Written by Noah Epstein
ORLANDO, FL -- Garrett Van Wyhe took the puck into the Icemen attacking zone through the right faceoff circle with Alex Frye being the only Orlando defender between him and Alexis Gravel. As soon as Frye reached his puck out to Van Wyhe’s right, the Jacksonville defenseman maneuvered to his left as if he were Allen Iverson making his opponent look disoriented.
After the crossover, Van Wyhe snuck a shot past Gravel to give the Icemen a 2-1 overtime win at the Kia Center on Wednesday night.
Van Wyhe’s third goal of the season propelled Jacksonville to its second straight overtime victory, as the squad was coming off a Davis Koch game-winning goal against Florida on Saturday.
Koch recorded two assists in Wednesday’s contest, and he now leads the Icemen with 18 points and 12 assists on the season.
His first assist came just over halfway through the second period, sending a long cross-ice pass to Zach Jordan who fired the puck past Gravel from the right circle. Jordan’s seventh goal of the year was the game’s first score, as the Icemen took a 1-0 advantage.
The Solar Bears evened the score in the third period, with Jack Adams connecting on his fourth goal. Spencer Kersten recorded one of the assists on the play, and he now leads Orlando with 22 points this season.
It remained 1-1 through regulation, thanks to fantastic goaltending by Matt Vernon and Gravel. Vernon ended up saving 35 shots out of 36, including a few key pad saves down the stretch.
The Icemen controlled the puck for almost all of overtime before they finished off Orlando courtesy of Van Wyhe’s electrifying move 4:09 into the stanza.
Jacksonville is now 10-0-1 when leading after two periods this season, and Orlando fell to 0-9-2 when trailing after two. The Solar Bears are also 3-7-2 at home this season, which is the worst home record in the South Division.
The Icemen now have 30 points and look to win their third straight game on Thursday, facing off against Greenville at Bon Secours Wellness Arena at 7:05 p.m.
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