ORLANDO, FLA – Through the first twenty minutes of Game 3 of the ECHL’s South Division Finals on Tuesday night, the Orlando Solar Bears looked every part the dominant team, scoring twice and pounding 20 shots on Florida Everblades goalie Callum Booth. It was a domination the likes of which had partisan fans at the Amway Center thinking this could be the season that their Solar Bears might just exercise the curse that the Everblades have on their favorite team.
And then the teams played the second and third periods, which brought back memories of years past when Orlando got close but never seemed to be able to beat their in-state rivals.
Orlando goalie Connor Ingram (51, black) and Florida’s Tommy Thompson follow the puck during Tuesday night’s game (Photo courtesy of Fernando Medina / Orlando Solar Bears)
Two goals in the third period pulled the visiting Everblades even before John McCarron redirected Patrick McCarron’s shot past Solar Bears netminder Connor Ingram 4:08 into the first overtime to life Florida to a stunning 3-2 win in front of an announced crowd of 6,871. With the victory, the Everblades took back home ice while taking a two games to one lead in the best-of-seven series with a now huge Game 4 set for Thursday night in the City Beautiful.
“We had everything going for us in the first [period]. I mean we were doing everything we possibly could. We were playing the right way – we were getting pucks in, we were getting pucks to the net, we were playing physical. They can’t handle us when we play like that,” Solar Bears forward Hunter Fejes, who scored one of Orlando’s two first period goals, said in a dejected and somewhat angry tone. “Then for some odd reason we just, I don’t know, everything just collapsed from there and that’s something that’s on us.”
John McCarron, who also had an assist in the contest, was in the perfect spot to tip the drive by Patrick McCarron (no relation) during a five minute major power play following a knee-to-knee collision between Orlando’s Jonne Tammela and Florida’s Michael Downing. The game officials huddled while Downing was helped off the ice and ruled the hit to be a penalty which carried with it a game misconduct. The hit may have a double sting for the Solar Bears depending on the game reports and whether or not the league sees it as a suspendable offense.
Based on how the first period played out, the game should not have gotten into extra time. The Solar Bears, playing on their home ice for the first time in more than two weeks, came out flying. They were all over the Everblades – much like they did in the third period in Game 2 – and brought the crowd to its feet just two minutes into the first period.
Mitch Hults started the sequence by getting the puck to Tammela who drove the puck into the Florida end along the wing to the left of Booth. He quickly put on the brakes and curled along the half boards and saw Zach Frye jumping up into the play. Tammela made a tape-to-tape pass to Frye who buried the puck in the back of the net for his first goal of the playoffs and an early lead.
“We made them turn the puck over I think it was on our blue line. I just saw a chance to get up the ice and make it a three-on-two,” Frye, a San Jose prospect, said about his score. “Tammela baited that D [defenseman] and had me go back door, put it right through his legs and I just had to touch it in. It was a good play by Tams.”
The onslaught on Booth continued through much of the period. The Florida netminder was tested on numerous occasions with multiple shots in quick succession that forced the goalie to be agile and anticipate shots that came from all directions.
Orlando’s Zach Frye (4) and Hunter Fejes (23) celebrate Fejes’ first period goal during Tuesday night’s game (Photo courtesy of Fernando Medina / Orlando Solar Bears)
Late in the frame, the Solar Bears struck for a second time after an Everblades turnover. Defenseman Logan Roe attempted a pass out of his end that struck the skate of Orlando forward Alexei Lipanov. The puck caromed into open space where Fejes immediately jumped on it and sped into the offensive zone. As the defense fell back, Fejes pulled to the mid-slot area and ripped a wicked wrist shot that zipped past Booth’s stick side for his team-leading sixth post-season tally and a 2-0 lead after one.
Besides leading on the scoreboard, Orlando logged a franchise high 20 shots on net in the opening frame while allowing a mere six to reach Ingram.
“We were playing our structure and when you play in our structure you’re going to get opportunities,”Solar Bears Head Coach and General Manager Drake Berehowsky said about the near perfect period.
The Solar Bears had an opportuinty to start the second period on a good note with 1:19 of carryover power play time thanks to a penalty on Florida’s Kyle Platzer late in the first. They did not convert on the advantage, falling to 0-for-2 in the game on the way to an 0-for-4 night.
The penalty kill seemed to pump energy into the Everblades offense. Florida began getting opportunities that kept Ingram on his toes while Booth was doing the same at the other end.
In between, the animosity between the two teams began to boil over as scrums became the norm. There was a scary moment late in the period when Lipanov went down to the ice and took the stick follow through of an Everblades shot in the face, drawing blood and forcing the young Russian to the locker room for repairs. Beyond that, the hitting became more intense and with that came a pair of Everblades penalties but the Solar Bears again failed to capitalize.
The fact that Florida faced four disadvantages through two periods did not concern Everblades Head Coach Brad Ralph because of his confidence in his penalty killers.
“Our group is at our best when we’re playing emotional hockey. We’ll take the penalties and we’ll kill them off,” Ralph said when asked about his team staying disciplined. “Obviously we want to be disciplined and play intelligent hockey but you’ve got to put it on the line every night so penalties will happen.”
Florida’s John McCarron (25, white) and Orlando’s Mike Monfredo (3, black) exchange looks during Tuesday’s second period (Photo courtesy of Fernando Medina / Orlando Solar Bears)
As the final frame began, it looked like the Everblades had the Solar Bears on their heels. They were pressing hard to get on the board and because they were outworking Orlando, luck swung to the side of the visitors.
At the 5:35 mark of the third, arguably the biggest break of the night went Florida’s way. Rookie Blake Winiecki carried the puck into the Solar Bears defensive zone and unleashed a blast that sailed high over the net. The shot had some much force behind it that the bounce off the plexiglass came straight out over the cage and struck Ingram in the back. The puck dropped to the ice and slid across the goal line for Winiecki’s seventh post-season score that cut the deficit to 2-1.
“Obviously that was a big bounce for us to get us on the board and get us going,” Ralph said about Winiecki’s tally.
After Orlando killed off a penalty on Tayler Thompson, the Everblades kept up the heat and it led to a Solar Bears mistake that became a game-tying goal. At the 9:15 mark, a misplay behind the Orlando net led to the puck squirting above the goal line on the right side of the net. Nathan Perkovich was all alone at the crease and popped the disc up and over Ingram for his first of the playoffs to bring the Everblades back to all square at 2-2.
The final ten plus minutes of regulation turned into a shooting gallery at the Orlando end as Ingram saw a lot of rubber fly his way. He was able to regain his composure and keep the Everblades from finding a third score, making 12 saves all told in the period to six by Booth as the game headed to overtime where the fates dealt the Solar Bears the double blow of Tammela’s penalty and John McCarron’s winning goal.
Ralph said he was proud of the way his team responded to the adversity by coming back to win for just the second time all year when trailing after two periods.
“It was a tough first period for us. [I] give our guys a lot of credit. We made some adjustments and the guys really dug in and showed a lot of heart and character to make this comeback tonight,” Ralph said. “I’m proud of our group. It wasn’t easy and I think we learned a lot about ourselves and what it is going to take moving forward. It was a big win for us.”
Orlando’s Brent Pedersen (91, black) triedto screen Florida goalie Callum Booth during Tuesday’s game (Photo courtesy of Fernando Medina / Orlando Solar Bears)
Berehowsky was rightfully not happy with his team, promising that he will not allow the players to forget about Tuesday’s loss without learning some hard lessons heading into Thursday’s game.
“We’re going to watch video tomorrow [Wednesday] and they’re going to learn from their mistakes,” Berehowsky said. “You can’t just let everybody just go. They have to figure out what was successful and what wasn’t successful. They’ll see the 20 turnovers for sure and I’m sure that I’m going to find some more so they’ll see all of them.”
Fejes, one of the acknowledged leaders in the locker room, said that the entire squad needs to take lessons from the loss and apply them going forward.
“This one [loss] stings really bad. As a leader on this team, I can’t let that happen with our team. We’re going to have to learn from it and move on,” Fejes said. “We’re going to come out and we’re going to learn from it and we’re going to be better. Obviously it [Thursday’s Game 4] is not an elimination game but it is do or die for us every game from here on out. We’ve got to bear down and we have to stick with it and make sure [that] we believe in each other.”
Notes: Final shots were dead even at 33 for each team… The Everblades finished 1-for-4 on the power play to Orlando’s 0-for-4… Tuesday’s overtime was the third consecutive game decided in extra time, the first time that the Solar Bears have experienced more than two games in a row heading to OT… Thursday’s Game 4 is set for a 7 p.m. puck drop.
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
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