JACKSONVILLE, FLA – For just about the entire season, Aaron Luchuk has been the go-to guy for the Orlando Solar Bears. Heading into Thursday night’s contest against the Jacksonville Icemen, Luchuk was sitting on 49 points (16 of them being goals), the most since Max Novak and Josh Winquist hit the 50 mark during the 2017-18 season. On the power play, he had five goals and eight assists for 13 points, the most on this year’s roster. On Wednesday night in South Carolina, his one goal and three assists helped to will the Solar Bears to a 7-6 win over the Stingrays.
Thursday night, he continued his hot scoring but this time it ended up not being enough.
Luchuk scored two goals, including the game-tying score with eight seconds left in regulation but Mike Szmatula matched him with a pair including the overtime winner as the host Icemen (20-18-3-3) scored a 4-3 win over Orlando (25-18-4-1) in front of a COVID-restricted crowd of 2,134 at the Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena. The victory extended Jacksonville’s winning streak to four games after it swept the Florida Everblades last weekend.
Captain Chris LeBlanc and Joe Garreffa each picked up two assists while J.J. Piccinich had the other goal for the Solar Bears. Goalie Kris Oldham, who hadn’t played since late March, made 34 saves and played admirably well for the visitors.
After a fairly nondescript first period where there was no scoring and no penalties, the action began to heat up in the middle frame. At the 4:48 mark of the period, Abbott Girduckis just missed with a shot but Szmatula went hunting for the puck and gained control. He then zipped a pass to the right faceoff circle where Girduckis was open and he did not miss on the second try, scoring his seventh goal of the season.
A little under six minutes later, the Icemen increased their lead over their in-state rivals. Ara Nazarian got loose for a break-in but Oldham made the initial save. The rebound kicked off his pads into the low slot where Pascal Aquin banged it home for his 11th of the year and a2-0 lead.
Shortly thereafter, Jacksonville was assessed a penalty and the Solar Bears power play, which gone 6-for-23 in the team’s previous seven games struck yet again. Off of the offensive zone faceoff win by LeBlanc, Mark Auk sent the puck to Luchuk for what has been his signature play – a one time bomb – that beat Icemen netminder Charles Williams for Luchuk’s 17th goal overall and sixth on the man advantage to close the margin to 2-1.
Luchuk’s tally came at the 11:50 mark of the second and was the last notation on the scoresheet for the stanza. Both Oldham and Williams settled in as the pair matched save for save in keeping the opposition at bay, sending the teams to the second intermission with Orlando down by one.
Orlando’s offense came out with ferocity in the third period, pinning the Icemen in their defensive zone. The pressure only resulted in one recorded on net but the Solar Bears made it count. Garraffa gained control along the boards and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Piccinich in the slot. Garraffa made a backhanded pass that found his teammate and Piccinich rifled the puck into the back of the cage for his ninth of the season and a tie game at 2-2.
The teams went back and forth for much of the period after the tying tally with the visitors dominating the shot counter but Williams stood very tall. Oldham was not nearly as busy but he made all the stops until with 3:42 remaining in regulation, Szmatula converted the rebound of a shot by Girduckis for his 10th goal of the season and a 3-2 lead for the home team.
The Solar Bears turned up the heat once again and began buzzing all over the Jacksonville end of the ice. They did register a couple of shots but Williams – who made 30 saves on the night – was equal to the task.
As the clock ticked under a minute to go, Orlando pulled Oldham for an extra attacker. Then with a mere 8 seconds to go and a second straight regulation loss steering them in the face, the Solar Bears came through. LeBlanc got the puck from Garreffa and looked for Luchuk who was setting up in the slot. LeBlanc’s pass was true and Luchuk became the momentary hero when he netted his second of the game and 18th of the year to send the contest into extra time.
In the overtime, Auk tested Williams right off the bat but the goalie said no. It was the same answer at the other end seconds later when Oldham denied Jacksonville’s Michael Kim of a game-winner. Then after the Solar Bears missed an opportunity, the Icemen came back down and Trevor Hamilton set up Szmatula who went five-hole on Oldham for his second of the night and 11th of the season to end it at the 1:39 mark.
It was a well played game as the Solar Bears had one power play chance and scored while the Icemen failed in their only attempt with the man advantage.
Orlando heads back to North Charleston on Friday to take on South Carolina. Jacksonville is off until Saturday when they go north to take on the Stingrays.
Notes: With his two assists, LeBlanc moved into a tie for fourth place on the Solar Bears all-time list for most assists with Jake Cepis… Orlando is now 6-3-2-0 against Jacksonville this season with four more meetings still to come before the end of the regular season.
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
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