JACKSONVILLE, FLA – In two previous meetings this season, the Jacksonville Icemen had been blown out by the Florida Everblades by an aggregate score of 10-1. When the visiting Everblades notched three goals in the first 8:04 of Monday night’s meeting, it looked like another loss for Jacksonville.
This time, however, the third time was the charm for Jacksonville.
The host Icemen (2-4-0-0) scored five unanswered goals over the final two and a half periods and goalie Eamon McAdam regained his composure, stopping the final 18 shots he faced to topple the unbeaten Everblades (5-1-0-0) 5-3 in front of an announced COVID-reduced crowd of 2,868 at the Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena. Ara Nazarian’s goal with just over six minutes left in regulation proved to be the game-winner while teammates Craig Martin and Matt Filipe each contributed a goal and an assist to the cause.
Coming off a 4-0 whitewashing of Jacksonville last Saturday, Florida went for the kill early on, slamming McAdam with four shots in the first 4:10 of the first period and scoring twice. The opening salvo on the scoreboard came off the stick of the Everblades’ Cameron Hebig, who collected a loose puck in the slot and fired it home for his third goal of the young season at the 1:51 mark. A couple of minutes later, Hebig sent Blake Winiecki away on a break-in for his second of the year and a 2-0 lead.
Four minutes later, Alex Kile sent a blistering shot home for his third to up the visitors’ lead to 3-0 and it appeared that Jacksonville and its fans were in for a long night.
Held to just three shots over the first 19 minutes of the opening frame, the Icemen needed a break and got one in the final minute. With 46 ticks left on the clock before the intermission, Mike Szmatula was able to bank the puck off the skates of Everblades netminder Devin Cooley from the corner into the cage. Szmatula’s second of the season cut the Florida lead to 3-1, giving everyone hope that a comeback was in store.
The Icemen were able to effectively kill off an Everblades power play at the start of the second period, gaining some momentum in the process. It proved to be just what the doctor ordered when seconds after the penalty expired, Craig Martin went top shelf over Cooley for his first of the season to trim the deficit to 3-2. It came on the second of just three Icemen shots in the stanza but with Jacksonville’s defense holding Florida to only six shots on McAdam, it gave the home team a chance heading to the final period.
Infused with energy, the Icemen quickly evened the score in the third. Filipe did the honors, converting a counterattack by beating Cooley between the legs for his first goal of the 20-21 campaign at the 4:41 mark.
Jacksonville took the lead at 13:57 when Nazarian spun out of the faceoff circle to Cooley’s left and slid the puck underneath the goalie for his second to put the Icemen ahead for good. Nick Saracino iced the victory when he picked off an Everblades attempted stretch pass and scored into an empty net with five seconds remaining to send the fans home happy.
The Icemen are right back in action Tuesday night when they head to Orlando for their first meeting of the season with their other in-state rivals. Game time at the Amway Center against the Solar Bears is set for a 7 p.m. puck drop. Florida is off until Wednesday when it visits the City Beautiful for a 7 p.m. matchup with Orlando.
Notes: Final shots for the game were 25-22 in favor of Florida… Jacksonville’s McAdam ended the night with 22 saves in net while the Everblades’ Cooley stopped 17 of the 21 shots he faced… Both teams went 0-for-5 on the power play in the contest. Florida has now killed off 27 straight opposition man advantages to start the season… Florida played two skaters short Monday night after the NHL’s Nashville Predators (Everblades affiliate) recalled five players – Patrick Harper, Tanner Jeannot, Tommy Novak, Cole Smith and Josh Wilkins – ahead of its training camp getting started… Everblades head coach Brad Ralph coached his 500th regular season ECHL game Monday night after picking up his 400th professional head coaching victory on Saturday… The win was Jacksonville head coach Jason Christie’s 635th of his ECHL career, coming in his 1,217th game as a bench boss in the premiere double-A league.
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