NORTH CHARLESTON, SC – Just a few hours before the Orlando Solar Bears met the South Carolina Stingrays in game one of their best-of-seven South division semifinal series, Stingrays netminder Parker Milner was named the ECHL’s Goalie of the Year – an award he certainly deserved. Thursday night, he and his teammates went out and tried to take the early series lead on home ice.
Instead of coming away with a win, Milner ended up shaking his head as Orlando goalie Cal Heeter put on an award-winning effort of his own.
Heeter stopped all 36 shots he faced in his first ever post-season start and Hunter Fejes scored a short-handed goal that proved to be the game winner as the visiting Solar Bears blanked the Stingrays 2-0 in front of an announced and stunned crowd of 2,238 at the North Charleston Coliseum. Orlando can take a 2-0 series when the teams meet in game two Saturday night in North Charleston.
Fejes’ tally was a highlight-reel beauty but the story of the night was Heeter. The 29-year old netminder stood on his head, giving the Solar Bears a chance to win and at the same time reviving the memories of how Orlando goalie Ryan Massa nearly willed the Solar Bears to a defining first round series win over the Florida Everblades a year ago before an injury derailed his team’s hopes.
Fejes made Heeter’s efforts worthwhile when he picked the pocket of Stingrays forward Jonathan Charbonneau, rocketed into the South Carolina end and using defenseman Tommy Hughes as a screen, sent a wicked wrist shot past Milner’s glove hand. It gave the Solar Bears all the offense they would need before for good measure, J.J Piccinich scored an empty net goal in the final minute to seal the deal.
From the outset, it appeared that Heeter was locked and loaded for an epic battle against Milner, who nearly backstopped the Stingrays to a Kelly Cup championship a year ago. The Solar Bears goalie was under the gun from the get go, having to turn away five shots in the first eight minutes on the way to a 12-save opening period.
At the other end, Milner was not near as busy – in fact he went from the 8:45 mark of the first frame to the 18:31 point without facing a recorded shot on net. Even with a power play, Orlando was only able to muster five shots on Milner before the first intermission came along.
The middle stanza, which has been a strong suit for the Solar Bears all season, nearly became their downfall. The visitors took five penalties, two by Jean Dupuy, during the period that allowed the Stingrays five different power play opportunities. The South Carolina man advantage units, which had scored eleven times on Orlando’s penalty killers during the regular season, all of a sudden could not find the range as Heeter and his teammates were aggressive and became the masters of special teams play in the contest.
An early short-handed attempt by Orlando’s Joe Perry that Milner had to fend off, ended up being a sign of things to come when South Carolina went on its second advantage of the second frame. Seventy seconds into the power play, Fejes – who last weekend played twice for the AHL’sToronto Marlies – flashed his skills by turning a benign move through center by the Stingrays into instant offense.
Fejes’ score, which came at the 7:47 mark, seemed to jolt the Solar Bears offense into action as Orlando picked up the tempo. The prolem was any and all of the momentum created was muted by three penalties in the back half of the stanza. Once again Heeter had to be at his best, making ten of his 17 saves in the period during those all important ten minutes of play.
Orlando had an opportunity to increase its lead early in the third when South Carolina’s Evan Fiala was tagged with a penalty 4:37 in. Not only did the league’s top penalty killers deny the Solar Bears, they kept Heeter busy and then set up Fiala when he came out of the penalty box for a break-in that Heeter had to handle.
Both teams tightened up defensively, making scoring chances few and far between. From the midpoint of the final forty minutes when South Carolina held a 5-4 shot advantage, the teams combined for only five shots.
With a shutout for Heeter in their sights, the Solar Bears defender turned things up several notches by blocking several shots to help their goalie out. Stingrays head coach Ryan Warsofsky pulled Milner (19 saves) with a little over a minute left for an extra attacker in a desperate attempt to get a tying score. Orlando had other ideas when with 53 seconds remaining, defenseman Sam Jardine sent Piccinich away on a rush and the rookie delivered his first professional post-season goal to put the first win of the series in the Solar Bears column.
The win was Heeter’s fifth of the season against South Carolina dating back to the regular season where he posted a 4-2-1 record against the Stingrays. His stingy 1.84 goals against average and eye-popping .944 save percentage in those seven contests added to his shutout on Thursday proved that he is just as good as Milner, a point that should give Orlando confidence as the series goes along.
South Carolina, which played well despite the loss, now finds itself in need of a win on Saturday or the Stingrays will face an 0-2 deficit heading to Orlando for up to three games next week. Saturday’s game two at the North Charleston Coliseum is set for a 7:05 p.m. puck drop.
Notes: Finals shots in the game favored South Carolina 36-20… The Solar Bears frustration against the Stingrays on the man advantage continued as they went 0-for-4 while South Carolina failed in six attempts… Heeter’s 36 saves were the most for an Orlando goalie in a playoff game, eclipsing MaxClermont’s 25-save effort against Cincinnati on April 25, 2014… Fejes’ short-handed goal was just the third in a post-season game for the Solar Bears since they joined the ECHL. It was also the first time Orlando had connected for a shorty in a road playoff game… The Solar Bears are now 2-2 in first round game one’s… Forward Martins Dzierkals sat out the game. Robbie Baillargeon, who was acquired by Orlando from South Carolina at the trade deadline, took Dzierkals’ place in the lineup after being activated off the reserve list… Rookie Curtis Miske also sat out for the Solar Bears.
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