DULUTH, GA – After locking up third place in the ECHL’s South division last Saturday, Orlando Solar Bears head coach and general manager Drake Berehowsky said that one thing he wanted his team to work on was consistency. With two games remaining before a Kelly Cup playoffs first round date with the South Carolina Stingrays, Berehowsky indicated that a major key to a long, successful post-season run was being able to keep a sharp focus on doing things right every game.
Friday night at the Infinite Energy Arena in Duluth, Berehowsky saw his team lose its focus for less than a minute of playing time – and with it a potential victory.
Stephen Pierog and Josh Atkinson scored goals 58 seconds apart late in the third period to lift the host Atlanta Gladiators (32-34-2-3, 69 points) to a come-from-behind 4-3 victory over Orlando (33-29-6-3, 75 points) in front of an announced crowd of 3,771. The loss overshadowed the return to the lineup of Solar Bears veteran forward Chris Crane who scored twice and assisted on a third in his first game action since late February.
Both Berehowsky and Gladiators head coach Chuck Weber were hoping to see their respective squads exhibit positive habits in preparation for the post-season. Atlanta, which is preparing for a first round meeting with the Florida Everblades, was also playing in its next-to-last regular season game at home and wanted to put on a good show in front of the home fans.
Atlanta did get that good start that Weber wanted as an early power played turned into a score. With Solar Bears forward Kristian Pospisil in the penalty box, it took the Gladiators just five seconds to light the goal light. On the offensivezone faceoff created by the infraction, former Solar Bear Brady Vail won the draw and shoveled the puck to Joe Gatenby at the point. Gatenby had a shooting lane and fired away, putting a low, hard drive in a spot where teammate Taylor Stefishen redirected it past Orlando goalie Mackenzie Skapski for his eighth of the season.
The goal was the start of a back-and-forth first frame where the teams took turns putting pressure on the other’s netminder. Skapski recovered from the Stefishen tally to post ten saves, none better than a diving stop on a wraparound attempt by Pierog.
At the other end, Gladiators netminder Dan Vladar was doing a good job holding the Solar Bears at bay. That was until late in the period when a penalty to Jack Stander became a game-tying goal.
With 1:30 left in the stanza, Orlando’s J.J. Piccinich put a shot on net that Vladar fought off. The rebound went airborn and started to come down in the slot. Crane was the closest to the flying disc and when it got to a level between his knees and his ankle, he swung at it. Crane’s hand-eye coordination was perfect as his stick contacted the puck, sending it past a somewhat surprised Vladar for the veteran’s 11th goal of the season.
The middle period was just as defensive-minded as the first was. The two goalies took center stage, battling through a scoreless stretch that consumed more than three-quarters of the stanza.
The stalemate – and the tie on the scoreboard – were finally broken at the 15:11 mark when Crane notched his second of the night. Much of the heavy lifting was done by Josh Winquist, who started the sequence by picking off a pass in the Atlanta end. He then skated near the net, drawing Vladar down and out before sliding a pass to Crane who tucked it into the open net for his 12th of the season and a 2-1 lead that Orlando took to the final twenty minutes.
The Solar Bears killed off a carryover penalty to Martins Dzierkals from late in the second but soon found themselves back on the kill when Winquist was nabbed for delay of game. Skapski saved the day once when he went post-to-post to deny Derek Nesbitt but was not so lucky when moments later Atkinson set up Zach Todd for a one-time blast that zoomed into the net at the 6:35 mark. For Todd, it was his first professional goal but more importantly, it tied the game at 2-2.
Orlando had a golden opportunity to jump back in front when overlapping penalties to Todd Skirving and Stander gave the visitors a five-on-three advantage for well over a minute. The Solar Bears failed to capitalize on the chance, giving life to the Gladiators.
The Solar Bears did regain the lead for the second time in the contest at the 13:03 juncture of the period when Crane sent a feed back to defenseman Mike Monfredo. Monfredo, who had picked up a misconduct late in the second, made up for it by unleashing a shot that beat Vladar over the shoulder for his seventh tally of the season.
Playing with a lead in each of the previous two games, the Solar Bears were able to keep the pedal down and their focus laser-like. This time, however, Orlando fell victim to a loose defensive posture when Stander carried the puck into the Orlando end. As two defenders paid attention to him, he made a pass to Pierog who swatted it past Skapski for his seventh of the year.
Not content to play for extra hockey, the Gladiators continued to press and took the lead just 58 seconds later. Digging along the boards, Alex Rauter pulled the puck free and sent it back to Eric Shand at the point. Shand’s shot was stopped by Skapski but Atkinson was there to pop the rebound home for his fourth of the season and a 4-3 lead for the home team with 3:23 remaining.
Berehowsky pulled Skapski (30 saves) with just over a minute to go in regulation but the Solar Bears could not find a way to beat Vladar (35 saves). When the final horn sounded, Atlanta had its sixth win over Orlando to take the season series. For the Solar Bears, it was an unsatisfying way to head into the final game of the regular season against South Carolina – the team they will have to face a week from now in the playoffs.
Notes: Orlando finished the game with a 38-34 shot advantage… The Solar Bears went 1-for-4 on the power play while the Gladiators were 2-for-4… Orlando was missing four players who are currently on callups to the AHL. Defenseman Nolan Valleau received  his fourth call of the year, heading to Utica to join the Comets where he faced teammates Jean Dupuy and Hunter Fejes who were with the Toronto Marlies. Then hours before taking the ice in Duluth, defenseman Alex Gudbranson got the call to head north to join Dupuy and Fejes with Toronto… With a depleated roster, Berehowsky signed defenseman Tommy Davis and forward Curtis Miske to contracts. Davis joined the Solar Bears after finishing his college career at Prividence while Miske was coming off playing for Prince Albert in the WHL junior league in Canada… Games one and two of the first round playoff series between Orlando and South Carolina will be played in North Charleston on Thursday, April 12th and Saturday, April 14th. The series will then shift to the City Beautiful for games three (Thursday, April 19th), four (Saturday, April 21st) and if necessary game five (Sunday, April 22nd) at the Amway Center. Should a game six or seven be needed, they will be played in North Charleston on April 24th and 25th.
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