ESTERO, FLA – When the Florida Everblades and the Orlando Solar Bears began their best-of-seven ECHL East division semifinal series, the printed statistics said that the team from Southwest Florida might have an easy run to the second run. As it turned out, the fourth-seeded Solar Bears gave the top-seeded Everblades everything they could handle and just a bit more.
Alex Aleardi scored 12:39 into the first overtime to give Florida a thrilling 1-0 victory in front of an announced crowd of 2,620 at the Germain Arena. The win allowed the Everblades to close out the series, winning it four games to two, and get some rest before hosting either the Reading Royals or the South Carolina Stingrays in the division finals starting on May 1st.
For the Solar Bears, it was the end to a season that had its ups and downs but proved that head coach Vince Williams and assistant coach Danny Brooks had put together a roster that believed in itself well beyond what the numbers said.
Aleardi, who missed the start of the series while on a callup to the AHL Charlotte Checkers, was in the right place at the right time to take a pass from Nicolas Deschamps and rip a one-time drive past Orlando goalie Garret Sparks. Deschamps ended up with the puck when two Solar Bears players saw the puck bounce away from them behind their net, leaving it for Deschamps to pick up.
The score ended what had become an epic battle of the netminders – one that some might not have expected. With starting goalie Allen York (whiplash-like symptoms) out of the lineup after being injured in game five, Florida head coach Greg Poss turned to backup Daniel Altshuller to take up for his teammate. Altshuller’s 30-save performance was nothing short of brilliant as he matched Sparks’ 33-save effort in a classic head-to-head battle of wills.
Florida had the better of the chances in the first period, piling up twelve shots on Sparks but the Orlando goalie was up for the challenge. Down the other end, Altshuller was not as busy, facing just six Solar Bears chances.
The pace picked up in the second period. Sparks kept the scoreboard clean early in the period when he robbed Gabriel Desjardines on a close-in opportunity. Not to be outdone, Altshuller stoned Brett Findlay on a break-in midway thru the frame. Late in the period, Altshuller turned away Ben Johnson on a quick wraparound attempt after the Orlando forward had stolen the puck down low.
Early in the third, Sparks was called on to face a high shot by Aleardi who had gotten in tight. The Solar Bears netminder calmly knocked away the shot with his shoulder to keep the score tied. It as one of twelve Everblades shots that he stopped in the stanza, most of them coming in the first half of the period.
Altshuller was very busy in the back half of the frame as Orlando, as it had in the middle stanza, found its offense late. The Solar Bears put eight shots on net in the final eight minutes but Altshuller turned every one of them away.
Aleardi nearly won the game twice early in the extra period as he got in tight on the Orlando net. Sparks stopped the first attempt and the second went high over the net. Not too long later, Altshuller was called on to make back-to-back saves to maintain the scoreless tie. With every player giving their all, the shot count stayed low as many attempts met with either sticks that deflected them away or bodies that kept them from getting to the goalies.
Then with 7:21 left in the period, the puck found its way to Deschamps who picked up his team-leading seventh assist and tenth point in the series when he fed Aleardi for the game and series winning tally.
Sparks, who played every second in net in the series, was one of the best players for the Solar Bears in the series. He faced 216 Everblades shots in the six games and stopped a remarkable 199 of them. Only one other goalie, Utah’s Igor Bobkov with 208 saves, turned away more shots in the first round than Sparks. His .921 save percentage was fifth best trailing Quad City’s Evan Mosher (.961), Bobkov (.941), Fort Wayne’s Roman Will (.934) and Altshuller who posted a .968 save percentage in his one game and 19 seconds of work.
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