Solar Bears melt Icemen in 5-2 win

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Tye Felhaber led the way with his first career two-goal game, and matched a career-high with three points as the Orlando Solar Bears (23-16-3-0) rolled to a 5-2 victory over the first-place Jacksonville Icemen (24-14-2-1) on Wednesday night at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. Orlando now leads the regular season series against Jacksonville with a 4-3-0-0 record after earning its first road win over the Icemen this season.

Felhaber scored Orlando’s second and fourth goals of the game in the second period, to stake the Solar Bears to a 4-0 lead.

Odeen Tufto, meanwhile, opened the scoring with a power-play goal late in the first period, and later assisted on Felhaber’s power-play marker to record his fourth multi-point night of the season.

Michael Brodzinski also assisted on Felhaber’s power-play goal, then netted Orlando’s final goal of the game when he settled the puck at the blue line, deked around the legs of Brendan Harris, and roofed a shot past Charles Williams for a highlight-reel goal.

Joe Garreffa scored the eventual game-winner for the Solar Bears in the secon, with Felhaber and Tristin Langan assisting. Garreffa played the bulk of the game on defense, with both Dmitry Semykin and Steven Oleksy out of the lineup.

The Solar Bears broke a seven-game drought on the power-play, while the Icemen scored both of their goals off the man advantage during separate 5-on-3 situations in the third period.

Brad Barone made 26 saves for his 16th victory of the season; he has started the last seven consecutive games for the Solar Bears.

BOX SCORE

1st PeriodORL Goal: Odeen Tufto (3) [PP] at 17:32. Assisted by Andrew McLean and Tristin Langan.SHOTS: ORL 8, JAX 8

2nd PeriodORL Goal: Tye Felhaber (3) at 2:23. Assisted by Andrew McLean and Kevin Lohan.ORL Goal: Joe Garreffa (8) at 5:19. Assisted by Tye Felhaber and Tristin Langan.ORL Goal: Tye Felhaber (4) [PP] at 13:49. Assisted by Odeen Tufto and Michael Brodzinski.SHOTS: ORL 10, JAX 6

3rd PeriodJAX Goal: Abbott Girduckis (10) [PP] at 4:44. Assisted by Ara Nazarian and James Sanchez.ORL Goal: Michael Brodzinski (7) at 11:48.JAX Goal: Ara Nazarian (7) [PP] at 18:30. Assisted by Abbott Girduckis and Craig Martin.SHOTS: ORL 8, JAX 14

GoaltendingORL: Brad Barone, 26-for-28JAX: Charles Williams, 21-for-26

NOTABLES:

• The win was Orlando’s first road victory over Jacksonville this season; the last win for the
• Felhaber has 4g-3a through four games after being reassigned to the Solar Bears last week by the Tampa Bay Lightning.
• Orlando improved to 17-2-1-0 when scoring first, and 19-5-2-0 when scoring in the first period.
• Barone’s 16 wins are now tied with Atlanta’s Tyler Parks and Tulsa’s Daniel Mannella for the league lead.
• Andrew McLean assisted on a pair of goals for his second multi-point game of the season.
• Langan’s two assists gives him 78 in his Solar Bears career, moving him into a tie with Eric Baier (2013-18) for fourth on the team’s all-time assist list; his next assist will place him tied for second with Eric Faille (2015-17) and Denver Manderson (2014-17).
• Brodzinski’s two points gives him 99 in his Solar Bears career.  

NEXT GAME: The Solar Bears return home to host the Florida Everblades for Scout Night and the rescheduled Marvel Super Hero Night on Saturday, Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. at the AdventHealth Rink at Amway Center. Visit orlandosolarbearshockey.com/scouts to learn how to sign up your scout troop!