Lynx suffer power outage

ESTERO, Fla. - Bob Ferguson chatted with some old friends and couldn't help but reminisce about his three years as the Florida Everblades' head coach.

And then Friday's game began.

"The good feelings got over quick. Believe me," Ferguson said. "They stopped as soon as the puck was dropped."

Fueled by a strong performance by goalie Phil Osaer and a solid penalty-kill unit, the Everblades spoiled Ferguson's return to Germain Arena, beating Augusta, 3-2, in front of a season-low crowd of 4,016 fans.

"I always thought this was such a great hockey atmosphere for visiting teams coming in that it's a detriment to the home team," said Ferguson, whose team will face Florida again at 7:30 tonight. "I wasn't looking at the crowd. I didn't come here to look at the crowd. I came here to win."

Florida forward Anders Strome, who was acquired Tuesday in a trade with Long Beach (Calif.), scored the game-winner at 5:26 of the third period.

Strome's goal gave Florida a 3-1 lead. Augusta forward Sam Ftorek scored with 2:01 left and the Lynx had several quality chances in the final two minutes but Osaer (34 saves) was there every time.

So was the Everblades' penalty-kill unit, which stopped all seven Augusta power plays. The Lynx fired 12 shots with the man advantage, but Osaer picked up his first victory.

"This early in the season, special teams struggle until you find the right personnel," Ferguson said. "We had a lot of quality chances, but your best penalty killer has to be your goaltender. "

Augusta scored a shorthanded goal to grab a 1-0 lead in the first period. Lynx forward Jamie Johnson intercepted a pass from Everblades forward Jonathan Lehun at the blue line and fired a shot into the top right corner of the net.

About 15 seconds later, the Lynx had a golden opportunity to go up 2-0 on another turnover, but Osaer stuffed a point blank shot from Augusta forward Nicholas Corbeil.