JACKSONVILLE, Fla – The Jacksonville Icemen faced the Savannah Ghost Pirates for Marvel Night on Saturday. Jacksonville wore yellow Wolverine-themed jerseys while Savannah wore red Deadpool ones. Despite outshooting Jacksonville 35-22, the Icemen took a 4-1 victory. Goaltender Matt Vernon returned from the Icemen’s AHL affiliate the Rochester Americans, so was back in net for Jacksonville. He turned away an impressive 34 of the 35 shots faced, earning him the #1 star of the game.
Jacksonville’s captain Christopher Brown scored the first goal of the game at 11:11 of the first period with a quick release short-side shot, beating Evan Cormier in net for Savannah. This would be the only goal of the first period.
Second period action saw Savannah start the period on a carry over penalty from the first period. Less than 30 seconds after that penalty expired Connor Russell drew a hooking penalty, putting Savannah back on the powerplay to keep the momentum going. Ross Armour score during that powerplay at 3:16 to even things up at 1-1. Vernon was tested the remaining of the period, with Savannah having two more powerplay opportunities. Liam Coughlin gave Jacksonville a much-needed boost, scoring a backhander at 12:03 assisted by Davis Koch to end the period up 2-1. Vernon stopped 16 of the 17 shots faced during the period.
The third period remained scoreless until the final two minutes of the game. Savannah pulled their netminder for the extra attacker, but Vernon remained strong in net for Jacksonville, shutting down all attempts by Savannah. Zach Jordan scored an empty net goal at 18:27 on an unselfish pass from Garret Van Wyhe, who had yet to score this season, but could see Jordan had a clear shot. Karma would repay Van Wyhe, who scored his own empty net goal at 19:29 to seal the victory for Jacksonville.
Check out this photo gallery from Inside The Rink’s Andrew Fielder, for highlights from the game.
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