ORLANDO, FLA – There are times when an athlete can see a play developing in front of them and he or she can go over the options in their head and make the right play. Then there are other times when not thinking and just going on instinct is the best play to make.
Alex Gacek scored two goals in regulation before netting the shootout winner Thursday night (Photo courtesy of Fernando Medina / Orlando Solar Bears)
Thursday night at the Amway Center, it was that less thinking philosophy that earned the Orlando Solar Bears a much needed victory.
Alex Gacek scored twice and Mason Marchment once in regulation before each lit the goal light in the shootout as Orlando (21-15-4-2, 48 points) edged the two-time defending ECHL Kelly Cup champion Allen Americans (26-15-2-2, 56 points) 4-3 in front of an announced crowd of 4,508. The win was just the Solar Bears second in their last seven games at home and also served notice that Orlando can play on a level with the best the double-A league has to offer.
Gacek scored Orlando’s second and third goals of the game before netting the eventual game-winner in the second round of the shootout. He beat Allen goalie Jamie Murray to the top corner on the netminder’s stick side before Marchment sealed the win by ripping a shot off the inside of the post to Murray’s left.
“The thought process – [there was] not much. I knew I wanted to shoot so I wanted to see what the goalie gave me, either the blocker side or the glove side,” Gacek said about the winning tally. “I just felt like there was more room on the blocker side so I went with it.”
Slow starts have dogged the Solar Bears in recent games so head coach Drake Berehowsky emphasized all week in practice that the intensity needed to win had to start from the opening face-off. The team took that message to heart and hit the Americans with a couple of early blows.
The first came at the 8:26 mark of the first period. The key play was made by Darik Angeli who swung around the Allen net looking for a wraparound score. Murray denied Angeli’s opportunity but the rebound squirted into a sea of legs and skates at the top of the crease. Somehow Marchment was able to find the puck and knocked it into the back of the net for his fourth goal of the season.
“It was a good forecheck that turned the puck over. [Angeli] threw it to the net and it was just sitting there and I just whacked it in,” Marchment said. “It was a pretty lucky goal.”
Marchment’s score was part of a surge by the Solar Bears that began after a failed power play. The push, which resulted in Orlando outshooting Allen 15-4 in the opening frame, led to a second goal at the 14:33 mark when Joe Perry forced Murray to make a save but the rebound jumped out to Gacek on the back side of the play. Gacek wasted no time in ramming the puck home for his 15th goal of the season and seventh as a member of the Solar Bears.
“We work on that almost every day in practice – shoot for the pad and come in for the rebound,” Gacek said. “Luckily like I’ve been doing every day in practice, [we got the] execution off the pad right to me [at the] back door.”
The home team continued to push the tempo by getting plenty of rubber flying at Murray but the Americans’ netminder kept his team in it with a steady stream of saves. It bought his teammates – who had beaten the Florida Everblades the night before in Estero – time to find their way.
The visitors broke onto the scoreboard 7:45 into the middle frame when Chad Costello teamed up with Greger Hanson for a textbook score. Costello got control of the puck along the half boards to Orlando goalie Ryan Massa’s left looking to make a play. At the same time, Hanson made a beeline to the top of the crease where he posted up. Costello fired a pass in Hanson’s direction and the crafty forward did the rest by redirecting it over Massa’s left shoulder for his 21st goal of the season.
Late in the period, Orlando found itself down two men when former American Chris Crane and Patrick Watling picked up overlapping penalties. It created plenty of open space for Costello to whip a pass through the crease to a wide-open Hanson who jammed the puck inside the post for his second of the period and 22nd of the year. Much more importantly for Allen, the goal brought it even with the Solar Bears before the second intermission.
Orlando regained the lead 6:24 into the third period. The play began with defenseman Ty Stanton jumping up into the play and driving toward the net from the right circle. Murray was able to poke the puck away but Gacek was there to fire the disc past the goalie on the short side for his 16th of the season and second of the game.
Facing another situation where a big play was needed, the Americans got it from their special teams with just over four minutes left in regulation. Playing on their sixth power play of the contest, Costello set up Eric Roy who beat Massa from the slot for his ninth of the season to even the score once again and eventually send it to overtime.
In the extra period, Allen had the advantage on the shot clock but Massa was rock solid between the pipes on the way to a 22-save performance. Murray (43 saves) stopped all three Orlando attempts, sending the game to a shootout.
The penalty shot deciding phase turned into a clinic for the Solar Bears, Austin Block gave the home team an early advantage by going low to Murray’s stick side for a score in round one. After a Massa save on Bryan Moore, Gacek froze the Allen netminder to put Orlando up by two. Hanson responded by beating Massa with a series of stick-handling moves before tucking a backhander home to keep the Americans alive. In round three, Marchment drove straight down the middle and drilled a shot that loudly rang the iron before going in, setting off a deafening roar from the home crowd.
When asked how he thought his team stacked up against one of the best teams in the entire ECHL, Berehowsky very quickly added the Solar Bears to the list of elite squads in the circuit.
“I know they’re (Allen) one of the best teams but I consider our group one of the best teams as well,” he said. “I thought we matched up perfectly. You saw it there – it was a tight game, a game of inches and a game of little details. We were fortunate to come out with the two points.”
Notes: Orlando’s lineup featured two newcomers: forward Shane Conacher, brother of Tampa Bay Lightning forward Cory Conacher, and former NHLer Chad LaRose. Conacher was assigned to the Solar Bears by the Toronto Marlies on Monday while LaRose, who won a Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes, was signedto a contract on Wednesday… Costello’s three assists in the game brought his season total to 53…Orlando finished the game 0-for-2 on the power play while Allen went 2-for-6… With the win, Orlando leapfrogged past South Carolina into second place in the South division. Greenville, which defeated Atlanta on Thursday, also jumped over the Stingrays, landing in third… Thursday’s game was the first ever meeting between the Solar Bears and the Americans. The two teams will meet one final time this season on Sunday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. at the Amway Center.
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