The Icemen returned to their winning ways on Wednesday night with a 5-2 win over the Norfolk Admirals. Jacksonville has now won all three games at the Norfolk Scope in the 2017-18 season, presented by Community First Credit Union.
After missing the previous four games due to an injury, Josh Erickson returned to the lineup Wednesday night and made an immediate impact. Everett Clark forced a turnover in the neutral zone and Brendan Collier quickly fed Erickson the puck on a 3-on-2 advantage. Erickson fanned on his first attempt from the right circle, but followed it up with a wrist shot past Ty Reichenbach for the Icemen lead.
Not looking to let the Admirals back in the game, the Icemen started the second period on the offensive. Just over a minute in, Jimmy Lodge skated in on goal, but his creative between-the-legs shot was stopped. Cameron Critchlow collected the rebound, but he couldn't find the back of the net either. Finally, captain Garet Hunt received Critchlow's pass and scored on the empty net as Reichenbach was out of the crease. Norfolk would respond only 40 seconds later as Domenic Alberga beat Colton Phinney to make it a 2-1 game. Jacksonville wouldn't take long to strike again, as Bobby MacIntyre fired a wrist shot from the left circle to beat Reichenbach blocker-side for the 3-1 lead.
Shortly after the halfway point in the third period, Elgin Pearce extended the Icemen's lead as he scored on a three-on-one advantage at 10:21 in the third period. Christian Horn would make things interesting as he scored under three minutes remaining to cut the deficit to two. Under a minute to play, Jimmy Lodge would seal the game with an empty-net goal and Jacksonville defeated Norfolk for the first time in regulation.
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