01/21/23 Game Notes: Military Appreciation Night
The Ice Flyers came roaring to life again as they hosted the Macon Mayhem for game two of their three-game set this week. The Ice Flyers came into the series, which began Monday with an Ice Flyers 7-2 win, adrift near the bottom of the standings. But a flurry of moves by head coach Rod Aldoff, accompanied with the laboring Mayhem coming to town, has proved to be fruitful for the club.
Friday’s game saw Pensacola’s offensive presence ramping up on Macon’s goaltender Cody Karpinski. A Mayhem tripping penalty saw the league’s most lethal power play unit take the ice. A minute into the power play, Ivan Bondarenko slipped a pass to a crashing Jason Price who buried it in the back of the net, giving Pensacola a 1-0 lead. That’s where the score would stay for the first period despite the Ice Flyers raining 11 shots on Karpinski. The second period was a different story. Ivan Bondarenko would kick off a scoring surge ripping a beautiful one-timer from Mitch Atkins to take a 2-0 lead. Macon would rally though, beating Ice Flyers net minder Riley Morris to bring the game within 1. Garrett Milan would extend the lead back to 2 less than a minute later, scoring off the Malik Johnson draw. A couple of minutes later, Macon’s Reid Yochim scored the fourth goal in the period’s first five minutes. It would be another five minutes before Joey Sofa would fire a flawless one-timer from Branden Makara to cap the second-period scoring. The Ice Flyers entered the third period with a 4-2 lead. 4:36 in, Pensacola pulled away from Macon on a Branden Makara goal. The remainder of the period saw a frustrated Mayhem squad ramp up the chippiness, which culminated in a large scuffle as regulation expired. Macon’s Tim Faulkner received three postgame penalties including a 10-minute game misconduct for the dust-up. In the end, the Ice Flyers secured the win 5-2.
Friday’s win helped elevate the Ice Flyers back to .500 on the season. Though they currently occupy the last seed in the playoffs, Pensacola is in striking distance from the rest of the SPHL. The mission for Saturday? Complete the sweep. A win Saturday would put the Ice Flyers back in positive win territory and potentially another step in the standings. However, if the last minutes of Friday’s game were any indication, the Ice Flyers better prepare for a tough bruising Macon team with nothing to lose.
It’s Military Appreciation night presented by Navy Federal Credit Union. The Ice Flyers are welcoming our nation’s bravest for a night of fun at the Hanger. Each Military Appreciation night sees local businesses donating tickets to servicemen and women. For more information on how your company can get involved visit lceFlyers.com.
