ORLANDO, FLA – A season, Orlando Solar Bears forwards Tristin Langan and Tyler Bird led the team in scoring against their in-state rival from Jacksonville. Tuesday night at the Amway Center, the pair again played a huge role in downing the Icemen.
Bird netted a goal while Langan potted the game-winner late in overtime as the host Solar Bears (3-1-0-0) edged Jacksonville (2-4-1-0) by a final of 3-2 in front of a COVID-restricted crowd of 2,250. Orlando goalie Clint Windsor also played a key role for the winners, stopping 33 of Jacksonville’s 35 shots on net, including a couple of huge saves in the extra period.
Coming into the season’s first meeting between the two bitter rivals, Jacksonville was riding a high after knocking the third member of the “Florida Triangle” – the Florida Everblades – from the ranks of the unbeaten on Monday. They weathered a storm of emotion from the boys from Central Florida and cashed in on a man advantage when Jared Van Wormer took a feed in the slot and fired the puck past Windsor for his second of the season and first since joining the Icemen in a trade from Allen. Nick Saracino and Mike Szmatula grabbed the assists on the score.
After being stung by the first shot by the visitors (according to the scoresheet at least), Orlando dug in and drew even three minutes after Van Wormer’s tally. J.J. Piccinich, who last wore a Solar Bears jersey during the 2017-18 season, connected for his first of the year when he ripped a short side shot past Jacksonville netminder Eamon McAdam with the helpers going to Ben Thomson and DeVante Stephens.
The second period was a back and forth affair as the teams combined for a total of 21 shots on net (Jacksonville had 11, Orlando 10) and neither team drew any penalty time. The Solar Bears did manage to take the lead at the 12:35 mark of the stanza when Patrick McNally made a perfect tape-to-tape pass to Bird who found the back of the net for his first of the season. The goal – Bird’s fifth in a season and one game against the Icemen – gave the home team a slim 2-1 edge going into the final frame.
Following a fairly even first few minutes of play to start the third, Jacksonville began to assert itself. It started when Ara Nazarian drove to the net and somehow managed to push the puck past Windsor. Referee Andrew Wilk went to the replay tablet to check things out and allowed the goal. For Nazarian, it was his third of the season and second in as many nights.
Nazarian’s tally was the start of seven straight Icemen shots while the Solar Bears mustered very little offense. Orlando went shotless for more than twelve minutes as Windsor kept the game even and eventually got the game to overtime.
In the extra period, Windsor was again the star. He turned away four shots in the first 4:28 of play while his teammates could only muster one on McAdam (31 saves on 34 shots faced). Finally the Solar Bears were able to control the puck in the Jacksonville end where McNally drove around behind the net and sent the puck up high to captain Chris LeBlanc. Using a high cycle, LeBlanc dropped a pass back toward the blueline where Langan nearly lost it but was able to hold it in. As the defense collapsed to follow LeBlanc and McNally on the weak side, Langan found himself with room and drifted in close before firing between McAdam’s legs for the winner with 1:11 remaining.
The Solar Bears will jump right back into action Wednesday night when they host the 5-1-0-0 Florida Everblades at 7 p.m. at the Amway Center. Jacksonville is off until Saturday when the South Carolina Stingrays return to the Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena for a 7 p.m. puck drop.
Notes: Final shots were 35-34 in favor of Jacksonville. Over the final 25:49 of play, the Icemen outshot the Solar Bears 15-9… Jacksonville finished the game 1-for-2 on the power play while Orlando was 0-for-2 with the man advantage… With the win, the Solar Bears stayed unbeaten by the Icemen at the Amway Center. Orlando has now won all 18 meetings between the two teams in the City Beautiful since Jacksonville rejoined the ECHL for the 2017-18 season… The Solar Bears overall regular season home record since entering the ECHL is now 151-101-16-16… Orlando won its first home opener since they downed Greenville in 2015-16.
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
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