Ice Flyers Get Vital Win Against Quad City To End Weekend

February 19, 2024

by Bill Vilona Ice Flyers correspondent

The Ice Flyers understood the urgency of Sunday’s finale against Quad City.

And they responded with a desired performance.

After scoring the game’s first goal, the Ice Flyers quickly answered an emotional shift in second period, then pulled away in the final 20 minutes for a 4-1 victory on Friends and Family Day – the first Sunday matinee game this season – before a crowd of 4,227 at the Pensacola Bay Center.

Ice Flyers’ goaltender Stephen Mundinger was a standout for the team again, earning No. 3 star in post-game recognition after stopping 26 shots. This includes a flurry of big saves in the second period with the game 1-0.
Sunday concluded a three-game series at the Bay Center against the team ahead of the Ice Flyers in sixth place in the SPHL standings. Quad City won the games Friday and Saturday, putting the focus on Sunday as a game to salvage the weekend, get two points and leave with a good feeling before a road trip.

The Ice Flyers will now prepare for a trip to Knoxville, Tennessee where they will face the Knoxville Ice Bears on Friday and Saturday. The Ice Bears are in ninth place in league standings, trailing the Evansville Thunderbolts by five points for the eighth place and final playoff spot.

The game recap:

FIRST PERIOD

The Ice Flyers finally got some good fortune and their first lead of the weekend against Quad City when Joseph Widmar scored with a side net shot.

This wrister caromed off the leg of Quad Cities goalie Brent Moran, whose left leg was inside the goal pipe and the puck banked its way into the net. Garrett Milan was credited with an assist.

It was Widmar’s 10th goal this season and fourth since joining the Ice Flyers in an early January, multi-player trade with the Peoria Rivermen. Widmar is sixth overall in the SPHL in scoring with 42 points and his 32 assists are by far the most of any player in the league.

The Ice Flyers finished the period with a 15-8 edge in shots on goal. There were no penalties in the period, which was played in a speedy 35 minutes.

For more photos, click or tap here.

SECOND PERIOD

There were no penalties whistled at this point in the game until 6:39 remained in the second period.

And then three were called at once. And two goals ensued.

The Storm’s Tommy Tsicos was called for a cross check. In the brief scrum that ensued, the Storm’s Nicola Levesque and the Ice Flyers’ Reggie Millette were given delay of game penalties.

With the Ice Flyers on a power play, the Storm’s Cole Golka pounced on a passing turnover inside the Quad City blue line and broke free with Widmar back on defense. Using Widmar as a screen, Golka’s wrist shot got past Mundinger to tie the game.

But less than a minute later, Widmar got the lead back. Just as Tsicos exited the penalty box, Widmar got off a shot between the faceoff circles into the net for the 2-1 lead.

Both teams entered the intermission with 21 shots a piece in the game.

THIRD PERIOD

The Ice Flyers may have produced their best period of the weekend to seal this win. They outshot Quad City 15-6, allowed only a couple of scoring chances and scored twice to enable a smooth, happy ending to the game.

The Ice Flyers finished killing off a penalty to begin the period. They missed on a power play chance five minutes into the period. But with 12:06 remaining, Sean Gulka followed a close-range, quality shot by Ivan Bondarenko, pounced on the rebound and set the puck into the net. Gulka was named the game’s No. 2 star.

The No. 3 star, Bondarenko, finished a stellar game by scoring the game’s final goal with 6:20 remaining that essentially put a bow on the win.

For the first time in three days, the Ice Flyers post-game salute to the fans and the music in the arena was in a celebratory style.

NOTABLES – Both the Canadian and U.S. National Anthem was performed Sunday by the Haze Gray Quartet, a group of four retired U.S. Navy servicemen.

The “Scout Shootout” was held at first intermission between a group of area Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts with each youth taking shots from the blue line at the net.

The Ice Flyers’ three games with big crowds put them atop the SPHL in total attendance with 115,885 and ahead of everyone in percentage capacity at 98.4-percent. The Ice Flyers are averaging 5,517 in 21 home games so far this season.

QUOTABLES – Ice Flyers Coach Gary Graham:

“From the goaltender (Mundinger) on out, I thought everybody really brought their A-game and that’s what we needed to see. I’ve said it until I’ve been blue in the face, we need our top guys to be our top guys night in and night out. This is the time in a season when the cream will start rising to the top from team to team. To see Joe and Garrett (combine for first goal) was huge for us, but every line contributed. I was happy to see for Gulks (Gulka).. he hasn’t scored in a while… he’s had some injuries this year and has been dealing with different things, but I thought that goal for him was really good for his confidence as well.

“Disappointed giving up a shorthanded goal. That’s probably the only negative I can say from the night. I thought Preston Kugler (added Sunday) did a really good job jumping in on the back end. We made some moves with our roster that maybe should get some attention from the group, which is the point of it, and the guys in the lineup made the most of their opportunities.”
Ice Flyers Center Joesph Widmar:

“It was definitely a big win for the team. Unfortunately, I thought we played some good hockey the first two games and couldn’t bury our chances, but it definitely was a great sign to see in a must win situation that the team stepped up and had a great game.”

NEXT FACEOFF
WHO: Ice Flyers vs. Knoxville Ice Bears
WHEN: Friday-Saturday (Feb. 23-24), 6:35 p.m.

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