ORLANDO, FLA – With about a month to go in the ECHL regular season, the Orlando Solar Bears need all hands on deck if they are to make the playoffs. That includes veterans and youngsters alike.
Monday night at the Amway Center, Patrick Watling and Brady Vail – two of the young guns – provided the offense as Orlando shutout the Cincinnati Cyclones 2-0 in front of an announced crowd of 5,072. The victory moved the Solar Bears (28-21-4-2, 62 points) within three points of the fourth and final playoff spot in the ECHL’s East division.
“With every point at stake, it’s playoff hockey now. We need those young guys to step up and he’s (Watling) one of those guys and he stepped up tonight which is great to see,” Orlando head coach Vince Williams said about Watling. “Brady’s another young guy. There some young guys who you’re putting into these situations (late in games). For him to be three months ago in that position to be on the ice in the last two minutes with the goalie pulled and how far he’s come up to now, that’s part of the maturation process. That’s how these guys learn.”
Goalie Max Clermont played another strong game in front of the home crowd, facing and stopping all 29 shots Cincinnati (26-24-1-5, 58 points) fired off. Pitted against Cyclones net minder Rob Madore, Clermont had to be on his game as Orlando dressed emergency backup Bobby Fowler in place of Garrret Sparks.
The first two periods of the unusual Monday night contest (caused by a rescheduling due to an Elton John concert) were summed up in two words: defensive struggle. The teams combined for just nine shots in the opening twenty minutes despite each side having a power play. Clermont was the slightly busier of the goalies, taking good scoring chances away from Joe Basaraba and Stephan Vigier in the frame.
The offenses opened up a bit in the second but again it was the goalies who starred. Between Madore’s catching glove and Clermont’s leg pads, neither side was having any luck turning on the goal light. Each side posted ten shots but the game remained scoreless heading to the third.
“They’re (Cincinnati) a very strong defensive team. They play to their strengths,” Solar Bears defenseman Bryce Aneloski, who was playing in his 100th game for Orlando, said. “They’ve got good goaltending and they play strong in front of him. It’s tough to generate a lot of offense.”
A carry-over penalty on Cincinnati’s Shayne Taken proved to be exactly what the Solar Bears needed. They parlayed the man advantage on a fresh sheet of ice into Watling converting the rebound of an Aneloski shot for the game’s first goal one minute into the frame.
“It was a big power play goal that we got there that gave us the lead,” Aneloski said.
From there, Clermont and Madore (28 saves) put on a clinic in how to play in crunch time. Each goalie came up with huge saves – Clermont on Branden Gracel and Madore on Scott Tanski – to keep it a one goal game.
With Madore pulled in favor of an extra attacker, Vail turned defense into offense to put the icing on the win. He challenged and blocked a shot at the blue line that sent the puck into center ice. Vail used his speed to collect the disc and outrace an opponent for a layup goal into the empty net with 1:08 remaining.
Orlando now heads out on a four game road trip with stops in Toledo on Wednesday, Cincinnati on Friday and Evansville on Saturday and Sunday. Williams said that he hopes the trip will be beneficial for the final push.
“I think it’s going to be good for us to gel, to get to know each other,” Williams said. “We have some good teams to play. It’s going to be a good challenge for us.”
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