JACKSONVILLE, FLA – As the number of games remaining in the 2020-21 ECHL regular season dwindle into the single digits, each and every contest carry more and more importance. That was the case on Wednesday, May 26th when the Jacksonville Icemen hosted the Orlando Solar Bears at the Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena. When all was said and done, it was the Icemen, led by a hat trick from Ara Nazarian, who prevailed as they beat the Solar Bears by a final of 6-3.
Following a scoreless opening frame, the second period became a scorefest. It all started 12 seconds in when Nazarian converted the rebound of a shot by Alex-Olivier Voyer for his first goal of the night and 22nd of the season. That was followed by Mike Szmatula redirecting home a feed from Abbott Girduckis for his 19th to make it 2-0 Jacksonville with 55 seconds gone in the stanza.
Orlando struck back with the next two tallies. First at 1:18, Mark Auk found a shooting lane and sent the puck into the net for his 7th of the year. A couple of minutes later, Michael Joly got loose for a shorthanded breakaway and netted his 17th of the season to even the score.
Jacksonville retook the lead at the 7:04 mark when Girduckis scored a rebound goal after a shot by Szmatula for his 11th to make it 3-2. Fifty-five ticks later at 7:59, Orlando’s Chris LeBlanc went top corner with a shot for his 13th to again even the scoreboard, this time at 3-3.
The third and final period belonged to the Icemen. The eventual goal came 1:07 into the frame and a couple of seconds after Jacksonville finished killing off a carryover penalty from the previous period. Ryker Killins, who had been in the penalty box, stepped back onto the ice, took a stretch pass and set off on a breakaway. He beat Orlando goalie Clint Windsor, who finished the game with 29 saves, for his 6th goal of the season.
From there, Icemen netminder Charles Williams took over. He shut down the Solar Bears the rest of the way, finishing the night with 22 saves. Orlando pulled Windsor late in the contest, giving Nazarian the opportunity to score not one but two empty net goals to give him a hat trick and raise his season total to 24.
Contact the photojournalist at trina.kirk@ptohockeynews.com
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