DULUTH, GA – Facing a third game in less than 72 hours, the Orlando Solar Bears limped into Duluth to face the Atlanta Gladiators in search of offensive answers after two tough losses to the South Carolina Stingrays. They were also looking to find the solution to beating the Gladiators, who were a perfect 4-0 against the Solar Bears so far this season.
Thankfully for Orlando, all it took was a first period outburst and the steady goaltending of Mackenzie Skapski to kill two birds with one stone, or in this case, puck.
Paced by a three goal blitz in a five minute span in the opening frame and 35 saves by Skapski, the Solar Bears (19-19-5-1, 44 points) downed the host Gladiators (22-22-1-2, 47 points) 4-3 in front of an announced crowd of 4,284 at the Infinite Energy Arena. Hunter Fejes and Josh Winquist led the way for Orlando with a goal and an assist each while Chris Crane and Martins Dzierkals netted the other two scores for the visitors.
Needing a good start, the Solar Bears found themselves fending off the early advances of the Gladiators in the opening frame. With Skapski, playing his second straight game with Cal Heeter called up to AHL Toronto, was sharp at the outset, giving his teammates time to get their skating legs after the overnight bus ride from North Charleston.
The game was just about even when Orlando felt a surge of energy that led to a scoring explosion. At the 11:47 mark, Fejes pickpocketed Atlanta defenseman (and former Solar Bear) Taylor Doherty deep in the Gladiators end and fed Crane who fired and beat Atlanta goalie (and another former Orlando player) Sean Bonar for his ninth goal of the season.
A little less than three minutes later, the Solar Bears doubled their lead thanks to a power move by forward Chris LeBlanc. The rookie and Massachusetts native made a hard drive to the net with the puck, clearing the way for a pass to Winquist who was alone in the right circle. Winquist took the puck and drilled a shot past Bonar for his 15th goal of the year and a 2-0 lead.
Skapski held the lead moments later when he dove to deny a shot by Atlanta’s Phil Lane. It was just one of 13 saves he made during the first stanza.
Two minutes after Winquist’s tally, the Solar Bears were on a power play when J.J. Piccinich won an offensive zone faceoff right to Fejes who zipped the puck into the back of the net from the slot area for his fifth tally as a Solar Bear and his overall 21st goal of the 2017-18 campaign.
Leading by three as the second period began, Orlando wanted more and got it at the 4:17 mark. On a transition foray into the Gladiators end, Winquist got the puck to Dzierkals who ripped a shot past Bonar for his ninth of the year to make it 4-0 in favor of the Solar Bears. It also marked the end of the afternoon for Bonar as Gladiators head coach Chuck Weber replaced Bonar with Dan Vladar.
Things were going well for the visitors until the 11:36 mark of the middle frame when rookie defenseman Aleksandr Mikulovich hit Gladiators forward (and yet another one time Solar Bears) Alexandre Carrier with an elbow to the head. The hit drew an elbowing major and a game misconduct for the young blueliner, giving Atlanta an extended power play.
The Gladiators took advantage of the advantage when former Orlando defenseman Ben Danford drove a shot past Skapski from the top of the right faceoff circle. For Danford, it was his ninth of the season but more importantly, it lit a fire under the home team.
That fire was stokedeven further a half minute later when a delay of game penalty on Orlando’s Sam Jardine gave the Gladiators an extended five-on-three power play. It took just about a minute of that advantage but Atlanta connected when Danford teed up a pass for Doherty who lasered a shot into the back of the net for his fifth to cut the Solar Bears lead to 4-2.
The collars on the jerseys of the Solar Bears players got even tighter when with 1:01 left before the second intermission, Lindsay Sparks (yes, another former Solar Bear) took a feedfrom Tanner Pond and beat Skapski with a shot low to the netminder’s glove side. It was Sparks’ tenth of the season and pulled the Gladiators to within 4-3 as the end of two.
Caught between playing to protect the lead on defense and looking for a couple more goals to extend the lead, Orlando relied heavily on Skapski in the final twenty minutes of play. Coming off a night where he allowed five goals, Skapski rose up to the challenge by keeping the Gladiators off the scoreboard in the third period. Midway through the frame, he robbed Pond with a scrambling save in the crease and later took a sure score away from Colin Jacobs with his glove hand.
Atlanta pulled Vladar (10 saves) with 1:42 left in regulation but Skapski was not in the mood to be denied a victory as he and his teammates held on for the win. As the final buzzer sounded, the bad blood simmering throughout the game boiled over as Orlando’s Sean Zimmerman paired up with Pond while Mike Monfredo and Lane squared off. Just as things looked like they had calmed down, Pond and Solar Bears forward Kyle Rankin dropped the gloves and pounded away at each other with Pond ending on top when the pair fell to the ice. The game officials finally got things under control and the teams parted ways, knowing that they will meet again next Saturday for a rematch in Duluth.
Notes: Atlanta outshot Orlando by a final count of 38-26… The Solar Bears were 1-for-3 on the power play while the Gladiators finished 2-for-4… The game was the 200th pro start for Solar Bears forward Joe Perry, who picked up an assist on Winquist’s goal… Orlando is now 8-0 when Dzierkals scores a goal… Atlanta’s Doherty, Sparks and Danford all posted a goal and an assist in the contest… In addition to Heeter being recalled, Toronto also recalled forward Max Novak. In a separate transaction, the Marlies returned defenseman Nolan Valleau to the Solar Bears on loan… Orlando is off until Friday when it again heads to North Charleston to take on the South Carolina Stingrays at 7:05 p.m.
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