ST. JOHN’S, NFL – When Troy Bourke was frist assigned by the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch to the ECHL Orlando Solar Bears at the end of October, it was obvious to observers that he had planty of talent. So it was not exactly a surprise when in mid-December, he was recalled to the AHL.
On February 28th, Bourke returned to the City Beautiful and from the moment he took to the ice, it was like he never left.
Sunday afternoon at the Mile One Centre in St. John’s, Bourke continued his blitz on ECHL goalies, netting a goal and two assists in regulation before scoring the game-winning tally in the shootout to propel Orlando (33-21-4-0) to a 4-3 victory over the Newfoundland Growlers (39-17-4-1) in front of an announced crowd of 4,098. Zach Frye and Colby McAuley each added a goal while Mitch Hults and Otto Somppi lit the goal light in the skills competition to set up Bourke’s final heroics.
Bourke, who tallied a goal and five assists during the Solar Bears two wins on Saturday and Sunday, was not the only name in the spotlight. Goalie Connor Ingram, playing in his first ECHL games since last season, made a major contribution to the team’s success. In three games against the number one team in the ECHL’s North Division, Ingram faced a whopping 112 shots, turning away 102 of them – a number coming in spectacular fashion – and added three more in the shootout.
Bourke almost did not get to have a chance to win the contest. After Newfoundland’s Brady Ferguson and Hults each scored in round two of the skills competition, Growlers sniper Scott Pooley beat Ingram in the top of the third. Otto Somppi needed to score to extend the shooout and did so but not before the on-ice officials had to wait to see whether his shot had crossed the goal line under the body of netminder Michael Garteig. In the end, the shot was ruled a goal, sending the teams to a sudden death round four where Ingram forced Giorgio Estephan to fire wide. It all set up Bourke, who skated in slowly before making a move to his forehand then quickly going backhand to flip the puck over Garteig’s shoulder.
Sunday’s matinee affair began as its predecessors had as the tempo was high and driven by the host Growlers. Newfoundland registered the first eight shots on net during the opening ten minutes of the first period, keeping Ingram on his toes.
The Growlers opened the scoring at the 6:49 mark of the first period when Josh Kestner was in the right place to redirect a shot by Adam Pardy into the back of the net for his 17th goal of the season.
It looked like Newfoundland would hold that slim advantage into the first intermission but the Solar Bears had other plans. With less than ten seconds remaining in the period, St. John’s native Cody Donaghey intercepted a Growlers clearing attempt at the blueline. He quickly it to Bourke whomoved the puck down to the goal line, drawing the defense and Garteig with him. Bourke then sent a pass to the slot where McAuley, who had a hat trick on Saturday, slammed it home for his 11th of the season to even things up at 1-1.
A series of penalties early in the second led to a five-on-three man advantage for the Solar Bears. The visitors cashed in on the opportunity when Bourke set up Frye for a wrist shot from the point that found its way home for Frye’s fourth of the season.
Six minutes later it was Bourke’s turn to turn on the red light. Again playing on the power play, Mathieu Foget got the puck to the Tampa prospect and he did the rest. Bourke skated into the slot and fired a shot that snuck between Garteig’s legs for the Solar Bears second power play goal of the contest and Bourke’s eighth of the season.
At the other end of the ice, Ingram was in the process of posting a clean sheet for the middle stanza. He faced 14 Growlers shots, including a pair of clean break-ins, and was able to deny each and every one of them.
Orlando headed to the final twenty minutes of play up 3-1 but they had one problem. McAuley, who obviously had a stick that was just as hot as Bourke’s was, had flipped the puck into the crowd after a whistle late in the second. Per rule 23.9, McAuley was assessed a game misconduct, meaning that he would not be available for the third.
The Growlers came with everything they had in the final frame, unloading shots at every opportunity the had. Ingram held them off until the home teamstruck for a pair of tallies in 1:28 to even things up. The first came off the stick of Ferguson who cleaned up the rebound of a shot by Kestner and roofed it over Ingram for his 22nd of the season. Soon after, Kestner converted on a power play, using his speed to get to the net and firing a shot to the short side for his 18th at 16:49.
Although the Growlers had a couple more good chances to bring their shot margin to 19-2 in the third, neither side found another goal down the stretch and the teams headed to overtime. They combined for three total shots, two by Orlando including a chance by Foget with two seconds left, forcing the dramatic shootout finish.
Ingram finished the game with 40 saves plus the three in the shootoutwhile Garteig ended with 18 saves plus two in the skills competition.
With the win and Atlanta’s victory over Jacksonville, the Solar Bears pulled two points clear of the Icemen for second place in the South Division. Orlando returns home for a five-game homestand in nine days beginning Wednesday night at 7 p.m. against the Florida Everblades.
Notes: Final shots were 43-22 in favor of Newfoundland… The Solar Bears finished 2-for-5 on the power play while the Growlers went 1-for-3… Orlando finished the season series with Newfoundland with a 3-2-0-0 record… In his five games played since returning from Syracuse, Bourke has tallied two goals and eight assists… The Solar Bears are now 23-0-0-0 when leading after two periods of play.
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