JACKSONVILLE, FL – At the start of the week, Orlando Solar Bears head coach and general manager Drake Berehowsky was busy on the phone, making moves to perk up his team’s offense. One of the trades was a three-way move that brought Hunter Fejes to the Sunshine State from snowy Wheeling.
Orlando forward Martins Dzierkals scored a goal and added two assists in Friday night’s game (PHN photo by Trina Kirk)
Friday night, Fejes made his coach look like a master of wheeling and dealing.
In just his second game in an Orlando uniform, Fejes hit for a hat trick to lead the Solar Bears (14-16-4-1, 33 points) to a hard fought 5-3 win over the Jacksonville Icemen (9-17-3-2, 23 points) in front of an announced crowd of 7,236 at the Jacksonville Veteran Memorial Arena. Fellow Solar Bear Martins Dzierkals had a big night as well for the visitors, popping for a goal and two assists.
In the first of three games in three days between two of the state of Florida’s three ECHL franchises, goals were hard to come by in the opening period. Both team’s netminders, Cal Heeter for Orlando and Austin Lotz for Jacksonville, were perfect in the frame, keeping their opponents scoreless throu a combined eleven shots on net.
What was not in short supply was bad blood as things got wild quickly. Midway through the stanza, Icemen captain Garet Hunt took the opportunity to hit Heeter as he went to play the puck behind his net, rammingthe netminder into the boards. Both Solar Bears defensemen, Jeff King and Sam Jardine, immediately took on Hunt. By the time the fracas ended, all ten skaters were in the Orlando end below the goal line squared off with King, Jardine, Hunt and Jacksonville’s Everett Clark earning fighting majors. Hunt picked up a charging major and Heeter earned a slashing minor for taking a whack at Icemen blueliner Chris Joseph.
A late Jacksonville penalty to Cameron Critchlow rolled over into the second period but the Icemen held the Solar Bears at bay. That effort spurred the offense and the Icemen cashed in when rookie Jansen Harkins whipped a shot past Heeter on the glove side for his second goal in as many games in Jacksonville at the 2:01 mark.
Not wanting to play from behind, the Solar Bears went on a power play at 3:09 of the frame and made the Icemen pay. At the 4:51 mark, Josh Winquist got the puck on a rebound and fed it to Dzierkals. The Latvian lightning bolt then did what he does best, ripping a shot over Lotz’ shoulder for his seventh goal of the season.
Orlando’s Sean Zimmerman (8, purple) and Jacksonville’s Garet Hunt (24, white) squared off in the second period Friday night (PHN photo by Trina Kirk)
Fejes, who had been Wheeling’s leading scorer and is among the ECHL’s top point getters, got into the scoring mode a little past the midpoint of the middle frame, cleaning up the rebound of a shot by Joe Perry and netting his 17th tally of the year and first in a Solar Bears uniform. Less than a minute later – 57 second to be exact – King took a pass from Jardine and blasted a shot that found the back of the net for his third of the year and 3-1 Orlando lead.
The score stayed that way into the second intermission but the scoresheet still had some writing to go. With less than two minutes to go before the break, Orlando captain Sean Zimmerman squared off with Jacksonville’s Hunt in a center ice bout. The resulting fighting majors to the pair ended Hunt’s evening as it was his third major of the contest after the charging and fighting penalties in the first.
Down two as the final period began, the Icemen mounted a spirited comeback. It took only 1:53 of playing time for Jacksonville to pull within one when Elgin Pearce set up Clark who buried his sixth goal of the season between Heeter’s legs. That was quickly followed by a scrum that resulted in a power play for the Icemen. Just ten seconds into the advantage, Harkins got the puck to Critchlow who beat Heeter for his eighth of the season and a tie score at 3-3.
Feeling the pressure of watching Jacksonville even the score, the Solar Bears again needed a spark and it was Fejes who provided it. Ninety seconds after Critchlow’s tally, Valleau skated the puck bleow the goal line in the Jacksonville defensive zone. He saw an opening and made a perfect pass to the front where Fejes banged it home for his second of the game and a 4-3 Orlando lead.
Orlando goalie Cal Heeter (30, center) made 20 saves to get the win Friday night (PHN photo by Trina Kirk)
A series of penalties, including a set of matching misconduct penalties to Fejus and Jacksonville’s Garrett Klotz, muddied the flow of the game through the middle portion of the final twenty minutes. The Icemen had an opportunity just before the midway mark with a man advantage but the Solar Bears were able to subdue Jacksonville’s offense during the penalty kill.
Late in the contest, Jacksonville head coach Jason Christie pulled goalie Jamie Phillips – who had replaced Lotz six minutes into the period, for an extra attacker. Heeter (20 saves) made a pair of spectacular stops on either side of the change, stacking his pads to rob Pearce and then fending off a try by Clark.
Fejes completed his hat trick by taking a pass from Jardine and finding the back of the empty net with 1:26 left on the clock to secure the win. With the victory, the Solar Bears improved their record against the expansion Icemen to 4-1-1-0.
Notes: Orlando outshot Jacksonville in the game 25-23… Both teams scored once on the power play with the Solar Bears having five chances to six by the Icemen… Orlando’s Valleau and Jacksonville’s Christopher Dienes were chosen on Thursday to represent their teams at the CCM/ECHL All-Star game in Indianapolis on Monday, January 15th… Chris Crane returned to the Orlando lineup after a lengthy stay on the injured reserve list and picked up an assist. To make room on the playing roster, veteran forward Darryl Bootland was placed on reserve… The teams combined for 109 penalty minutes in the game (53 for Orlando, 56 for Jacksonville)… The teams will meet again Saturday night in Jacksonville at 7:30 p.m. before finishing the weekend in Orlando Sunday afternoon at 1:30 p.m.
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
Follow the author on Twitter @phnsingleaedit or @prohockeynews
You must be logged in to post a comment.