DULUTH, GA – So far during the return of head coach Drake Berehowsky, the Orlando Solar Bears have not lost two games in a row. If they were to keep that streak alive, they would have to slay the pesky Atlanta Gladiators on their home ice. Thanks to a confidence-building effort from their goalie, the mission was a success.
Netminder Kasimir Kaskisuo made 35 saves for his second consecutive victory and four different players scored as the Solar Bears (13-7-2-0, 28 points) beat the Gladiators (10-11-2-1, 23 points) 4-2 in front of an announced crowd of 7,746 at the Infinite Energy Arena. The victory evened Orlando’s record on its ten-game road trip at two wins and two losses.
In a battle of NHL goaltending prospects between Kaskisuo (Toronto) and Dan Vladar (Boston), it was the visiting Solar Bears who drew first blood. One minute and fifty seconds into the first period, rookie Tony Cameranesi made a heads-up play, stealing the puck at the Atlanta blueline and skating toward the slot. Getting as far as he could, Cameranesi let loose with a wrist shot that zipped passed Vladar’s catching glove for his eighth goal of the season.
The Solar Bears’ lead grew to two at the 13:38 mark of the frame on a power play. Denver Manderson made the key play, sending a pass to Austin Block who nailed a one-time drive that finished in the back of the net. For Block, it was his sixth tally of the year. It came near the end of a long advantage that occurred when the Gladiators had overlapping penalties to Ben Marsall and one-time Solar Bear Shane Bakker.
Kaskisuo, who has at times looked like a rookie trying to find his way, was every bit the confident netminder in the first period. He showed a quick glove hand when Eric Neiley broke in all alone early in the stanza, just one of the 14 saves he made in the period.
Smelling blood on the ice, Orlando took a commanding three goal lead early in the second thanks again to its special teams. Playing with a man advantage, Eric Faille put a shot on net that Vladar stopped. the rebound ended up with Patrick Watling who deposited it in the net for his sixth of the season.
Marshall made up for his opening period penalty by getting the Gladiators on the board. Bryan Cameron sent a feed to Marshall who drove into the circle to Kaskisuo’s left and blasted a shot home for his third of the season at the 12:43 mark to trim the visitors’ lead to 3-1.
Vladar was the busier of the two netminders in the middle frame, facing 17 Orlando shots – many of them quality chances – including a golden opportunity for Manderson. Vladar committed grand theft, making a huge save to keep his team within range while leaving Manderson talking to himself.
Atlanta came out on a mission in the third, putting the first four shots of the frame on Kaskisuo who turned all of them away. The Gladiators power play pulled the home team within one at the 11:56 mark of the period when Marshall set up Derek Nesbitt who sniped his 14th score of the year past the Orlando goalie.
The Solar Bears defense rallied around its young goalie, giving Kaskisuo clean lanes to see and cleaning up rebounds to limit the number of second and third chances the Gladiators saw. Kaskisuo did the rest, making all of the saves he needed to make down the stretch.
With less than a minute left in regulation and Vladar (28 saves) on the bench for an extra attacker, Orlando defenseman Ben Danford sealed the victory by lofting the puck down the ice from his side of the center line and into the vacated net for his second goal of the season.
The Solar Bears finished the game 2-for-5 with the man advantage while the Gladiators went 1-for-8 on the power play.
The two teams will meet again on Sunday afternoon in Duluth. Game time is set for 2:05 p.m.
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