Written by Jake Wheeler
JACKSONVILLE, FL- Travis scored twice, while defenseman Hunter Skinner and Luke Martin each scored to guide the Jacksonville Icemen to a 5-2 victory over the Utah Grizzlies Wednesday night at Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena.
The Icemen got off to a decent start in the first period as they held the early momentum playing in front of their home crowd. The Icemen had the first powerplay of the contest, and made the Grizzlies pay, as Hunter Skinner wristed a shot from the top of the faceoff dot to give the Icemen the early lead.
Following the goal, there was a lot of back-and-forth play as each team had some offensive zone pressure and chances. Jacksonville had another late powerplay, but they were unable to convert on their second man advantage. After 20 minutes of play, the Icemen lead 1-0 while leading in shots on goal 8-7.
The Icemen came out with more jump in the second frame. The Icemen had the majority of the offensive zone pressure while out chancing the Grizzlies by a large margin. Jacksonville had two penalty kills about halfway through the period, both of which they were able to kill off as Parker Gahagen and the defense came up big.
The Icemen added another tally late in the period as Luke Martin wristed a shot from the slot and scored against his old club to make it a 2-0 Jacksonville advantage.
Moments later, the Icemen went back to the penalty kill and were able to score a shorthanded goal as Zach Jordan buried it to take a three-goal lead.
Moments later on the same penalty kill, the Grizzlies added one late as Penner scored to cut their deficit to two goals after 40 minutes of play.
The Grizzlies scored just 22 seconds in the period as Robinson buried it to cut their deficit to one goal.
Moments later, the Icemen’s Travis Howe increased the Icemen lead as he followed up and buried the rebound from Ben Hawerchuk’s shot.
Utah would pull their goaltender late to try and get themselves back in the game, but Travis Howe added his second of the game to seal the deal for Jacksonville. The Icemen won 5-2 while outshooting the Grizzlies 38-29.
The Icemen host the Utah Grizzlies on Friday, December 9th at 7pm.
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