GREENVILLE, SC – When the Toronto Marlies sent goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo to the Orlando Solar Bears, the rookie brought with him expectations of great potential from his days at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Friday night, he finally lived up to the hype in what many hope will be the first of numerous signature performances.
After struggling a bit out of the gate, Kaskisuo provided his best performance by making 28 saves in backstopping Orlando (3-3-1-0, 7 points) to a 3-2 overtime win over the Greenville Swamp Rabbits (3-2-1-0, 7 points) in front of an announced crowd of 5,060 at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena. Denver Manderson gave the rookie netminder his first victory as a member of the Solar Bears when he took a pass from Brett Findlay and zipped a hard wrist shot past Greenville goalie Jeff Malcolm 1:19 into the extra period.
The 23-year old native of Vantaa, Finland brought an 0-2 record and a disappointing 4.20 goals against average in three appearances into Friday’s contest – a game in which Orlando head coach Anthony Noreen said he expected his netminder to have a “bounce back” game. Not only did he bounce back, he regained some of the swagger that Orlando fans and the Toronto organization expected him to carry into his first full year as a professional.
Kaskisuo was under the gun from the start as the Swamp Rabbits were looking for a sweep of the quick, two-game set with the Solar Bears in the franchise’s “official” opening night game. Greenville had the contest’s first five shots and the early territorial control but Orlando’s goalie looked calm and cool, especially when he denied Angelo Miceli on a break-in midway through the opening frame.
The Solar Bears finally woke up after that and began to take control. When Spiro Goulakos and Brandon Alderson took overlapping penalties, Orlando found itself on a five-on-three man advantage. Although they did not take advantage of being two men up, the Solar Bears did score shortly after the first penalty finished when Patrick Watling dished a perfect saucer pass to Eric Faille who lasered a drive past Malcolm’s blocker glove at the 16:25 mark.
The teams went back and forth through the final minutes of the first period and into the second with Kaskisuo and Malcolm stealing the show from the offenses. Orlando’s lead lasted until the 10:29 mark of the middle frame when a shot by Joe Houk caught the glass behind the Solar Bears net and bounced back in front. Using great hand-eye coordination, Greenville’s Ahti Oksanen was able to bat the bouncing disc past Kaskisuo for his first of the season to even things up.
The Swamp Rabbits took their only lead of the night ninety-one seconds later when Tommy Thompson sent a pass back to the point where Justin DaSilva let go with a slap shot. The puck found its way through traffic and into the back of the net for DaSilva’s first of the year.
Not too long after that score, Kaskisuo robbed Adam Chapie to keep it a one-goal game. Not to be outdone, Malcolm stood tall with four or five saves during another Solar Bears two-man advantage late in the frame. At the end of the second penalty, Greenville’s Garrett Noonan came out of the penalty box and got himself a clean breakaway but once again Kaskisuo said not on my watch, making a save that kept the Swamp Rabbits lead at 2-1 heading into the final period.
Early in the third, Malcolm faced a break-in of his own when Orlando’s Adam Brace got loose for a scoring opportunity. The veteran netminder made the stop, one of six he came up with in the opening seven minutes of the stanza.
A brouhaha involving two players from each team at the 7:39 mark led to yet another Orlando power play and the Solar Bears made their opponents pay. Findlay sent the puck back to the point where Eric Baier fired a shot that clanged off the post. The rebound kicked out and T.J. Foster sent it past Malcolm for his second of the season and a tie score at two.
With the game on the line during the final ten minutes of regulation, Kaskisuo and Malcolm again took over the spotlight, each making huge saves down the stretch. Neither side was able to find the winning score in regulation, setting up the overtime where Baier sent Findlay into the Greenville end before dropping a pass to the left circle when Manderson was waiting to receive it and zip a shot into the back of the net for the winner.
Notes: Malcolm, who deserved a better fate than the overtime loss, made 36 saves on 39 shots faced in the game… Orlando’s penalty killing continued to excel on the road, foiling Greenville on seven chances to bring its three game to a perfect 19-for-19 in kill opportunities… Orlando will finish its week-long trip Saturday night in Duluth, Georgia against the Atlanta Gladiators. Last weekend, the Gladiators took two from the Solar Bears at the Amway Center. Puck drop Saturday night is set for 7:05 p.m.
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
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