ORLANDO, FLA – In hockey, there are games good and bad. Then there are really good games. Finally there are games that no matter at what point of the season they come are instant classics. Saturday night at the Amway Center, the announced crowd of 8,216 got one of those rare mid-season instant classics.
And it was all thanks to a pair special performances.
Goalies Brad Barone of Orlando and Justin Kapelmaster of Indy put on a show, combining to stop 81 shots through 67 minutes of regulation and overtime before the host Solar Bears (25-19-3-0) came away with a 1-0 victory over the visiting Fuel (20-23-2-3) in a shootout. Joe Garreffa and Odeen Tufto each scored for Orlando in the skills competition while Indy missed on two attempts.
The shootout was really anticlimactic because of what Barone and Kapelmaster did in order to get to that point. Barone, who tied a club record by starting his 12th consecutive game, and Kapelmaster, who is playing for his third different team this season, fought tooth and nail to keep the scorboard empty from the opening faceoff to the final buzzer.
There was a subplot included in the festivities. Friday night’s clash set up some bad blood – which usually doesn’t happen between teams that don’t see each other on a regular basis – that spilled over to Saturday. It was in full view 4:42 into the first period when Orlando’s Luke Boka and Indy’s Jordan Schneider slashed each other which led to a full on fight. Both got shots in on the other, which the large crowd enjoyed greatly.
A pivotal moment came with just over one minute left in the first. The Fuel thought they had a goal when Schneider drove the net before colliding with Barone. Somewhere in the chaos, the puck ended up in the back of the net but referee Alex Normandin immediately waived it off. Normandin went to the video tablet for a review, and much to the chagrin of Indy head coach Doug Christiansen, Normandin held firm with his decision, keeping the game scoreless.
The teams combined for 25 shots (14 for the Solar Bears and 11 for the Fuel) but had nothing to show for it. The middle frame was no different as the netminders were embroiled in an epic struggle to see which one would blink first. The intensity of the play, which drew 20 combined penalty minutes in the first, continued to grow. Skirmishes became more frequent, leading to disjointed play thanks to 16 more minutes in penalties. Another twenty-plus combined shots (11 for Orlando, 10 for Indy) added to the game totals but Barone and Kapelmaster were stiil both perfect through forty minutes.
As the third period began, it was clear that the first goal of the night might just be the only score. The netminders knew that and they buckled in even harded than they had for the first two periods. Barone added 13 more saves to his total while Kapelmaster put another 11 on his record for the game as the contest headed to overtime deadlocked where the teams started the night at, 0-0.
A couple more differences of opinion created two separate matching penalty sequences. There were a pair of other calls that tipped the balance of available players as Indy’s Jacob LeGuerrier (11:41 as part of a scuffle) and Seamus Malone (19:30) earned themselves game misconducts from Normandin.
Indy controlled more of the play in the extra period, piling another seven shots on Barone while Kapelmaster saw four more Solar Bears chances head his way. When the buzzer closed the seven minutes of three-on-three play, Barone had 41 stops and Kappelmaster had 40 and the offenses had gooseeggs on the board.
Orlando elected to shoot first in the shootout and Head Coach/GM Drake Berehowsky sent Garreffa out. He moved in in serpentine fashion, eventually shooting far side on Kapelmaster and notching the first score by either team in the game. Indy’s Jared Thomas was next and he swung through the zone and fired glove side but Barone’ leather trapper was quicker, giving the Solar Bears a 1-0 lead after the first of three rounds.
In the top of the second, Tufto went out and skated methodically in toward the cage. He waited for Kapelmaster to make the first move and as the goalie went to his belly, Tufto pulled the puck wide and while backing away for the net fired over the sprawled netminder for a 2-0 margin.
Indy’s Christiansen sent Darien Craighead out to try to keep the game going. Craighead skated left and arced in looking to go across the face of the net. Unfortunately for him, the puck jumped on its edge and the shot went wide, giving Orlando the win as Barone jumped up raising his arms in triumph as his teammates piled off the bench to congratulate him.
With the victory, the Solar Bears stayed within five points of the third place Atlanta Gladiators, who won the second of a weekend trio of games with Greenville on Saturday, in a race for the third seed in the division.
Orlando is off until Wednesday when they make another visit to southwest Florida to take on the second place Florida Everblades at Hertz Arena. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.
Notes: Indy went 0-for-4 on the power play while Orlando finished 0-for-3 with the man advantage… Barone’s 12th straight start equaled the franchise record set by Martin Ouellette between January 26th and February 24th of 2019. It was also his 200th professional game played across the FPHL, SPHL and ECHL. The win was Barone’s 18th of the season, tying Ouellette for sixth on the club’s list for most wins in a season and put him in the top spot for wins in the league so far this season… It was the first 1-0 win in a shootout in Solar Bears franchise history.
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
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