero.

Puck drops is set for 9:00 pm on Wednesday & Friday and 8:30 pm on Saturday night. Growlers fans can watch all three games live on FloSports (subscription required), listen to the call on Mixlr, or follow along on Twitter (@NLGrowlers) for game updates and highlights.

WHO TO WATCH:

NFL – Todd Skirving (F): One goal shy of 30 and two shy of Scott Pooley’s franchise record for a single season (31 in 2018-19), the Thunder Bay native has his sights set on another major milestone in what has been a career year for the fan favourite.

FLA – Joe Pendenza(F): The Everblades leading scorer by some measure, the 32-year-old is now in his fourth season with Florida and played a key role in their 2022 Kelly Cup run.