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FAIRBORN, Ohio — With their 4-3 win on Saturday night against Dayton in game 3 of the American Conference Finals, the Blades broke an ECHL record for most road wins in the Kelly Cup playoffs, amassing a 22-14 road playoff record in their nine-year history. This beats the Hampton-Roads (Va.) Admirals' record of 21 road playoff wins. Florida is 4-1 on the road during this year's playoffs.

Before going on the road to Dayton this weekend, Coach Gerry Fleming said playing on the road meant less distractions.

"When we're all together at the hotel ... it's just hockey," he said.

Plus, an hour-long delay of game due to poor ice at the Nutter Center didn't exactly make for fired-up fans to give Dayton much of a home-ice advantage. Speaking of that delay ...

IS THERE A HOCKEY GAME TONIGHT?: Preparation seemed a bit shaky at the Nutter Center. An hour before the scheduled starting time, the ice was still partially covered with boards from Saturday morning's women's roller derby, which meant plastic shields also had to be replaced around the rink. A Friday night Lynyrd Skynard and Hank Williams, Jr. concert also could have damaged the ice, according to Bombers officials.

Eventually, Bombers officials announced that the start time would be pushed back to 8 p.m., which was later pushed back even further.

Teams of workers tried to clean the surface, but the ice looked patchy and dirty in places -- nowhere near ready for a hockey game. Plus, near the edges of the rink, there were holes a few inches wide and a couple inches deep where exposed cement showed through. Crews added snow and ice to try and thicken things up, but it definitely didn't make for an optimal playing surface.

In some corners, the ice looked mushy and soft -- again, not the best situation for an American Conference playoff game. A fire extinguisher eventually had to be used to freeze some of the ice on the edges.

During the long delay, most of the Blades players stood near the edge of the ice, staring glumly at the uneven surface. They were frustrated, and with good reason. Most had already warmed up and mentally prepared for the game. They had been waiting to play since arriving in Dayton on Friday evening.

"It's always frustrating to have a long lapse like that," Blades forward Dustin Johner. "We just sort of sat here: tried to talk about the game and what we wanted to do."

By the time Saturday night's game finally started, at 8:27 p.m., it seemed most of the enthusiasm had already been sucked out of the arena. And the dirty areas on the ice still hadn't been cleaned by start time.

ONE L FOR ANOTHER: For the second game in a row, Blades forward Jarret Lukin started the game and forward Jonathan Lehun was a scratch. Lehun played in Tuesday night's game against Dayton but had missed the previous three games due to an undisclosed injury. Lukin was a scratch for Tuesday's game and appeared to have a slight foot or ankle injury that has healed enough for him to play now.

Lehun has appeared OK at practice and off the ice, but Fleming said after Saturday's game that Lehun is day-to-day.

OUTSCORING, BUT NOT OUTSHOOTING: The Blades will likely want to reverse this trend in tonight's game. For the second straight game in a row, Florida was badly outshot by Dayton. Saturday night it was 26-14; in Thursday's game it was 36-20.

Somehow they've managed to pull off two straight wins, but it's a scary statistic for Florida and one the offensive-minded Everblades probably didn't expect against the Bombers.