Solar Bears thump Icemen in 5-1 bounce-back win

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orlando Solar Bears (18-13-3-1) snapped a four-game winless skid with a 5-1 victory over the Jacksonville Icemen (14-14-1-3) on Saturday night at the AdventHealth Rink at Amway Center. The win pushed Orlando’s all-time record on home ice against Jacksonville to 20-0-0-0.

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Pascal Aquin gave Jacksonville a 1-0 lead midway through the first period when he snuck a shot through Kris Oldham at the right post at 13:57.

Orlando responded with a three-goal second period, as Tad Kozun snapped a shot through the legs of Sean Bonar at 5:37 to tie the score with his third of the season.

During a four-on-four sequence, Chris LeBlanc then sent a pass through the neutral zone to Nolan Valleau at the Jacksonville blue line, and the defenseman broke in on Bonar and put Orlando ahead with his second of the season at 12:17.

Orlando extended its lead to 3-1 when Aaron Luchuk stole the puck from Jacob Friend in the offensive zone and drove through the slot before feeding Kyle Topping, who roofed his first with the Solar Bears past Bonar at 13:32.

Luchuk added his own goal in the third period when Kozun recovered the puck in the corner and fed it out to Luchuk, who deked around Bonar and backhanded his 12th of the season past the goaltender at 15:48.

J.J. Piccinich capped the scoring with an empty-net goal at 17:41.

Oldham earned the win with a 33-for-34 performance in his first career pro start; Bonar took the loss with a 24-for-28 night.

THREE STARS:1) Kris Oldham - ORL2) Nolan Valleau - ORL3) Tad Kozun - ORL

NOTABLES:

• The Solar Bears gives the Solar Bears the lead in the regular season series against Jacksonville with a 5-3-1-0 record
• The win was the sixth time Orlando has won a game this season after surrendering the first goal (6-12-1-0); the Solar Bears are 13-0-0-0 when scoring four or more goals, and 13-0-0-0 when allowing two goals or fewer
• Luchuk finished the night with three points (1g-2a)
• Valleau and Kozun each recorded one goal and an assist
• Joe Garreffa had two assists
• LeBlanc’s assist on Valleau’s goal was his 109th career point with the Solar Bears (40g-69a) - his next two points will tie him with Eric Baier for fourth on the team’s all-time scoring list  

NEXT GAME:

The Solar Bears return to action tomorrow when they visit the Icemen at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena at 3 p.m. The Solar Bears are back home when they host Burrito Day Bash, presented by Qdoba, against the Florida Everblades at the AdventHealth Rink at Amway Center on Thursday, April 1 p.m. at 7 p.m.