JACKSONVILLE, FLA – The four days from Wednesday, November 14th to Saturday November 17th featured a series of firsts for the Jacksonville Icemen. Some good, some bad but, all in all, a series of days that allowed the Icemen to continued to stay within shouting distance of the lead of the ECHL South Division.
The series of games started on Wednesday against a team that the Icemen have struggled with, the Florida Everblades. The game on 11/14 marked the 20th meeting between the two franchises in the two seasons since the Icemen began play in Jacksonville. The series has been lopsided in favor of the Everblades, with Florida winning 17 of the previous 19 meetings. While Jacksonville had won two meetings, both had come in overtime. Previous to Wednesday night, the Icemen had never beaten Florida in regulation.
That changed Wednesday night. Steller defense by goaltender Mikhail Berdin and goals in the first by Cody Fowler and Wacey Rabbit, against former Icemen goalie Jamie Philips, were enough for the Icemen to finally defeat the Everblades in regulation. The final score was 2-1. The game was a tight struggle, with each team only recording only four penalty minutes and the Everblades outshooting the Icemen 28-22.
Friday night came another first for the Icemen, as they played a team from the ECHL’s Central Division for the first time since moving to Jacksonville as one of the oldest continuous franchises in the ECHL, the Wheeling Nailers, paid their only regular season visit to the Arena. Unfortunately, for the Icemen, Jacksonville did not have too much luck in the game. After a scoreless first period, Wheeling’s Troy Joseph recorded a natural hat-trick, scoring two of the goals in the second and the last in the third. Jacksonville got one on the board late in the third on Dan DeSalvo but the Nailers’ Zac Lynch scored an empty netter a minute later to give the Nailers the 4-1. Like the Florida game two days earlier, the game was low on penalties with both teams recording only six minutes. Jacksonville was able to outshoot Wheeling 37-26 in the game.
Saturday night saw the Icemen go on the road, visiting Greenville for the second time this season. In their last visit there, Jacksonville dominated for a 5-1 win. This time, early one, it was Greenville that did the dominating, scoring three goals in the first 8:06. However, Jacksonville was able to chip away at that lead with a goal before the first ended by Everett Clark. They would tie the game in the second on goals by Cameron Critchlow and Wacey Rabbit and, at 2:47 of the third, Cam MacLise recorded what turned out to be the game winner in a 4-3 victory. This game saw a lot more penalties than the previous two games with Jacksonville having fifteen minutes and Greenville thirteen. Jacksonville outshot Greenville in the game 25-22
Winning three of four for the week (including Monday’s shootout win over Norfolk) gave the Icemen six points for the week, allowing the Icemen to finish the week at the top of the South Division. Jacksonville now enjoys a week of home cooking as they play their next four at home over the set of Thanksgiving week game. First up is the South Carolina Stingrays, who pay their third visit of the season to Jacksonville Tuesday night.
Contact the author at kenneth.holdren@prohockeynews.com
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