ORLANDO, FLA – It is pretty safe to say that the start of the 2021-22 ECHL season for Orlando Solar Bears forward Dylan Fitze was a rocky one. Between going on the injured reserve list in mid-November followed by a trip to the Commissioner’s Exempt list in mid-December, Fitze’s playing time was truncated greatly.
Friday night at the Amway Center, Fitze found his groove – and did it in a big way.
Fitze netted his first career hat trick while rookie Odeen Tufto picked up his first three professional points (goal, 2 assists) as the host Solar Bears (18-12-1-0) scored four unanswered third period goals to sail to a 6-2 win over the Wheeling Nailers (15-14-1-0) in front of an announced crowd of 4,218 and the Stanley Cup. Fitze and Tufto were two of four Orlando players (Tristin Langan and Michael Brodzinski were the others) with multi-point contests.
Tufto, who was assigned to the Solar Bears by the Tampa Bay Lightning from the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch on Tuesday, had played just two games with the Crunch after having off-season surgery. He looked very fluid on the ice, playing on a line with Hunter Fejes and Langan and getting plenty of time on the power play where he picked up his two helpers.
Tufto wasn’t the only player sent to get playing time in O-Town. Goalie Afir Miftakhov, who has been caught in a three-netminder puzzle in Syracuse, made his second trip to Central Florida and this time got between the pipes for a meaningful game. He stopped 28 of 30 shots by the visiting Nailers for his first career ECHL victory.
Looking for their fifth consecutive win, the Solar Bears fell into a one-goal hole 14:36 into the first period. A bouncing puck in the neutral zone eluded an Orlando player, eventually being settled down by Wheeling’s Justin Almeida. Almeida sped into the Solar Bears defensive zone and fired awrist shot past Miftakhov’s blocker side for his 12th goal of the season.
Playing with a power play just shy of four minutes later, the big line connected to even the score. A shot by Tufto from the faceoff circle to the left of Nailers netminder Stefanos Lekkas (who spent a very short period of time in Orlando earlier in the season) who made the save. As the rebound kicked out, Fejes lifted the stick of a defender, allowing the puck to go to Fitze who banged it home for his second goal of the season.
Tied at one at the start of the middle frame, the teams again traded goals but this time the order was reversed. Five minutes in, Orlando’s Luke McInnis squared off with Wheeling’s Jared Cockrell with Cockrell picking up and extra minor penalty. The ensuing power play turned into the Solar Bears first lead of the night when a shot by Tufto from the right circle was blocked. The carom went to Tyler Bird in the slot and he finished the job, burying it in the back of the net for his seventh of the season.
The Nailers took a penalty at the 9:03 mark of the period but they turned the tables on the Solar Bears with their penalty killers. With time winding down of the kill, Josh Maniscalo and Tim Doherty broke out on a two-on-one break throu center ice. The pair drove into their offensive zone with Maniscalo sending a shot on net. Miftakhov made the stop but allowed a long rebound that Doherty pounded into the open side of the cage for a short-handed tally and his fourth of the year. It knotted the scoreboard at 2-2 where it stayed through the rest of the frame into the second intermission.
It took less than six minutes of play in the third for Orlando to pick up what proved to be the game-winning score. At the 5:42 mark, Langan sped down the far boards into the Wheeling end. As he went below the goal line, Langan sent the puck to the front of the net. It banked off of Lekkas to a little above the top of the crease. Fitze worked himself into position to collect the pass and rifled it over the goalie’s catching shoulder for his second of the night and third of the season.
As time began to tick away, the Nailers upped their game looking for a tying score. Miftakhov came up with a pair of bang-bang saves, denying a shot by Brandon Saigeon from out high and using his catching glove to snare a rebound attempt by Cockrell. The four-second sequence brought a loud cheer from the appreciative home fans.
Miftakhov’s teammates rewarded the rookie goalie with an insurance marker at 15:46. Just inside the Wheeling end, Fejes forced a Nailers turnover along the boards. Langan followed in and took control, firing a pass to Tufto who was open between the hashmarks. Tufto patiently picked his target, ripping a wrister past Lekkas’ blocker side for his first career goal.
With 3:36 remaining in regulation, the Nailers thought they had pulled within a goal when Maniscalo potted what looked to be his ninth of the season. It was not to be as the officials went to video review and waived it off for goalie interference.
In the final minute with Lekkas (23 saves) pulled for an extra attacker, Brodzinski got to a loose puck between the circles in his end. He calmly lifted a shot from there, hitting the center of the empty net for his sixth tally of the year, effectively putting the game on ice.
All that was left was to see if Fitze could complete his hat trick. With 15 ticks left, Demitry Semykin sent the puck to Ian Parker who quickly gained the offensive zone. He crossed a pass to Fitze just above the left circle. Fitze had his shot blocked but it came right back to him. He reloaded and went top shelf blocker side ,sending hats streaming onto the ice in celebration of his fourth goal of the season and the hatty.
The two teams will resume their three-game weekend series Saturday night at the Amway Center at 7 p.m.
Notes: Final shots were 30-29 in favor of Wheeling… The Nailers went 0-for-4 on the power play while the Solar Bears ended the night 2-for-4 on the man advantage… Fitze’s first period tally marked the fifth straight game that Orlando had lit the goal light in the opening frame… Fitze’s hat trick was Orlando’s second of the season. The first belonged to Aaron Luchuk who hit for three on October 31st against Jacksonville… The multi-goal night was Fitze’s first since April of 2019… The goals by Brodzinski (19:34) and Fitze (19:45) to close the game reset the season mark for quickest two scores at 11 seconds. The previous mark (17 seconds) was set in Orlando’s last game on January 10th against South Carolina (Semykin and Langan)… The last time Wheeling visited the City Beautiful was in February of 2018. The Nailers took two of three games including a Sunday morning game that started at 9:30 a.m. (a 6-5 Wheeling victory)… Saturday’s game will be preceded by a special Celebrity game featuring players from the previous nine years of Solar Bears teams in the ECHL playing alongside amateur players.
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