JACKSONVILLE, FLA – On Friday, May 7th, the Jacksonville Icemen hosted the Wheeling Nailers in the first game of a three-game set at the Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena. Thanks to a pair of second period goals by Abbott Girduckis and Wacey Rabbit and 24 saves by goalie Charles Williams, the Icemen came away with a 3-1 victory.
The first period was a scoreless one but it was not void of action. The highlight of the frame came when Williams stared down a two-on-one Nailers rush and robbed Sean Josling with a brilliant left leg pad save.
The Icemen got on the board first 7:19 into the second. Seconds after a power play ended, Jacksonville continued to press and out of a scramble in front, Girduckis grabbed the rebound of his own blocked shot and elevated the puck over Wheeling goalie Shane Starrett for his 9th goal of the season.
Late in the frame, Mike Szmatula kept an attempted clear by the Nailers in at the point. He sent the puck to Rabbitt along the halfboards on the near side. Rabbit saw a teammate on the back side of the play and tried to thread a pass across the low slot. Wheeling defenseman Matt Miller was able to block the pass but the puck skidded across the goal line and in, giving Rabbitt his 7th tally of the year and a the Icemen a 2-0 lead.
Before the period was completed, the Nailers got on the scoreboard. The play was keyed by a shot off the stick of Patrick Watling. Williams made the save but the rebound popped into the air. Jared Cockrill was standing on the doorstep and batted the puck out of mid-air into the back of the cage for his first of the year to make it 2-1 Jacksonville after two.
The teams battled back and forth through the third and final stanza but Williams and Starrett (35 saves) held tight to keep it a one-goal game. Finally in the closing seconds, Jacksonville’s Ara Nazarian put the game on ice with an empty net goal for his 18th of the season with 42 ticks remaining.
Contact the photojournalist at trina.kirk@prohockeynews.com
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