JACKSONVILLE, FLA – On Friday, March 26th, the Jacksonville Icemen took on the Greenville Swamp Rabbits in the first of a three-game weekend set. It was also Marvel Comics night in the River City as the home team wore Thanos-themed jerseys and gold gloves while the visitors were dressed as Ironman. While the movie may have ended with the Avengers saving the world, the hockey version had an “inevitable” conclusion as Brandon Gignac scored twice to lead the Icemen to a 3-1 victory at the Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena.
Jacksonville won the first period of the contest, scoring the lone goal. It came at the 12:45 mark when Ara Nazarian dropped a pass for Erik Bradford who beat Greenville goalie John Lethemon with a wrist shot for his 3rd goal of the season.
Following a tightly played second period that yielded no scoring, the Icemen doubled their lead midway through the final frame when Pascal Aquin put a perfect pass over to Gignac who blasted it home for his 3rd of the year at 10:08.
Greenville pulled within 2-1 four minutes later when during a power play, Jack Sadek slid a feed to Matt Bradley who stepped into a one-time rocket that beat Icemen netminder Charles Williams for his 11th goal of the season.
Late in the contest, the Swamp Rabbits pulled Lethemon but saw their plans foiled when Gignac fired into the empty net to seal the victory. For Gognac, it was his second of the game and 4th of the season.
Williams finished the game with 21 saves to record the win while Lethemon stopped 20 shots in the loss.
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