ESTERO, FL – Saturday night at the Germain Arena in Estero, the Jacksonville Icemen (19-28-4-3 45 points) and Florida Everblades (36-12-1-4 77 points) met for the eighth time this season. The series this season has not been kind to the Icemen as the Everblades had won all seven previous meetings. Jacksonville’s win over Norfolk Friday night got them out of the Eastern Conference/Southern Division cellar, putting them nine points behind Orlando as they try and make a run for the final playoff spot. At the other end of the spectrum, Florida is currently one point ahead of the Colorado Eagles in the battle for the Brabham Cup.
Austin Lotz (12-9-1-1), who recently returned to the team from Manitoba of the AHL, startedin net for Jacksonville and Martin Ouellette (22-5-0-2) started for Florida.
Jacksonville got the scoring started at 2:08 of the first when Tanner Eberle forced a turnover behind the net and, after a scramble in front of the cage, Elgin Pearce scored his 16th of the season. Assists were awarded to Chad Thibodeau and Everett Clark. The Icemen extended the lead to two when Garet Hunt slipped behind the Everblades defensemen and took the pass from Cameron Critchlow and scored at 12:04 for his 13th. Jimmy Lodge was awarded the second assist.
That two goal margin would only last for 42 seconds when the Everblades got on the board when, at 12:46, Mitchell Heard recorded his 17th of the season, beating Lotz. Assists went to Michael Kirkpatrick and Joe Cox. The scoring would end there for the first period with Jacksonville leading 2-1.
Florida had seven minutes in penalties in the first, Jacksonville five. Florida outshot Jacksonville for the period 9-5.
Jacksonville extended its lead back to two at 10:08 of the second period when Tim Daly picked up the loose puck and scored on a screened shot. The goal was awarded to Jan Kostalek, which would be his third of the season. The only original assist was awarded to Tanner Eberle.
Florida cut the lead back to one again at the 17:20 when Joe Cox recorded his 18th of the season, off assists from Heard and Matt MacKenzie. The period would end there with the Icemen leading 3-2.
Jacksonville had four penalty minutes the middle period while Florida had two,giving both teams nine penalty minutes after two. Florida outshot Jacksonville in the period 17-6 and, after two, held a 26-11 advantage.
The third period would only see one goal and it would be Florida that would garner it to tie the game up. It came on the power play at 42 seconds while Jacksonville’s Bobby MacIntyre was off the ice serving a cross-checking minor assessed at the end of the second. John McCarron got his 20th of the season, with assists going to Kirkpatrick and Heard. That would be the only scoring in the third period and the game would move to overtime, tied at 3-3.
There were no penalties in the third period. Florida continued its domination in the shots, outshooting Jacksonville in the third 14-7 and, after three, held a 40-18 advantage.
The overtime would only last 38 seconds and it would be Jimmy Lodge’s 14th of the season, beating Ouellette to the glove side that would give Jacksonville their first ever win over Florida. Cameron Critchlow would get the only assist as Jacksonville won 4-3.
No penalties in the overtime and the only two shots in the overtime were both by Jacksonville. Florida dominated the shot clock by a total count of 40-20.
Icechips: The three stars were 1st: Austin Lotz (Jax), 2nd—Mitchell Heard (Fla) and 3rd—Jimmy Lodge (Jax)… Attendance was posted as 5,721… The win by Jacksonville moves them to 47 points, one point behind Norfolk in the South Division. The Icemen are now seven points behind Orlando for the final playoff spot in the South… Florida’s next game is Wednesday night when they again host Jacksonville. Jacksonville’s next game is a Sunday afternoon tilt against the Brampton Beast, who lost 5-1 to the Stingrays on Saturday.
Contact the author at kenneth.holdren@prohockeynews.com
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