ORLANDO, FLA – On paper, the statistics from Friday night’s Atlanta Gladiators – Orlando Solar Bears game at the Amway Center looked like the home team dominated offensively. Putting 52 shots on net, one would think that the Solar Bears would have come away with an easy victory.
Joe Perry netted two of Orlando’s goals Friday night (Photo courtesy of G. Bassing & F. Medina /Orlando Solar Bears)
Most nights that would be the case; on this night however the stats were quite deceiving.
Rookie goaltender Jay Williams, signed two days ago to fill in while Atlanta’s two regular netminders were on call-ups, stopped 49 of the 52 shots he faced to literally steal a 5-3 win for the Gladiators in front of an announced crowd of 3,918. The loss spoiled a two goal game by Solar Bears forward Joe Perry, his first two tallies in an Orlando uniform.
“I don’t know how many games I’ve ever been in in my life where you get 52 shots and not only get three goals but certainly not win the hockey game,” Orlando head coach Anthony Noreen said after the contest. “We just needed to finish on [our] opportunities. There were plenty of them there.”
Just over a week ago, Williams, who played his college hockey at Miami University (Ohio), was the number two goalie on the Solar Bears training camp roster before being released to make room for Kasimir Kaskisuo – who ironically was Orlando’s starting goalie in the game. The match-up also saw two other former Solar Bears, defenseman Blake Kessel and forward Tyler Murovich, play key roles in Atlanta’s win.
Coming off a big third period against South Carolina on Thursday, Orlando continued to flex its puck-control muscles in Friday’s opening period. In terms of territorial advantage, the Solar Bears had the bulk of it, outshooting the Gladiators 19-7 in the first frame. Williams somehow kept his cool as the shots kept coming his way, keeping his team from being blown out early.
Atlanta took advantage of an odd-man rush midway through the stanza to take the lead. A counterattack by the Gladiators led to a three-on-one rush into the Orlando defensive zone. Justin Buzzeo, one of Atlanta’s leading scorers, drew the defender toward him which opened a passing lane to a wide open Eric Neiley who fired up and over Kaskisuo for his fourth of the season at the 9:55 mark.
Early in the second period, the visitors took advantage of an Orlando penalty to increase its lead. With Brenden Miller in the box, Thomas Frazee was able to get the blade of his stick on a high shot from the point by Kessel and redirected it home 2:49 into the frame.
Orlando needed an answer and got it thanks to a perfectly placed shot and a bit of luck. Defenseman Ben Danford unleashed a shot that Williams got a piece of and sent it to the backboards. The puck bounced perfectly to Perry who quickly turned and put the disc back toward the front of the net where it hit the still-moving Williams and caromed into the back of the net. Rookie Tony Cameranesi also picked up an assist, his first point with the Solar Bears.
Another penalty to the Solar Bears less than two minutes later put the Gladiators back on the power play and once again Frazee struck. This time he skated in to a puck floating between the hash marks and blasted a shot that Kaskisuo never saw thanks to a partial screen. Kessel picked up his second helper of the night on the tally while Josh Atkinson grabbed the first of his two assists in the game.
A late frame penalty to Murovich gave Orlando a chance to draw back within one before the intermission. With 47 seconds left on the clock, Brett Findlay drove the net and got off a shot that Williams stopped. The rebound got away from the netminder right to Perry who finished off the play with his second score of the period to make it 3-2.
“A lot of what I did came off the hard work of other guys. Finner (Findlay) made a great play on the one goal driving to the net. I just picked up the rebound and scored,” Perry said. “The other one I kind of got lucky [on] with a little bank shot.”
Less than three minutes into the final frame, Orlando went back on the man advantage when Frazee was called for boarding on a hit he delivered on Miller. Late in the ensuing power play, Cason Hohmann made a perfect cross-slot pass to Eric Faille who in turn fed Ethan Werek on the backside of the play. Werek poked the puck into the open side of the net for his first goal since joining the team to knot the score at three.
“I got a gift basically. I just tapped it in,” Werek said. “It was a great play by our whole power play [unit]. I think everyone touched the puck on it (sequence). We had good movement. Faillesy just gave me a tap in.”
Orlando continued to press for the go-ahead score but Williams kept his composure and turned away shot after shot. Then with a little less than five minutes left, a defensive zone turnover gave Atlanta a two-on-one break. Trevor Mingoia drew the defense over and laid a perfect pass to Murovich who popped the puck over the right leg of Kaskisuo for his fifth goal of the year and a lead the Gladiators would not relinquish. Derek Nesbitt added an unassisted empty net goal with 1:03 left to create the final score.
Despite the loss, Solar Bears coach Noreen said he saw several good things in the way his team played. Still, there were things that need to be addressed if the team is to improve
“I thought our puck possession game was probably as strong or probably stronger than I’ve ever seen it in my year and a couple games here. I thought we did a really good job possessing the puck, establishing zone time. I thought we did a good job denying their extended zone time,” Noreen said. “We didn’t take care of the puck. We need to do a better job of holding onto it when we pass it. We need to have better support. [We gave up] way too many odd man breaks against. The power play was great [but] the penalty kill needs to be better.”
Notes: Orlando’s Kaskisuo finished the night with 29 saves as his record dropped to 0-2…The Solar Bears 52 shots were a season high and just four off the ECHL franchise record of 56 set in March of 2015…Murovich’s goal was his 91st career professional score and his 201st career point as a pro…The teams will complete their two-game set Saturday night at the Amway Center starting at 7 p.m.
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