ESTERO, Fla. – The Florida Everblades picked up their third straight win in the 2026 Kelly Cup Finals on Saturday with a 5-2 win over the Kansas City Mavericks in Game 5 in front of a standing-room only crowd of 7,356 fans at Hertz Arena.
With the win, Florida leads the series 3 games to 2, and will have a chance to win its fourth title in five seasons on Monday.
Florida opened the scoring just 1:15 into the contest as Isaac Nurse gathered in a pass from Jett Jones in the high slot and beat Jack LaFontaine with a wrist shot for his second goal of the playoffs.
The Everblades struck again at 19:11, notching a power-play goal to take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission. Hudson Elynuik fed a cross-ice pass to Oliver Chau, who one-timed a shot from the right-wing circle past LaFontaine for his fourth postseason goal.
Kansas City cut the deficit in half with a power-play goal of its own 4:57 into the second period. After Cam Johnson made the initial save on a Mavericks’ attempt, Trevor Janicke picked up the rebound and fed Lucas Sowder at the hash marks, and he found the back of the net for his fifth goal of the postseason.
Florida regained its two-goal advantage with its second power-play of the night at 10:30 when Carson Gicewicz, stationed at the top of the crease, tipped a Cole Moberg shot past LaFontaine for his 10th playoff goal.
The Everblades third power-play tally of the night 16:11 into the second stretched the lead to 4-1. Reid Duke redirected a Moberg shot past LaFontaine for his third goal of the playoffs.
Kansas City pulled within two heading into the second intermission at 18:24 when Jakov Novak took a cross-crease pass from David Cotton and pushed a shot past Johnson for his seventh goal of the postseason.
Chau set the final with an empty-net goal with 2:10 remaining in regulation.
The series shifts back to Kansas City, with Game 6 set for Monday at 7:05 p.m. CT at Cable Dahmer Arena. Catch all of the action live by logging on to FloHockey.
2026 Kelly Cup Finals
Game 1 – Florida 0 at KANSAS CITY 6
Game 2 – Florida 2 at KANSAS CITY 5
Game 3 – Kansas City 1 at FLORIDA 2 (OT)
Game 4 – Kansas City 2 at FLORIDA 3 (OT)
Game 5 – Kansas City 2 at FLORIDA 5
Game 6 – Monday, June 15 at 7:05 p.m. CT at Kansas City
Game 7 – Wednesday, June 17 at 7:05 p.m. CT at Kansas City (If Necessary)