DULUTH, GA – Sometimes when a team is scuffling along, it needs a player to step up and provide a spark that can create wins. For the Orlando Solar Bears, that player is Hunter Fejes and Saturday night at the Infinite Energy Arena, he was just the catalyst the Solar Bears needed.
Fejes continued his torrid scoring streak, netting a pair of goals to lead the Solar Bears (2-3-0-0) to a 4-1 victory over the Atlanta Gladiators (2-1-0-0) in front of an announced crowd of 7,453. Vincent Dunn and Zach Todd each contributed a score as Orlando avenged an opening night loss to Atlanta while also erasing the memory of a bad loss in Jacksonville 24 hours earlier.
It was also a big night for Solar Bears netminder Martin Ouellette, who made 37 saves in what was arguably his best performance in an Orlando uniform.
Ouellette, a native of Saint-Hippolyte, Quebec, had to be on his game from the opening faceoff as Atlanta came out firing. Helped by an early power play, the Gladiators piled up shots quickly but Ouellette, who was one of the best netminders in the ECHL a year ago, calmly and rock-steadily turned away all 15 shots he faced to keep the home team off the scoreboard.
At the other end of the ice, Gladiators goalie Sean Bonar, pressed into service when Miroslav Svoboda was recalled by the Nashville Predators due to an injury to Pekka Rinne, was not as busy. The former Solar Bear stopped all eight shots sent his way to post a clean sheet and send the teams to the first intermission deadlocked at 0-0.
The middle frame, which had been a defensive house of horrors for Orlando in the first four games, became an offensive goldmine while Ouellette was fending off pucks. On a carryover Atlanta power play, Fejes turned in a highlight reel worthy play. Just 1:10 in, he took control of a loose puck in his defensive end and jetted toward center ice. Kicking into a second and third gear, Fejes split two defenders and went in alone before shoveling a backhander past Bonar for his fourth goal of the season and second short-handed tally. The score extended Fejes’ scoring run to five games with at least one point.
The play by Fejes lit a fire under his teammates. One minute and 48 seconds later, Alex Schoenborn sent a cross-ice pass to Todd who skated into the circle to Bonar’s right. Using Fejes as a distraction in front, Todd let loose with a shot that found the back of the net for his first goal in an Orlando jersey and second professional goal – the first coming last spring when he broke in with the Gladiators.
When Dunn took a feed from newcomer Mathieu Foget – who was acquired in a trade with Florida earlier in the week – in the slot and went top corner for his second goal of the year at the 10:16 mark, the Solar Bears had what looked like a solid 3-0 lead despite being outshot badly.
Orlando’s penchant for undisciplined penalties bit them again at the 13:49 mark when Stefan Fournier was tagged for a major penalty for boarding and given a game misconduct to go with it. The infraction – the third such major/misconduct set incurred by the Solar Bears this season (Dunn and Etienne Boutet were assessed the other two) – led to Justin MacDonald taking a feed from Branden Troock and beating Ouellette for his second goal of the season at 16:44 to break up the shutout.
Up by two heading into the third, Orlando was handed three man advantage chances in the first twelve minutes of the period but failed to extend the margin. The Gladiators hopes of a comeback were dashed when Fejes got loose again and netted his second of the game and fifth of the season with 5:07 remaining in regulation.
From there, Ouellette finished off his second win as he stopped all nine Atlanta shots in the final twenty minutes.
Notes: Final shots favored Atlanta 38-24. It marked the fourth time in five outings that Orlando was outshot… The Solar Bears continued to struggle on the power play, going 0-for-5 to push its season mark to 3-for-35. The Gladiators went 1-for-6 with the man advantage… Orlando’s five successful penalty kills brought its season mark to 25-for-35…Â Atlanta’s Bonar finished the night with 20 saves in his first start of the season… Both Orlando’s Todd (1 goal, 1 assist) and Michael Brodzinski (1 goal,1 assist) extended their personal point streaks to two games… The Solar Bears are off until Friday when they begin a weekend home-and-home set with the Florida Everblades at the Amway Center at 7 p.m.
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