JACKSONVILLE, FLA – During a “normal” season, the month of February can seem like hockey’s version of the dog days of August in baseball. The month itself may only have 28 days (or 29 every four years) but it can feel like it goes on forever before March and the run for the playoffs begins. It can cause players to long for it to be over in a hurry.
This year, however, February is further away from the home stretch than usual. It came to an end on Sunday but for Orlando Solar Bears forward Jake Coughler and his teammates, they probably do not want the month to come to a close.
Coughler netted his first professional hat trick and the team’s first of the 2020-21 campaign as the Solar Bears (13-10-3-0) defeated the Jacksonville Icemen (10-11-1-1) 4-1 in front of a COVID-restricted crowd of 2,367 at the Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville. The three tallies brought the second year forward’s total to nine goals during the month, putting him atop the league leaders for goals in February.
Jerry D’Amigo added a goal and two assists while Mark Auk chipped in with a pair of helpers while goalie Clint Windsor stopped 28 of 29 Jacksonville shots to collect his second straight win between the pipes.
Just as it was on Saturday night, the first period of the Sunday afternoon matinee was a quiet affair. The teams combined for 12 shots on net with each getting a half dozen. Only one found the back of the net and it came from the visitors.
Trying to move the puck deep in its defensive zone, an Icemen player threw a blind pass toward the blueline. It never got there as Zack Andrusiak intercepted the puck and almost immediately fed a cross-ice pass to D’Amigo. D’Amigo wasted little time in firing a laser that beat Jacksonville netminder Kyle Keyser for his fourth goal of the season and his second of the weekend.
Windsor and Keyser held the fort through much of the second frame. Keyser was not very busy as the Solar Bears logged a mere four shots on net during the period, three of them coming in the middle stages of the stanza. The third one, however, was a keeper as Coughler netted his first score of the day. Tristin Langan did most of the heavy lifting, taking a give-and-go feed from Aaron Luchuk and carrying the puck into the Jacksonville end. Coughler saw the play developing and jumped up to create a two-on-one setup. Langan waited for the right time and slid a pass to Coughler who wristed it into the top corner for his 11th of the season at the 12:49 mark.
While Keyser’s end was quiet, it was not that way for Windsor. The Icemen ramped up the attack in the middle stanza, launching 16 shots on the Orlando net. Two power play opportunities aided Jacksonville’s offense but Windsor was sharp, fending off every one of them.
The Icemen needed a spark and got it four minutes into the final frame. Kevin McKernan made a good play at the point to keep the puck in the Orlando end. He got the disc to Wacey Rabbit who returned it to McKernan for a shot on net. Windsor made the save but Pascal Aquin pounced on the rebound and scored his sixth of the season to trim the deficit to 2-1.
A little over three minutes later, the Solar Bears went on their first power play of the game and unlike Saturday night, they cashed in. It took only eleven seconds for the Orlando power play unit to move the puck around enough for Coughler to get open and he ripped a shot to the short side that beat Keyser (17 saves) for his second of the game and 12th of the season.
Coughler wrapped up his hat trick with yet another man-advantage tally. Playing a man down with less than two minutes to go, Keyser was pulled for an extra attacker. The plan backfired when Orlando calmly worked the puck out of its defensive zone to Coughler on the far wing. He had plenty of room to skate into the Jakcsonville end and scored into the open cage for his 13th of the season and his first pro hatty. It was the first Solar Bears hat trick since Colby McAuley accomplished the trick on March 9, 2019 against the Newfoundland Growlers on the road.
The Solar Bears are off until Friday when they face the Florida Everblades at the Amway Center. Jacksonville returns to the ice on Wednesday when the Icemen start a three-game set with the South Carolina Stingrays in North Charleston.
Notes: Final shots were 29-21 in favor of Jacksonville…The Solar Bears went 2-for-2 on the power play while the Icemen were 0-for-4… Coughler’s two goals gave him a three-game streak of multiple point games and his run of games with at least one point extended to five contests (7 goals, 3 assists)… Langan and Luchuk both extended their point streaks to eight games… Orlando finished the month with a record of 5-4-2-0.
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
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