JACKSONVILLE, FLA – Limping into Jacksonville following a shutout loss in Duluth on Friday, the Orlando Solar Bears got some great news with leading scorer Aaron Luchuk being reassigned to them by the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch and goalie Zach Emond returning from a callup to the San Jose Barracuda. The hopes were that both, especially Luchuk, would boost the play of the team against the Jacksonville Icemen.
As it turned out, neither the presence of Luchuk in the lineup nor Emond’s relief stint between the pipes kept the Solar Bears from a third straight loss.
Vladislav Mikhalchuk netted himself a hat trick with a goal in each period to lead the host Icemen (12-8-1-1) to and overwhelming 7-2 win over the Solar Bears (11-10-1-0) in front of an announced crowd of 7,436 at the Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena on Saturday. Mikhalchuk, who added an assist for a four-point night, was just one of five Icemen to record at least two points on a night where twelve Jacksonville players to get onto the scoresheet with a point.
Kyle Topping (first goal of the season) and Tristin Langan (short-handed goal) were the only Solar Bears to dent the armor of Jacksonville netminder Francois Brassard, who finished the night with 24 saves. Brassard’s stat line was in stark contrast to those of Orlando goalies Brad Barone and Emond, who were dinged for four goals and three goals respectively.
After a fairly even initial thirteen minutes of play in the first period, the tone for the contest began to be set. At the 13:33 mark, Mikhalchuk and Croix Evingson skated into the Orlando end on a two-on-two rush. As Mikhalchuk got to the top of the faceoff circle to Barone’s left, he used the defenseman as a partial screen and fired a rising wrist shot. Barone seemed to have the shot tracked with his catching glove but the puck hit the glove, bounced out and trickled across the goal line for Mikhalchuk’s second goal of the season.
Less than a minute later, Icemen forward Ara Nazarian redirected a shot by Jacob Friend past Barone for his sixth of the season to give Jacksonville a 2-0 lead. The largely partisan home crowd was enjoying the show but there was plenty more to come.
Early in the second, Solar Bears captain Kevin Lohan put a huge hit on Jacksonville’s Derek Lodermeier. Needless to say, the Icemen responded quickly when Friend challenged Lohan to a bare knuckle battle at center ice. Lohan’s play seemed to light a spark that culminated in a goal by Topping on a redirect of a shot by Dmitry Semykin to cut the margin in half.
Any sense of momentum the Solar Bears might have had went by the wayside two minutes later. That was when Craig Martin and Mikhalchuk busted into the Orlando defensive zone and Martin let loose with a high riser. Barone fought it off with his mask but the rebound kicked right to Mikhalchuk who deposited it into the back of the cage for his second of the night.
Two minutes after Mikhalchuk’s tally, Ben Hawerchuk picked up his fourth of the season, ending Barone’s night as Emond was sent in by Orlando Head Coach and General Manager Drake Berehowsky to try to stop the bleeding. Late in the period, Joey Sides netted his fourth of the 21-22 campaign, sending the Icemen to the second intermission up 5-1.
Mikhalchuk completed his hat trick less than a minute into the final frame. The puck bounced out of a battle along the boards in the neutral zone to Mikhalchuk. He carried it into the Orlando end, getting to the slot-side edge of the faceoff circle before ripping a shot over Emond’s right shoulder and into the top corner. At that point, Jacksonville was up 6-1 and the final outcome was all but decided.
Langan netted his second of the season while killing a penalty at 6:26 to cut the deficit to 6-2 before Luke Lynch completed the scoring at the 13:05 mark off an assist from Mikhalchuk.
Orlando now gets to prepare for a trip west this coming weekend with games in Allen on Friday and Saturday before hitting Tulsa on Sunday afternoon.
Notes: Final shots were 28-26 in favor of Jacksonville… Both teams went 0-for-1 on the power play… Orlando’s Luchuk had two shots on net and a minor penalty in his return from Syracuse. He did not see any game action while with the Crunch.
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