JACKSONVILLE, FL –  It what was perhaps the most thrilling weekend of the season so far, the Jacksonville Icemen earned back-to-back overtime victories this past Friday and Saturday against the Orlando Solar Bears and Atlanta Gladiators. Jacksonville rallied from a multi-goal deficit on Friday night in Orlando to force overtime and emerged victorious 3-2. On Saturday, the Icemen saw a two-goal lead disappear in the third period on home ice, but rallied to win the contest in overtime 4-3 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. Jacksonville will get set for a full slate of home games this week as they host the Savannah Ghost Pirates on Tuesday, November 3 at 10:00 am before welcoming the defending champion Florida Everblades for a three-game set on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, November 6,7, and 8. All games will be available to watch and listen to on FloHockey and on Mixlr.

THE WEEK THAT WAS

Friday night was a battle between two teams in Orlando and Jacksonville that were looking for their first win of the season. Orlando jumped out to a 2-0 lead early in the second period before the Icemen responded with a key goal from newcomer Jesse Tucker to pull the Icemen within one. Jacksonville had several quality chances on the power-play to tie the contest but came up short through 40 minutes. It was a late power-play in the third that saw defenseman Jaden Condotta fire a shot from the blue-line that found its way into the back of the net to tie the game at 2-2. In overtime, Tucker again led the way offensively, setting up a back-door play for Condotta as he entered the zone on the left-side before dishing a pass across the crease to Condotta at the right side of the net. The Icemen assistant captain made no mistake on his tap-in to secure Jacksonville’s first win of the season and his first multi-goal game in his ECHL career.

Looking to keep the momentum going, the Icemen hosted the Atlanta Gladiators on Saturday afternoon on Halloween night. Jacksonville struck first on the power play thanks to Jacques Bouquot’s first of two goals on the game to give the Icemen a 1-0 lead. Atlanta responded with a power-play goal late in the first. In the second, the Icemen erupted for two goals in the middle period with Tim Heinke buried a rebound lose in the crease while Bouquot rifled home his second goal of the game off a set play from the face-off. Jacksonville led 3-1 going into the third, but power play after power play kept the Gladiators in the contest, eventually leading to a 3-3 tie with the equalizing goal coming with the Atlanta goaltender pulled. In overtime Icemen goaltender Michael Bullion loomed large with three grade-A saves to keep the contest tied. The last of these saves in the final minute of overtime led to a two-on-one rush for Jacksonville with Colby Ambrosio leading the charge. Ambrosio skated up the right side and ripped a hard shot high blocker past the Atlanta netminder to secure his second goal of the season and Jacksonville’s second consecutive overtime winner. More importantly, it ensured Jacksonville would end the month of October with a 2-2-2 record.

ZERO TO HERO

Coming into Friday night’s contest in Orlando, defenseman Jaden Condotta had scored two goals in his entire ECHL career. After Friday night, Condotta doubled his career goal total with a key tying tally in the third period to even the contest up 2-2 and then with the overtime winner against Orlando. 

LATEST ROSTER NEWS

While the Icemen lost defenseman Reilly Webb to a recall by the Iowa Wild last week, they welcomed in forward Jesse Tucker after completing a trade with the Indy Fuel. Tucker, entering his third year in the ECHL, netted a goal and two assists in his opening weekend with the Icemen. Talking with his former, now current, coach Stephon Thorne who worked with Tucker in Indy, Thorne had this to say about the newest Icemen acquisition: “He’ll do anything, if you need him to score he’ll score, if you need him to fight he’ll fight… and whatever he does he does it with a passion. He plays with a ton of emotion.”

SCOUTING THE GHOST PIRATES

Jacksonville welcomes the Savannah Ghost Pirates to Jacksonville for the first time this season. Savannah is coming off of two losses, including a 7-3 loss to South Carolina on Friday and a 4-3 loss on Sunday against Greenville. Both contests between the Ghost Pirates and the Icemen have been close affairs with Savannah winning both previous meetings 4-3 in the shootout and 2-0 in regulation. The Ghost Pirates are led up front by Philip Tresca with four points on the year (2 goals, 2 assists).

SCOUTING THE EVERBLADES

This Friday, Saturday and Sunday will be the first meeting between the Icemen and the defending Kelly Cup Champions this season. Florida currently ranks second in the South Division following their weekend split with the Greenville Swamp Rabbits this past weekend. Florida defenseman Jordan Sambrook ranks third in scoring among defenseman in the ECHL with six points (1 goal, 5 assists) in six games while goaltender Cam Johnson ranks fourth in goals-against-average (1.51) and first in minutes (357).