Ice Flyers Drop Weekend Opener To Quad Cities

February 17, 2024

By Bill Vilona, Ice Flyers correspondent

Garrett Milan tied the Ice Flyers franchise goal-scoring record Friday, but he wished the feat came with better satisfaction.

Instead, the Quad City Storm broke open a tight game with four goals in the final period, skating off with a 6-3 win against the Ice Flyers. It was the first of three consecutive games between the teams this weekend at the Pensacola Bay Center.

The Ice Flyers halved the lead to 2-1 in the final seconds of the second period and carried momentum into the intermission.

For more photos, click here.

But that became short-lived.

Quad City scored just 36 seconds into the final period, got a pair more to pad a lead, then finished their scoring with empty net goal with 41 seconds remaining.

A crowd of 4,462 on Dino Race Night watched Milan get a historic goal with his one-time shot with 7:35 left in the game. It was his 85th goal for the Ice Flyers, matching the record set by former Ice Flyers great Adam Pawlick, who set the mark in three seasons (2013-2016).

The Storm (20-18, 40 points) began the weekend two points ahead of the Ice Flyers (17-19, 2 OT losses) for sixth place in the SPHL standings.

Ice Flyers goaltender Eric Dop made his first start at home after playing both games last week at Huntsville.

The game recap:

FIRST PERIOD

The Ice Flyers had a 12-5 edge in shots on goal, but Quad City scored the only goal of the period. It occurred with exactly 10 minutes left, just 11 seconds after the Storm killed off the Ice Flyers only power play chance.
The Storm caught the Ice Flyers in a 2-on-1 advantage at center ice and Quad City center, Leif Mattson, faked a pass and buried a wrist shot behind Dop in the top corner of the net.

Three minutes later, the Ice Flyers killed off a Quad City power play by limiting the Storm to one shot.

The best Ice Flyers scoring chance occurred when Garrett Milan was thwarted by Storm goaltender Brent Moran with 3:34 left. Then just 27 seconds later, Ivan Bondarenko and Malik Johnson had great chances in the crease area, but with Moran on the ice, a teammate got in the net to stop a loose puck.

SECOND PERIOD

After missing on a power-play chance in the final two minutes, the Ice Flyers broke through when Dale Deon scored on a rebound with just 28.8 seconds left. That goal halved the Storm lead and lifted up the crowd with the goal dance.

Reggie Millette created the opportunity with his wrist shot that forced a kick save by Moran and Deon was there to bang in the rebound while skating toward the crease. It was Deon’s second goal since joining the Ice Flyers last month, as part of an early January trade with the Peoria Rivermen.

Earlier in the period Millette was involved in a pair of scrums with Quad City players.

Quad City took a 2-0 lead less than four minutes into the period on a wrist shot by Logan Nelson between the faceoff circles. But that score could have been more if not for two big saves by the Ice Flyers’ Dop in this period that kept Pensacola within striking distance.

THIRD PERIOD

What a goal flurry ensured from the start of this period.

Nelson scored his second goal of the game for the Storm just 26 seconds into the period, after he rifled a screened shot past Dop.

It then became a 4-1 lead when Trevor Mount scored nine minutes later.

Milan’s goal was followed by the Storm’s Darren McCormick scoring two minutes later and that one became a back-breaker.

Millette scored the Ice Flyers third goal in unassisted fashion with 1:26 left in the game.

NOTABLES – There were three heats of the Dino costume races in the first intermission. That was followed by a consolation and championship race during the second intermission.
This was the Ice Flyers’ 19th home game. They will have seven home games left following the weekend series.

QUOTABLES:

Ice Flyers Coach Gary Graham: “I think the first two periods was a competitive game. We had a really good start to the game. We gave them (scoring) chances off the rush and that’s what happened. It’s a game of chances. Those first two goals, we didn’t give up much, but the chances we did give up, they capitalized on.

“I thought that goal we scored at the end of the second period was just what we needed at the right time. Unfortunately, we might of come out in the third period almost a little too high and they came out and were opportunistic again. They scored right away and you just could feel the air let out of our whole group. That was a tough goal. That goal summarized what happened in the third period. We just didn’t handle the moment well. The next 10 minutes we didn’t play good hockey at all.

Ice Flyers center/captain Garrett Milan: “Like I told the guys in the (locker) room… they congratulated me, it’s great, but honestly tying the record means nothing. I’ll trade that for wins right now. It’s all about wins right now.”

For more photos, click here.

NEXT FACEOFF
WHO: Quad City Storm vs. Ice Flyers.
WHEN: Saturday, 7:05 p.m.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News, Sports, TOP sports