Written by Noah Epstein
ALLEN, TX -- Liam Coughlin’s two goals powered the Jacksonville Icemen to a 4-0 win Friday night, taking the first two games of the three-game set against the Americans. With the win, the Icemen extend their points streak to 12 games (9-0-3).
Coughlin scored the first and last goals of the contest, now having scored eight goals in his last nine games after helping Jacksonville defeat Allen for the second time in as many nights.
The game’s first score came just over halfway through the opening period, with Brody Crane and Bennett MacArthur picking up the assists on the Coughlin goal. MacArthur, who ended up recording two assists on Friday, extended his point streak to eight straight games.
The Icemen and Americans went toe-to-toe for over 39 minutes, each team getting several chances while Jacksonville held the 1-0 lead.
Jacksonville entered its offensive zone with 14 seconds left in the second on a power play, with Olivier Nadeau firing a turnaround shot that was saved by Luke Richardson. The Americans tried clearing, but the puck came free to Noah Laaouan at the blue line in the center of the ice. Laaouan immediately wristed a shot from the line all the way past Richardson, scoring with 0.9 seconds remaining in the stanza.
Laaouan’s power-play goal at 19:59 of the second made it 2-0 Icemen heading into the third, and Jacksonville pulled away from there.
The Icemen outshot the Americans 19-7 in the final period of regulation, dominating puck possession and getting a plethora of good looks against Richardson.
Just over seven minutes in, Christopher Brown fired a snapshot from the blue line that was tipped into the back of the net by Nadeau for his team-leading 21st goal of the season.
Nadeau extended his goal streak to five consecutive games, scoring seven goals in that span. He’s scored 10 goals in his last nine games.
Coughlin’s second goal of the game and 14th of the season came just over a minute later, capping off the 4-0 victory for the Icemen.
Matt Vernon saved all 28 shots sent his way, picking up the shutout victory and claiming his 21st win of the season.
The Icemen improved to 36-16-6 on the season after taking the series in Allen, lowering the magic number to clinch a postseason berth to 12 points.
Jacksonville goes for the sweep of Allen on Saturday night at 8 p.m. EST.
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