Tanski, Orlando nip Everblades again

ORLANDO, FLA – Given his red, curly hair that hangs out from underneath his helmet, Scott Tanski has heard the comparisons to X-Games and Olympic star Shaun White before. He’s grown into a fan favorite, even inspiring two fans to don red wigs and helmets to go with their “Tanski 13” jerseys.
Thursday night at the Amway Center, Tanski added another page to his lore in Orlando with what proved to be the game-winning tally as his Solar Bears edged the Florida Everblades 2-1 in front of 7,868 screaming fans. It was Orlando’s second straight win by the identical score over its in-state rival and third in four games. It was also the third straight time that Orlando goalie John Curry held the defending Kelly Cup champions to just one goal.

Tanski and new linemates Dale Mahovsky and Michael Neal combined for nine of the Solar Bears’ 32 shots in the game. The trio helped to infuse life into an Orlando team that is trying to turn the corner and start a climb up the standings. Tanski, who is one of just five Solar Bears to play in every game, has been the go-to guy on the line, helping the other two to get comfortable playing in Orlando.
“I know how difficult it is coming over from a different team. Obviously we play a different system than they do in Evansville (where Mahovsky and Dan Gendur came from). I’ve just been trying to help them as much as I can,” Tanski said. “If they have questions or every time we get off the ice, if we can have some constructive criticism for each other or trying to be predictable knowing where each of us is going to go on the ice. They’ve adapted amazingly and we’re just going to try to keep going here, keep it simple, and hopefully keep producing offensively.”
On a night where neither team’s power play units were working well – Orlando went 0-for-5 while Florida was 0-for-4 – it was another facet of the game that created both Solar Bears goals. Orlando’s transition game, which has been as inconsistent as the team’s overall play, was at its best in the second period when both tallies came.
The first came with the Solar Bears down a man. Gendur, pressing out on the Everblades point man, turned a misplayed puck into an offensive foray by racing down the left wing boards. As he drove into the left face-off circle, he unleashed a wrist shot that beat Florida goalie John Muse to the top corner on the glove side. It was Gendur’s second goal since joining the Solar Bears and the team’s third short-handed goal of the year.
Less than three minutes later, it was more defense turning into offense that brought the home fans to their feet. The sequence started with Curry making a spectacular kick save on a post-to-post move. The puck came out to Neal who carried it to center ice where he saw a streaking Tanski to his right. Neal’s pass hit Tanski in stride and as he got to the right face-off dot in the Everblades end, Tanski ripped a wrister into the upper corner on Muse’s stick side.
“I looked over to my left and I saw that Neal had a step so instead of going for the puck, I just decided to go up the wall. He (Neal) beat the guy and gave it to me and I knew I had a half of a step (on the defender),” Tanski said about the play. “I was  just thinking get the puck on the net, don’t get it deflected and just try to get a shot on net. I wasn’t even expecting it. I just said if I can get it on net hopefully something will happen.”
Orlando head coach Drake Berehowsky said after the game he was proud of the way his players performed coming off the four-day layoff for Christmas. He was very pleased with how the transition game, which is part of what he and assistant coach Matt McIlvane work on with the team at practice, came to the fore and led to the win.
“We just want to keep it simple. We want to get the puck moving north all the time,” Berehowsky said. “We try to put together a simple game plan for them and we hope that they execute it. Tonight they were able to do it and they capitalized on their chances.”
The lone defensive lapse came midway through the third period when during an Orlando power play, the Everblades spoiled the shutout with a short-handed goal of their own. Aaron Bogosian somehow beat the Solar Bears to a dump in and walked off the right side half boards toward the slot. Orlando defenseman Derick Martin blocked Bogosian’s initial shot but the puck came right back to the Florida forward and he beat Curry at the 8:08 mark.
Other than the Bogosian tally, Curry was on his game, stopping 28 of the 29 shots he faced to post his 12th win of the season. Five of those wins have come at the expense of the Everblades (14-11-2-4), during which Curry has given up just eight goals in the quintet of contests. The Orlando netminder was quick to credit his success against Florida to a total team effort.
“I think it’s just the way our team is playing. We were making it hard for them to get a ton of chances and keeping a lot of the shots to the outside,” Curry said. “We know how good of a team Florida is. They’ve given us a tough game every time and we know they’re at all times one turnover away from putting the puck in the net. You have to be careful playing against them and that’s what I think the key has been. We’ve just been smarter.”
Orlando (13-15-2-2) will finish the 2012 part of its schedule Friday night with the fifth and final game of its current mini-series against the Everblades at the Amway Center. Fans are being encouraged to bring a elementary school level book to the 7 p.m. game to donate to the Nap Ford Community School book drive.
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com