NORTH CHARLESTON, SC – One of the best rivalries to develop in the ECHL’s South division that doesn’t involve in-state opponents is the one between the Orlando Solar Bears and the South Carolina Stingrays. Of course it helps when the two teams get to meet in the first round of the Kelly Cup playoffs with more than just bragging rights on the line.
South Carolina defenseman Jordan Subban (5, red, left) watches his shot beat Solar Bears goalie Stefanos Lekkas during Saturday’s first period against Orlando (Photo courtesy of Don Haas / PHN)
Saturday night at the North Charleston Coliseum, the two squads met for the first time during the 2021-22 regular season. It didn’t start well for Orlando and although the Solar Bears tried to make a comeback, the hill ended up too tall to climb.
Rookie goalie Cedrick Andree made 36 saves in his first ECHL start while teammate Justin Florek scored twice in a three goal opening frame as the Stingrays (5-2-0-0) beat the Solar Bears (4-4-1-0) by a final of 4-2 in front of an announced crowd of 3,820. Tyler Bird continued his hot streak since returning from AHL Syracuse, scoring both Orlando goals to give him four goals in four games.
After playing the first three games of the week, Orlando goalie Brad Barone was given Saturday night off. Stefanos Lekkas, acquired by the Solar Bears from Fort Wayne, got the call against the Stingrays and right away the home team went to work.
An early Orlando penalty led to the first goal of the game. At the 4:31 mark, South Carolina captain Andrew Cherniwchan put a shot on Lekkas that was stopped. The rebound fell at the feet of Florek who was just outside the crease. Florek quickly banged it into the cage for a power play goal and his third tally of the season.
Just about 90 seconds later, the Stingrays were buzzing around the Solar Bears end. Florek got the puck to Jade Miller below the goal line. Miller looked up and saw Jordan Subban (brother of P.K. and Malcolm) charging in from the blueline into the faceoff circle to Lekkas’ left. Miller made a perfect diagonal to Subban who went top shelf to the goalie’s glove side for his third of the season, putting South Carolina up 2-0 a mere 5:55 in.
The game seemed to settle in until the final two minutes when the Stingrays struck for a third score. It came at the 18:05 mark when Patrick Holway took a shot from an angle along the half boards to the left side of the net. Lekkas made the save but the rebound kicked straight out into the slot. Once again Florek was in the right place to fire it home for his second of the night and fourth of the 21-22 campaign, giving his team a fairly comfortable 3-0 lead heading into the first intermission.
Facing what appeared to be a long night, the Solar Bears responded quickly. During a four-on-four situation six minutes into the second period, Bird began his takeover. Finding a lot of open space, Bird sped down the boards to Andree’s left. He continued around the back of the net and once he cleared the cage, Bird pulled a wraparound move to score his third of the season.
A little over three minutes later, Bird pulled the Solar Bears back within one. This time, with a bunch of traffic right in front of the crease, Bird dove down the slot just to the right side of the net. As he passed the sea of bodies, Bird avoided Andree’s right pad and tucked the puck home for his second of the night and fourth since his return.
The Solar Bears continued to pound shots at the Stingrays rookie netminder but Andree was rock solid. He faced a total of 18 shots in the middle frame, allowing just the two scores by Bird.
Much of the final twenty minutes was back and forth between the teams. Each goalie was forced to make important stops to keep the scoreboard where it was to start the period. Lekkas, who finished the night with a very respectable 27 saves on 30 shots faced, was pulled with just over two minutes remaining in regulation for an extra attacker. South Carolina’s Connor Moore sealed the win for the Stingrays when he scored into the empty net from his own defensive zone with 1:03 to go, sending Orlando to its second straight defeat.
The two teams will faceoff again in North Charleston Sunday afternoon at 3:05 p.m.
Notes: Final shots were 38-31 in favor of Orlando… The Solar Bears were not given any power plays Saturday night, the second time in less than a week that happened. The Stingrays went 1-for-2 with the man advantage… Aaron Luchuk got the primary assist on Bird’s second goal, extending his points streak to nine games (7 goals, 9 assists). His 16 points continues to lead the league in scoring… Solar Bears captain Kevin Lohan returned from AHL Syracuse and was back in the lineup Saturday night, giving Orlando six defensemen.
Contact the author at don.money @prohockeynews
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