ESTERO, FLA – When the Florida Everblades left Orlando on Sunday evening, they left with both a series-extending victory and momentum. Back in their own building Tuesday night, that momentum grew into a wave that earned the Everblades at least one more day of hockey.
Paced by two goals and an assist from Brant Harris and three points each from Michael Kirkpatrick, Levko Koper and John McCarron, the host Everblades turned back the visiting Orlando Solar Bears by a final of 6-4 in front of an announced crowd of 3,284 at Germain Arena. The victory evened the best-of-seven South division semifinal series at three wins apiece, setting up a winner-take-all game seven Wednesday night in Estero.
The Solar Bears, who were without star goalie Ryan Massa for the second consecutive game, put up a fight with three goals in the final period from Milos Bubela, Daniel Maggio and Joe Perry but it was not enough to overcome a four-goal opening stanza by the Everblades.
Mitch Gillam got his second straight start in net for Orlando and again started off well but saw his luck change quickly. The rookie netminder feel immediately under a siege from the Everblades and held the fort until the 5:30 mark of the opening frame when Koper was in the right place to collect the rebound of a shot by Harris from the slot and knocked it into the open side of the net to Gillam’s left for his first tally of the post-season.
Five minutes later, a defensive zone turnover led to Florida’s second goal. Kirkpatrick got the puck and passed it out front where Harris fired a shot that Gillam stopped. Again left alone, Koper collected the rebound and fired away only to have the Orlando netminder get a piece of the shot. The puck dropped and rolled into the crease where Harris beat everyone to it and poked it across the line for his first goal of the series.
Following the Harris goal, Solar Bears head coach Drake Berehowsky replaced Gillam with rookie netminder Kris Joyce in hopes of lighting a spark under his squad. Joyce, who played for the University of Windsor in the Canadian Interuniversity Sports league (much like the NCAA in the United States) this past season, was signed earlier in the day to replace Massa.
Joyce’s introduction to the professional ranks seemed to give the Solar Bears a lift. They cut Florida’s lead in half during a power play when Denver Manderson took a feed from Eric Faille and using Perry as a screen, beat Everblades goalie Anthonty Peters with a blast from the top of the face-off circle to the netminder’s left. For Manderson, it was his fourth goal of the series.
Florida responded to the challenge from the Solar Bears with two more goals before the first period came to a close. At the 14:42 mark – just over a minute after Manderson’s score – Brendan O’Donnell got loose for a wicked wrist shot that beat Joyce up and under the crossbar for his fifth goal of the playoffs. Then after Joyce was hit with a penalty for playing the puck in the restricted area below the goal line, the Everblades cashed in when defenseman Bryce Aneloski skated the puck into the circle to the goalie’s right before passing to a wide open McCarron who rocketed a shot into the back of the net for his first of the post-season and a 4-1 Florida lead.
Berehowsky went back to Gillam to start the second period and the product of Cornell University seemed to settle down, playing a much more confident game. He robbed O’Donnell on a clean breakaway and even turned away two rebound chances that the high-scoring forward followed up with.
Things got a little chippy midway through the period when Orlando’s Chris Crane high sticked Florida’s Matt Berry. The two tussled and were joined by McCarron but when the dust settled, the Everblades went on a power play as Berry and McCarron each picked up roughing minors while Crane was hit for the high stick and four minutes in roughing calls. Later, a cross check by Orlando’s Mason Marchment drew the ire of O’Donnell but cooler heads prevailed and each spent two minutes in the penalty box.
Just when the Solar Bears thought they were going to get out of the middle frame unscathed on the scoreboard, the Everblades struck for their fifth tally of the contest. It came at the 16:08 mark when a shot by O’Donnell missed and crashed into the end boards. The puck kicked off to the right side of the net where Berry was standing all alone. Berry quickly fired it past Gillam into the open net for his fourth of the series and a 5-1 lead after two.
With nothing to lose, Orlando opened the third period with a bit of fire and it paid off when Shane Conacher grabbed the rebound of a shot by Manderson and slid a pass to Bubela who found the back of the net for his first goal and point of the playoffs. The Solar Bears best opportunity over the next fifteen-plus minutes of play came during a man advantage situation when Taylor Doherty, who was playing up front to create screens, got to a rebound and beat Peters but the puck clanged off the post and stayed out of the cage.
Berehowsky pulled Gillam with roughly three minutes and thirty seconds left in regulation but saw the move backfire when Harris skated the puck out of his end and from just outside his defensive blue line hit the empty net for his second of the night.
The Solar Bears, looking for something to hang their helmets on for game seven, kept plugging away and when Daniel Maggio wired a shot past Peters forty seconds after Harris’ score, Orlando had a slight glimmer of hope. They drew closer when Perry redirected a shot from the point by Chris Bradley home with 28.4 seconds to go but it was too little, too late to complete a comeback.
Notes: Peters, who won his third game of the series and ninth overall against the Solar Bears this season, made 35 saves in the contest while Gillam took the loss while stopping 28 of the 31 shots he faced… Both teams finished the night 1-for-3 on the power play… Wednesday night’s game seven is set to face-off at 7:30 p.m. at Germain Arena. The winner will take on the South Carolina Stingrays who after losing the first two games to the Greenville Swamp Rabbits won the next four in succession to close the series in six games.
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