ORLANDO, FLA – When he was signed before the start of the 2021-22 ECHL season, Orlando Solar Bears forward Tyler Bird was expected to help lead the team. Then in the blink of an eye, he was off to Syracuse as the Solar Bears’ AHL affiliate signed him to a tryout deal, depriving the Orlando fans of one of their favorite players. As Bird was heading north, goalie Brad Barone was signing on to fill a sizeable hole as recalls left the squad shorthanded between the pipes.
Tuesday night at the Amway Center, both players proved their worth by being important parts of a key victory.
Bird scored a big first period goal in his first game on the ice and Barone stopped 26 of 28 shots in his inaugural start at home as the Solar Bears (3-2-1-0) slipped past the Jacksonville Icemen (2-3-1-1) by a final of 3-2 in front of an announced crowd of 3,422. The win snapped a two-game winless streak for the Solar Bears as the team started a five games in six days run.
Nick Bligh and Fabrizio Ricci netted the other two goals for Orlando, which extended its streak of wins inside the friendly confines of the Amway Center to a perfect 22-0 since Jacksonville rejoined the ECHL. Chris Brown and Ryan Roth scored the two goals for the Icemen, who saw their current winless skid extended to five contests.(0-3-1-1) after opening up with two victories.
Tuesday was yet another day of introducing new players to Orlando’s roster merry-go-round. In the wake of Syracuse signing goalie Alex Dubeau to a tryout contract, Head Coach and General Manager Drake Berehowsky went out and landed netminder Stefanos Lekkas in a deal with Fort Wayne. He also added forward J.M. Piotrowski, who spent some time in the City Beautiful a couple seasons back, on loan from SPHL Peoria. Lekkas is expected to join the team later in the week while Piotrowski was in the lineup and grabbed his first ECHL assist and point.
With just emergency backup Ryan Novalis behind him, it was up to Barone to fend off the Icemen no matter what. In his first appearance in front of a home crowd, Barone gave the fans what they – and his coaches – wanted: a solid outing when it was needed.
Barone got a bit of help as his teammates staked him to a two-goal lead before the first period was half over. The first goal of the night came off the stick of the Solar Bears’ Nick Bligh. A stretch pass from Luke McInnis hit Jackson Keane at the Icemen blueline, setting up an odd-man rush. Keane slid the puck to Dylan Fitze who was cutting to the middle of the high slot. Fitze then found Bligh with a wide open lane for a short side shot that beat Jacksonville goalie Charles Williams to the glove side at 8:02. For Bligh, it was his second tally of the season.
Ninety seconds later, the home team struck again. The puck was sent back to the point where Andrew McLean kept it in the offensive zone. He sent it toward the net where Bird, who returned to Orlando on Monday, got his stick on the drive and redirected it past Williams for his inaugural goal of the 21-22 season with Orlando. Aaron Luchuk was later credited with a secondary assist, bumping his scoring streak to six games (5 goals, 8 assists).
Jacksonville didn’t want to go into the intermission down by two and were successful in cutting the deficit in half before the period ended. A good keep-in at the Orlando defensive blueline by Jacob Friend pushed the puck to Ara Nazarian at the top of the faceoff circle. He found Chris Brown in the slot and Brown fired away. Barone made the initial stop but the rebound got away and Brown was able to send it through Barone’s legs for his second goal of the year.
The second period, thanks to the two netminders, was a quieter one on the scoreboard. That was until the teams netted back-to-back tallies in the space of thirteen seconds late in the frame. The Solar Bears started the sequence when Canon Pieper dug the puck off the halfboards to Ricci. Ricci sent it along to Piotrowski who was on the end boards below the goal line. Ricci darted for the net and Piotrowski hit him with a feed. Ricci was denied on his first shot but his rebound try snuck through Williams’ legs for Ricci’s first of the 21-22 campaign.
Off the ensuing faceoff, the Icemen quickly gained the offensive zone. James Sanchez took the puck into the faceoff circle to Barone’s right and went cross-ice to Roth. With a defender draped on him, Roth fired a shot that eluded the goalie to the far side for his second of the season at 18:33, sending the teams to the break separated by one at 3-2.
Luchuk had a pair of wide open looks early in the final frame to extend Orlando’s lead but Williams (28 saves) denied him both times. Then with just over two minutes remaining in regulation, McInnis appeared to have scored an insurance tally. Williams protested enough to get the officials to go to video review. The referee ruled that Piotrowski had interfered with the goalie, denying Williams a chance to play the shot and overturned the goal.
It did not matter as the Solar Bears held the Icemen to just one shot in the final two minutes, giving Barone his first win in an Orlando jersey.
The Solar Bears head out Wednesday afternoon on a five-game road trip starting in Estero against the Florida Everblades tonight. Puck drop at Hertz Arena is set for 7:30 p.m.
Notes: Final shots were 31-28 in favor of Orlando… The Solar Bears did not have a power play in Tuesday’s game while the Icemen went 0-for-3
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