Chukarov plays hero in penalty-heavy contest; Icemen beat Bears 3-2 in OT

Written by Noah Epstein

ORLANDO, FL -- Ivan Chukarov was able to clean up a rebound to score an overtime game-winner, capping off a hard-fought victory for the Jacksonville Icemen over the Orlando Solar Bears, 3-2, on Tuesday night.

Chukarov’s goal concluded a contest that featured 12 combined power play opportunities - six for each South Division squad.

The Icemen capitalized on two of the chances, including the first man advantage they had Tuesday. 

Bennett MacArthur scored the game’s first goal on an Icemen power play, just about five minutes into action.

However, despite the early 1-0 lead, Jacksonville wasn’t playing sharp out of the gates. The Icemen defense allowed several Solar Bear chances, vacating space in the high and low slot, leaving Matt Vernon alone to fend for himself at times. Vernon stood tall, saving the first 14 shots on net in the opening period.

But the 15th shot for Orlando was successful.

Brayden Low scored his 13th goal of the season on the second power play for the Solar Bears with just 14 seconds left in the stanza. 

The period consisted of one power-play goal for each team, with Orlando heavily outshooting Jacksonville, 15-7.

The Icemen followed that period up by turning the tables and outshooting the Bears, 15-7, in the second. The defense started to shape up by helping Vernon and the puck spent more time in the Orlando zone.

After almost an entire period of dominating puck possession, the Icemen were able to re-gain the lead with a Derek Lodermeier power-play goal to make it 2-1 with 34 seconds remaining. Not only did Jacksonville answer Orlando by outshooting them 15-7, but it also matched a goal scored toward the end of a period with one of its own.

The Solar Bears wasted no time tying the game up in the third period, with Anthony Bardaro scoring 90 seconds in. Bardaro’s 13th of the season was the first even-strength goal of the evening.

The remainder of the third consisted of more physicality, resulting in a few power plays for each side. Both Jacksonville and Orlando had six man advantages - the Icemen went 2-for-6, while the Solar Bears went 1-for-6.

Orlando had a big opportunity to take its first lead late in the third period when it went on its sixth power play with under two minutes to go. Garrett Van Wyhe was assessed an interference penalty at 18:27, so the Solar Bears had an extra skater for the rest of regulation and the start of overtime.

The Icemen defense held up, clearing the puck out of their own zone a couple times before withstanding a bunch of chances on Vernon. The buzzer for the period sounded, meaning the Icemen had survived a big chunk of the Orlando power play and secured at least one point.

Jacksonville killed off the remaining 27 seconds of the power play in overtime, a stanza in which both teams went back and forth for the first three minutes before the Icemen had a golden chance.

Christopher Brown got the puck up ahead to Brendan Harris, who split a couple defenders at center ice and made his way into the attacking zone through the right point. Harris maneuvered toward the right circle, evading a defender by passing it to the slot where he recovered the puck and fired a wrist shot that was saved by Ryan Fanti.

Chukarov was trailing the play; nobody in a purple jersey was able to spot the defenseman. He was able to clean up the Harris shot by quickly tapping the puck to the left of Fanti, in the back of the net.

Chukarov’s fourth goal of the season won the game, 3-2, and gave the Icemen sole possession for second place in the South with 61 points.

Jacksonville is now 29-16-3 on the season, the squad having won nine out of its 12 games to head to overtime or a shootout this season.

The Icemen face off against the Solar Bears once again on Saturday, this time at home. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.