JACKSONVILLE, FLA – Entering Wednesday night’s contest at the Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena, the Orlando Solar Bears and Jacksonville Icemen were separated by a mere .025 in the category of points percentage – the difference between fourth-place Orlando and sixth-place Jacksonville. With the Solar Bears ahead of the Icemen in the standings, the visitors had a chance to put a little more distance between them and their northeastern Florida rivals.
The Icemen – specifically Ara Nazarian – had other plans.
Nazarian netted a hat trick, including two empty net tallies that put the game out of reach, as Jacksonville (33-27-3-3, .545 points percentage) doubled up on Orlando (33-26-5-1, .554 points percentage) by a final of 6-3 in front of a COVID-restricted crowd of 2,987. Mike Szmatula, Abbott Girduckis and Ryker Killins each chipped in with a goal and an assist to bring the Icemen to within .009 of fourth place in the Eastern conference. South Carolina, which defeated Greenville on Wednesday, sits in between the two Sunshine State combatants with a points percentage of .546 in fifth place.
Mark Auk, Michael Joly and Chris LeBlanc scored the goals for the Solar Bears, who saw their head-to-head record against Jacksonville fall to 6-5-2-0. Goalie Clint Windsor, fresh off of being named ECHL/Warrior Hockey Goalie of the week for a record-tying fourth time this season, had a bit of an off night, making 29 saves on 33 shots he faced.
The opening period of the game was a game typical of this time of year – tight on defense and shots and very light on scoring. Neither team was able to dent the scoreboard and they combined for 19 shots on net (11 for Jacksonville, 8 for Orlando) with Windsor and Icemen netminder Charles Williams each pitching a shutout.
What the first period lacked for scoring, the second frame made up for in a big way. The teams went back and forth, combining for a dizzying six goals (three each) in the first 7:59 of the stanza.
Jacksonville opened the scoring a mere 12 ticks into the period. Nazarian was camped out in front when a shot by Alex-Olivier Voyer hit him just outside the crease. The puck dropped right there and Nazarian jammed it home for his 22nd goal of the season. Then 43 seconds later, Szmatula took a cross-ice feed from Girduckis and from a tough angle beat Windsor for his 19th to make it 2-0 in favor of the Icemen.
Orlando needed a quick comeback and got it. At the 1:18 mark, Tyler Bird set up Auk for a shot that found its way past Williams. For Auk, it was his sixth of the year and it trimmed the Solar Bears deficit to 2-1. Later at the 4:57 point, Orlando pulled even with a special teams score. As time was winding down on a penalty kill, J.J. Piccinich forced a turnover and sent Joly away on a break. Joly made a couple of moves before sliding the puck under Williams. Although they initially ruled it a good goal, the game officials went to the video tablet for a review and after a lengthy delay ruled it good. It was Joly’s 17th goal of the season – ninth coming as a Solar Bear – and the team’s 10th short-handed goal of the 2020-21 campaign.
The even score lasted all of three minutes before the Icemen regained the lead. Killins got the puck to Szmatula who put a shot on net. Windsor made the initial save but the rebound ended up at the feet of Girduckis who sent the puck into the back of the cage for his 11th of the season. The rampage of goals came to a close at the 7:59 mark when Luke McInnis set up Leblanc who went top shelf with a shot past Williams’ blocker side for his 13th to square the score at 3-3, where it stayed through the rest of the stanza.
Orlando had an opportunity to go in front with a late second period power play that bled over into the third. Killins came out of the penalty box just as Rabbit was blocking a shot and quickly headmanned the puck to Killins. Killins did the rest, driving hard to the Orlando net and going glove side high for his sixth goal of the season and the eventual game-winner.
The teams went back and forth for much of the period with Orlando looking for a game-tying tally while Jacksonville wanted some insurance. Neither goalie caved in as Windsor and Williams (22 saves on 25 shots faced) stood tall between their respective sets of pipes. Orlando pulled Windsor with just over two minutes remaining and almost immediately Jacksonville found the empty net when Nazarian connected for his second of the game and 23rd of the year.
With nothing to lose, the Solar Bears kept Windsor on the bench and had to look on as Nazarian completed his hat trick with 45 ticks to go for his 23rd of the season to put the win on ice.
Orlando headed back home after the game to get ready for a huge weekend set of games Friday, Saturday and Sunday against the first place Florida Everblades at the Amway Center. Friday night is Domestic Violence Awareness Night with Saturday being designated as Teacher Appreciation Night. Jacksonville will hit the road for a pair of road games in Greenville against the Swamp Rabbits on Friday and Saturday nights.
Notes: Final shots were 35-25 in favor of Jacksonville… Neither team scored on the power play as both sides finished 0-for-2… Both Joly and LeBlanc extended their personal point streaks to four games… Friday night was Windsor’s 78th regular season game, tying him with Ryan Massa for most appearances all-time with the Solar Bears.
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
Follow us on Twitter @prohockeynews
You must be logged in to post a comment.