ORLANDO, FLA – There are nights when one team has its way with the other’s goalie, scoring at will. Then there are nights when the opposition netminder looks like he is ready for induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame, even if he’s not exactly busy making a ton of saves.
Orlando’s Zach Emond (31, center) made 14 saves in Wednesday night’s game against Jacksonville (PHN photo courtesy of Trina Kirk)
Wednesday night at the Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena, the Jacksonville Icemen threw up a wall in front of the Orlando Solar Bears – and that wall had a name: Tyler.
New York Rangers prospect Tyler Wall pitched the first shutout of his professional career with 23 saves as the host Icemen (9-7-1-1) blanked their in-state rivals from Orlando by a final of 5-0 in front of an announced crowd of 4,876. Craig Martin (goal, 2 assists), Jake Elmer (goal, assist) and Jacob Panetta (goal, assist) each contributed multi-point games to make Wall’s night that much easier.
Rookie netminder Zach Emond, assigned by the AHL San Jose Barracuda to the Solar Bears, did not have his best game, making 14 saves on 19 shots. The way his night went seemed to be indicative of the entire contest for the visitors, who failed in six power play attempts and were blitzed by a three-goal second period from the Icemen that left no doubt as to the eventual final outcome.
The fact that the teams combined for just nine shots on net (5-4 in favor of Orlando) in the first period showed just how little distance there is between the two rivals. Each side had one opportunity with a man advantage with Jacksonville converting while the Solar Bears didn’t. A little past the thirteen minute mark and with time ticking away quickly, the Icemen made one last rush into the Orlando end. As the Solar Bears penalty killers tried to meet the Icemen out high, Derek Lodermeier filtered toward the net. When no one followed Lodermeier, it was easy for Luke Lynch to make a pass. Lodermeier patiently made multiple stickhandling moves before roofing a backhander over Emond for his third goal of the season and what proved to be the only goal Jacksonville needed.
The second period onslaught by the home team began 3:09 in. The Icemen plowed into the Solar Bears defensive zone with captain Christopher Brown carrying the puck. As the Orlando defenders backed in. Brown dropped a feed to Jacob Friend at the top of the faceoff circle to Emond’s right. As Friend wound up for a shot/pass, both Martin and Elmer headed to the front of the net. Friend’s shot connected with Elmer and bounced in for Elmer’s fourth.
Six minutes and change later, the Icemen lead expanded to three. This time Travis Howe got a pass to the front of the cage and Martin deposited it into the back of the net for his sixth, giving Jacksonville a 3-0 lead halfway through the game.
Things got worse for the Solar Bears when the Icemen bagged one more score before the middle frame ended. It came at the 17:14 mark when a stretch of serious buzzing around the Orlando end led to Pinetta collecting the puck and putting it behind Emond for Pinetta’s second of the year. Martin collected his second helper of the game on the score with Elmer getting the secondary assist.
The final nail in the Solar Bears coffin came early in the third period. Abbott Girduckis made a play near his defensive blueline, taking a hit in order to send Brown and James Sanchez away on a two-on-one break. Brown held onto the puck long enough to make a pass to a wide open Sanchez who netted his fourth, ticking the Icemen lead to 5-0.
From that point on, it was up to Wall to finish out the game with a clean sheet. After having to make four saves (including a pretty glove stop on Orlando’s Luke McInnis) late in the second, he faced and turned away three in a row in 1:16 during a Solar Bears man advantage. He faced down overlapping penalties – which only yielded two recorded shots even though Orlando had 40 seconds of a two-man advantage – and finished with seven saves in the final twenty minutes to collect the whitewashing and the win.
The two teams will head back down to the City Beautiful for the back end of the home-and-home set Thurday night at the Amway Center with puck drop set for 7 p.m.
Notes: Final shots were 23-19 in favor of Orlando… The Solar Bears went 0-for-6 with the power play while the Icemen went 1-for-3… Forward Griff Jeszka was signed by Orlando on Tuesday to fill a hole in the roster caused by injuries and callups and played on Wednesday. Jeszka had 10 points (5 goals, 5 assists) in nine games with SPHL Pensacola before getting the call… Late in the day, the Syracuse Crunch (the Solar Bears AHL affiliate) announced that they would be reassigning defenseman Dmitry Semykin to the Solar Bears. He should be in Orlando in time for Thursday’s contest.
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
Follow us on Twitter @prohockeynews
You must be logged in to post a comment.