Icemen put Solar Bears offense into deep freeze

PHN photos by Trina Kirk

JACKSONVILLE, FLA – On paper, the Orlando Solar Bears have a potent offense that can ignite in an instant. That was evident on Thursday when they struck for three goals in the third period to get past the Jacksonville Icemen. There have also been times when goals have been hard to find as the team has struggled on numerous occasions to generate offense and quality scoring chances.

Orlando captain Mike Monfredo (3) helps goalie Charlie Millen collect his mask after a shot knocked it off during Friday’s third period (PHN photo by Trina Kirk)

Friday night at the Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, it was one of those nights where the Solar Bears just could not buy a score.

Led by two goals from veteran Wacey Rabbit and goalie Tanner Jaillet’s first professional perfect sheet, the Jacksonville Icemen (18-12-1-0) thrilled a mostly partisan crowd of 7,327 by blanking the visiting Solar Bears (15-12-3-0) 5-0. Kris Newbury (goal, 2 assists), Garret Ladd (2 assists) and Cody Fowlie (2 assists) joined Rabbit in the multiple points category as the Icemen won game two of a three-game set between the two in-state rivals. The rubber game of the series will be played Saturday night in Orlando.

There was certainly an air of revenge in the building after Orlando had taken game one a night earlier. On the visitor’s side, Solar Bears head coach and general manager Drake Berehowsky gave Corbin Boes the night off, opting to have newly acquired netminder Charlie Millen start between the pipes.

Just as they had on Thursday, the Icemen struck first. It only took 1:15 after the opening faceoff for Jacksonville to score when Jake Randolph was able to tuck a wraparound inside the right post for his second goal of the season. Late in the frame, Rabbit extended the Icemen lead when he redirected a shot by Maxime Fortier past Millen for his 13th of the year. It was a deflating goal for the Solar Bears as it came with only 49.6 seconds left before the first intermission.

In between, Millen – the son of former NHl netminder Greg Millen – stood on his head to keep Orlando in the game. He made several stops, including denying Rabbit on a short-handed breakaway, to keep the deficit at just two heading to the second period.

Jacksonville goalie Tanner Jaillet made 19 saves to post his first professional shutout Friday night (PHN photo by Trina Kirk)

At the other end of the ice, Jaillet was having a relatively easy time of things. He faced just six Solar Bears shots in the opening frame and thanks to three power plays for his teammates, he saw only five more in the middle stanza.

Tempers began to flare midway through the second when Millen challenged Icemen captain Garet Hunt. It led to Solar Bears tough guy Curt Gogol engaging with Hunt. After things settled down, Millen continued to play well, stopping all twelve Jacksonville shots to send the game to the third period with the home team still up by just two.

Millen made one of his best saves of the game early in the final frame when during a Solar Bears power play, he flashed his glove hand to rob former Orlando forward Christophe Lalancette of his second goal in as many nights.

Near the middle of the period, Gogol and Hunt squared off for the second time with some more serious blows being landed. The smaller Hunt got the better of Gogol, who was playing in just his third game after an injury, as the Icemen’s leader ended up on top to the roar of the home crowd.

Less than two minutes later, Rabbit and Ladd had an opportunity during a penalty kill to break out on an odd-man rush. Rabbit finished off the play by netting his second of the night and 14th of the season to put Jacksonville up 3-0.

The Icemen put the game out of reach with two goals in a span of 50 seconds. First up it was Newbury who, after an offensive zone faceoff win by Fowlie, rocketed a shot to the top right corner of the cage for his 11th. Then Fowlie set up defenseman Dajon Mingo who bagged his eighth tally of the season to cap the scoring.

After the Mingo score, the teams nearly got into a brawl as the frustrations of the Solar Bears began to spill over. How the emotions of playing a third time in three days on Saturday play into Saturday’s storyline remains to be seen but it is sure to amp up both benches and the Amway Center crowd.

Notes: Final shots were 37-19 in favor of Jacksonville. The 19 shots by the Solar Bears was the second lowest output of the season, besting the 17 shots produced on December 7th against Atlanta (5-4 Orlando win)… The Solar Bears went 0-for-4 on the power play while the Icemen finished 0-for-6 with the man advantage… Rabbit’s short-handed tally was Jacksonville’s league-leading eighth at home. The Icemen are also second in the ECHL with ten shorties overall… Saturday night’s game will be shown on local TV as WKMG-TV News 6 in Orlando will air the game live starting at 7 p.m.