ORLANDO, Fla. – The Florida Everblades rallied to tie the game on three different occasions, including a comeback from a two-goal deficit in the third period, to force overtime, but a goal by Jaydon Dureau with one-tenth of a second left gave the Orlando Solar Bears a 5-4 victory over the Blades Sunday afternoon at Kia Center.
Sunday’s game was the third overtime game between the Everblades and Solar Bears in three days, and the fifth straight overtime contest played between the ECHL South Division rivals. Despite the loss, the Everblades lead the season series 7-2-3-0 with one game left to play on March 15.
For the first time in the three-game series, Orlando got on the board first. With both teams down a skater due to coincidental roughing minors, Alex Frye’s four-on-four goal gave the Solar Bears a 1-0 lead at the 9:37 mark of the opening period, a lead that would hold up until the first intermission.
Business picked up in second period, with both teams finding their offense and scoring two goals apiece in the middle frame. The teams scored four alternating goals with Orlando eventually leading 3-2 after 40 minutes.
During that busy second period, the Everblades rallied on two separate occasions to tie the score. The red-hot Tarun Fizer scored for the second straight game, pulling the Everblades at 1-1 at the 6:28 mark, while Ben Brar brought the Blades even for a second time just two minutes later, potting his eighth goal of the season to knot the game at 2-2. Orlando received goals from Anthony Bardaro at 7:12 and Dureau at 11:16 to fill out the scoresheet in the middle frame.
In the third period, Jack Adams gave Orlando its first two-goal lead of the game, scoring a power-play goal at the 4:30 mark to take a 4-2 lead.
Florida rallied to tie the game for the third time, as Gary Haden cut the Solar Bears’ lead to 4-3 with his sixth goal of the year at the 14:45 mark, while Fizer’s second goal of the contest at 19:15 knotted the game at 4-4 and sent the game to overtime.
In overtime, the game appeared to be heading to a shootout, but Dureau connected for his second goal of the game with just one-tenth of a second remaining on the clock.
The Everblades dominated the shot count for a second straight game, claiming a 45-22 advantage which included a 12-9 edge in the first period and a huge 30-7 margin over the final two frames of regulation.
You must be logged in to post a comment.