ORLANDO, FL – The last time Orlando Solar Bears forward Kale Kerbashian saw a shift on the ice in a game, it was January 20th. Since that time, the veteran has been out injured. Sunday afternoon at the Amway Center, he returned to the lineup and played a huge role in yet another Solar Bears win.
Orlando’s Kale Kerbashian (11) celebrates his game-winning goal with teammate Joe Perry (Photo courtesy of Gary Bassing / Orlando Solar Bears)
Kerbashian scored twice, including the game-winner 37 seconds into overtime as Orlando (28-25-5-1, 62 points) edged the Reading Royals (31-21-6-0, 68 points) 2-1 in front of an announced crowd of 5,445. Kerbashian’s offensive display made a winner out of goalie Mackenzie Skapski who made 35 savesas the Solar Bears won their fifth straight game.
“I didn’t set any expectations. I just wanted to help the team win,” Kerbashian said about his effort on Sunday. “When I was younger, I set a lot of expectations and stuff like that. I won’t say you get let down but your mind kind of gets sidetracked by trying to achieve those things. If you just have one simple goal, it kind of brings things together so that’s what I tried to do.”
Simplicity was the key to the game winner. Playing at three-on-three, Solar Bears defenseman Sam Jardine moved the puck to Joe Perry who eventually put the disc on Kerbashian’s stick. The Thunder Bay, Ontario native did the rest, skating into the faceoff circle to the left of Reading goalie Branden Komm, stopped on a dime and rifled a shot that went under the arm of the netminder for his fourth of the season.
“Three-on-three kind of suits a ot of people that can skate. I love three-on-three. It’s awesome [and] it’s exciting especially when it suits you,” he said. “We all know the ice gets a little chippy especially in overtime especially living down here in the South [where] it’s a little warmer. You’ve kind of got to keep it a little simple. I just honestly shot – I wasn’t aiming too specifically – and caught him under the arm.”
Even though he had missed 18 games with an undisclosed injury, Kerbashian was in full control of his natural instincts. That was a big key to his first goal of the contest early in the first period. After taking a pass from Kristian Pospisil, Kerbashian busted up the wing into the Royals defensive zone. As he hit the blue line, a Reading defender tried to line Kerbashian up with a hip check. The veteran forward sensed something coming and swerved past the hit, skating into the circle to Komm’s right and unleashed a shot that caught the top corner on the far side.
“It’s such a fast game. I really don’t have a definite answer for you on that one,” he said when asked to describe the play as it unfolded. “You see something [coming] and it’s just instinctive. I did see the hit coming, I will say that much. I did see it coming and luckily I have some leg strength and kind of went to one foot and stayed on my balance and just tried to get it [shot] on net.”
Reading evened the score six minutes later at the 12:05 mark when a momentary lapse allowed Nolan Zajac to get open in the slot for a pass from Brian Morgan. Zajac saw a shooting lane and nailed a drive that beat Skapski to the stick side for his 15th of the season.
The Royals took the cue from the Zajac tally and pushed for a go-ahead score. They had four shots on Skapski during a power play but were not able to find a score.
Solar Bears goalie Mackenzie Skapski (black) makes one of his 35 saves at the expense of Reading’s Matt Willows (Photo courtesy of Gary Bassing / Orlando Solar Bears)
Reading’s momentum came to a screeching halt with 2:09 left in the fame when a collision between Orlando’s Sean Zimmerman and the Royals’ Scott Tanski (a former Solar Bear fan favorite) knocked a pane of plexiglass loose. The break allowed Orlando to regroup and the Solar Bears controlled the restart of the contest but could not dent the scoreboard.
The second and third periods were a great goaltending battle between Skapski and Komm. Only two penalties were called in the second – one to each team – and one in the third, keeping the game at five-on-five for most of the final forty minutes. The middle stanza became a shootout as both teams opened up their offenses. Over the last two stanzas, Skapski made 26 saves while Komm stopped 27 at his end of the ice.
The work of the netminders sent the contest to an extra period for the second consecutive meeting between the two teams. Just like Thursday night, the Solar Bears ended the night early when Kerbashian netted his second game-winner of the season in just four games played.
“He’s a great player and he’s very creative. He’s smart out on the ice and very offensively gifted,” Solar Bears head coach and general manager Drake Berehowsky said about Kerbashian. “He’s been practicing with the team for a couple of weeks now like this. We’ve just been waiting for the doctors to clear the last [hurdle] for him. Anytime he gets on the ice, good things can happen. We’re happy that he’s back and that he’s healthy and with us.”
Berehowsky was very pleased with yet another solid defensive effort by his team as the Solar Bears extended their lead over fourth place Atlanta to five points.
“Our goaltending has been awesome. I think our d[efense] have been doing a real good job of sealing out,” he said. “Our goalies when they’ve had to make big saves, they have but at the same time our defense has been clearing away second opportunities and our goalies have been able to see the first opportunity. It’s a whole team effort, everyone’s working hard and we know that we’ve got to be good in our own end to be successful.”
Notes: Reading outshot Orlando 36-34 in the contest… Both teams went 0-for-2 on the power play… Kerbashian’s two scores pushed his pro career point total to 250 (93 goals, 157 assists) in 295 games played… Both Pospisil (1 goal, 2 assists) and Jardine (1 goal, 3 assists) pushed their point streaks to three games… Defenseman Nolan Valleau played in his first game since returning from a callup to the AHL’s Chicago Wolves… The Solar Bears are now 3-0-0-0 when Kerbashian scores a goal in a game… Orlando defenseman Alex Gudbranson picked up and assist on Kerbashian’s first goal. The Solar Bears are now 8-0-0-0 when Gudbranson picks up a point… Orlando’s four game winning streak at home is its longest of the season… The overtime win at home was Orlando’s third of the season, surpassing the franchise mark of two achieved during both the 2013-14 and 2015-16 seasons… The Solar Bears head for Duluth, Georgia for a midweek matchup with the Atlanta Gladiators on Wednesday night. They will then play a pair of games in Greenville, SC against the Swamp Rabbits next weekend.
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