GREENVILLE, SC – Orlando Solar Bears head coach Drake Berehowsky expects his team to play a “full 60-minute game”, that is going full out from start to finish. There are still moments where the Solar Bears let up but when they start as quickly as they did Tuesday night, the potential is there for games to be over with quickly.
Led by a balanced scoring attack and a huge first period, the Solar Bears (12-6-2-0, 26 points) cruised past the Greenville Swamp Rabbits (9-8-2-0, 20 points) 5-2 in front of an announced crowd of 2,253 at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena. Austin Block contributed a goal and two assists to pace the offense while goalie Kasimir Kaskisuo turned in a solid performance between the pipes with 32 saves to earn his fourth win of the season.
Playing with a bare bones roster that included rookie defenseman Nikolas Brouillard being used as the tenth forward in the absence of Chris Crane and captain Eric Baier on loan to the Rochester Americans, Berehowsky and assistant coach John Snowden had to be creative with recreating a third trio of forwards. They hit the jackpot with putting Block with Brock Montgomery and Chase Witala as they combined for three goals and seven points in the contest.
The Solar Bears hit the ice flying at the start, immediately putting pressure on Swamp Rabbits goalie Jeff Malcolm. The effort paid off just 1:47 into the opening frame when rookie Tony Cameranesi grabbed a loose puck in the faceoff circle and rifling a shot past Malcolm’s catching glove for his seventh goal of the season.
Twenty seconds later, Orlando went on a penalty kill but kept the offense flowing. Thirty seconds into the kill, Denver Manderson found himself on a breakaway but Malcolm made the save. The puck stayed in the crease next to the goalie’s skate where Brett Findlay was able to jam it home for his sixth of the year and a short-handed score for the visitors.
The onslaught continued at the 6:15 mark when Block parked himself in front of the Greenville net and redirected a shot by Chris Bradley past Malcolm for his fifth of the season and a 3-0 Solar Bears lead. The score ended Malcolm’s night as backup netminder Mackenzie Skapski was sent in to relieve the starter after just eight shots on net.
At the other end of the ice, Kaskisuo was not very busy until the Swamp Rabbits began to find their game in the back half of the period. When Findlay went off for hooking thirteen minutes in, Greenville was able to use the power play to get on the board when Ahti Oksanen scooped up a rebound after successive saves by Kaskisuo and banged it home for his sixth score of the season.
Orlando responded at the 16:22 mark when Block took the puck down low and put it in front near the crease where Witala popped it into the back of the net. For the rookie, it was his first professional goal but more importantly it allowed the Solar Bears to take a 4-1 lead into the first intermission.
The game opened up even more in the middle frame as both offenses had chances galore. Both Kaskisuo and Skapski settled into an old fashioned goalie’s duel as they matched save for save. Finally in the final minute of the stanza, the Solar Bears struck to add to their lead when Block and Witala combined their talents to get the puck to Montgomery who lit the goal light for the second time in three games at the 19:31 mark.
Greenville was able to give its fans something to cheer about early in the third. Playing with another man advantage, Spiro Goulakos lined up a shot from the point with traffic in front of Kaskisuo. The puck somehow eluded the maze of skates, clanked off the inside of one post and across to the other where it again clanged and crossed the line for Goulakos’ fourth score of the year.
Spurred on by the Goulakos goal, the Swamp Rabbits began to ramp up their offense, putting more shots on the Orlando netminder. Midway through the final period, Solar Bears defenseman Brenden Miller, who had been activated off the injured reserve list earlier in the day, was given a five-minute major penalty for elbowing Greenville forward Joe Houk. Kaskisuo and his teammates clamped down, not allowing the Swamp Rabbits to get many chances to crawl back further into the contest. Even a late power play with Skapski (29 saves) pulled for an extra attacker proved futile as the Solar Bears held the home team off to collect the win.
Notes: Orlando finished the game 0-for-2 on the power play while Greenville went 2-for-5… Findlay’s goal moved him within one of the Solar Bears ECHL franchise career mark of 35 goals held by Jake Cepis and Brady Vail… With the callup to Rochester, Baier will get to play for his eighth different AHL club. His next game played will be his 50th AHL contest… Orlando and Greenville will meet again Thursday night in Greenville. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
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