NORTH CHARLESTON, SC – Based on the way Wednesday afternoon went for the Orlando Solar Bears, one had to expect that their game against the South Carolina Stingrays was going to be crazy.
It sure was wacky and luckily for the visitors at the North Charleston Coliseum, the final stroke of luck fell their way.
Captain Chris LeBlanc scored two goals including the game-winner and added an assist at Orlando (25-18-3-1) came from behind to clip South Carolina (19-15-7-3) by a final of 7-6 in front of a COVID-restricted crowd of 1,050. Aaron Luchuk recorded the Solar Bears first four-point game of the season, scoring once and adding three helpers including netting the tying tally and assisting on LeBlanc’s winner.
On a night where goaltending on both sides was less than perfect, the teams combined for twelve goals in the final two periods after the Stingrays came out of the first frame with a 1-0 lead. Dan DeSalvo led South Carolina with four points (all assists) while four others had multi-point nights.
Luchuk made arguably the biggest play of the night when less than a minute after pulling the Solar Bears even, he pilfered the puck at center ice and set up LeBlanc who beat replacement netminder Matt Jurusik from right in front of the cage to give Orlando the lead with 3:14 left in regulation.
The afternoon began with a quandry for Orlando Head Coach and General Manager Drake Berehowsky. Rookie netminder Michael Lackey was not able to answer the bell as backup to starter Clint Windsor. With third goalie Kris Oldham still on injured reserve, the Solar Bears needed a number two and ended up grabbing one-time nemesis Parker Milner – long a mainstay between the pipes for the Stingrays – as an emergency backup.
The final score sure was not in the minds of everyone based on the first period. There was only one penalty called (on Orlando) and there was but one goal scored.
The score came at the 9:13 mark when South Carolina’s Cole Ully carried the puck into the Orlando end of the ice and eventually fed Max Gottlieb at the bottom of the left faceoff circle. Gottlieb wasted no time in blasting the puck past Windsor for his fourh goal of the season.
The Solar Bears first surge came in the second period. It started at the 6:02 mark when LeBlanc redirected a shot by Luchuk past Stingrays goalie Alex Dubeau for his first of the night and ninth of the season. Two minutes later during a power play, Anthony Repaci, who has been getting more special teams playing time based on his overall play, tipped a shot by Nolan Valleau home for his third tally of the year to put Orlando in front 2-1.
A little over three minutes after Repaci found the back of the cage, an odd-man rush during a penalty kill resulted Kyle Topping getting the puck from Valleau and snapping a shot past Dubeau for his seventh of the season. It put the Solar Bears up 3-1 and indicated that momentum was on the side of the visitors.
Still carrying time on the power play, the Stingrays dug in and pulled within 3-2 when captain Andrew Cherniwchan took a feed from Darien Craighead and scored. For Cherniwchan, it was his ninth of the year.
Thirty-two ticks later, Orlando was back on the score sheet. This time it was Krystof Hrabik nailed a one-timer off a pass from Joe Garreffa from the right circle past Dubeau for his fourth of the season and second since coming to the Solar Bears.
Before the period ended, South Carolina got another chance on the power play. Thanks to Mark Cooper and DeSalvo, Justin Florek was in position to score his 10th goal of the season at the 17:20 mark to make it a 4-3 Solar Bears lead heading to the second intermission.
The offensive fireworks resumed 4:03 into the final frame. Caleb Herbert knocked Valleau into Windsor during a net front battle. It left a loose puck in the crease and Herbert pushed it over the line. Despite some mild protestations from the Solar Bears, Herbert’s sixth goal of the year stood, making it a tie game at 4-4.
Not too long after, Windsor made one of his biggest and best saves of the night, robbing Cherniwchan on a shorthanded breakaway. At the time, no one really knew how important that save was.
They found out soon enough as in the dying second of the man advantage, Solar Bears forward J.J. Piccinich netted his eighth tally of the second from Tristin Langan and Mark Auk. Orlando’s second power play goal of the evening once again put the visitors in front, this time at 5-4.
On the ensuing faceoff, South Carolina stormed into the Solar Bears defensive zone where Ully took a feed from DeSalvo and snaked a shot through a sea of bodied and in for his 15th goal to knot the score at 5-5. Just shy of three minutes later, a pretty passing combination of Craighead to Cherniwchan to Cam Askew in front became Askew’s seventh goal, putting the Stingrays back in front at 6-5.
Then came what may have been the most important play of the night. LeBlanc got loose for a break-in on Dubeau. The South Carolina netminder made a spectacular glove save but injured himself in the process. Out went Dubeau and in came Jurusik with five minutes remaining in regulation.
Twelve seconds after Jurusik went between the pipes, he faced his first shot on net. LeBlanc made a pass to Luchuk who ripped a shot from the high slot. Before the rookie goalie knew what had happened, the puck was behind him and Luchuk had his team-leading 16th goal and Orlando had a tie game at 6-6.
On their next shift 1:36 later, Luchuk and LeBlanc worked their magic one last time. Luchuk deftly stole the puck at center ice and carried it to the Stingrays end. LeBlanc went to the front of the net where Luchuk found him and the captain made no mistake, beating Jurusikfor his second of the game and 10th of the season.
South Carolina mustered four shots down the stretch but Windsor (25 saves in the game) was able to hold the fort and get the win. The victory, combined with a Greenville loss to Florida, put the Solar Bears back into the third place in the Eastern conference.
Dubeau finished the game with 27 saves before leaving the contest. Jurusik stopped four of the six shots he faced and took the loss.
Orlando continues its season-long, nine-game road trip with stop four – a Thursday matchup with the Jacksonville Icemen – at 7 p.m. at the Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville.
Game Notes: Orlando finished the game 2-for-3 on the power play while South Carolina went 2-for-4… LeBlanc’s two-goal game was the third of his career. His last multi-goal effort came on December 20, 2019 at South Carolina… The game-winner was LeBlanc’s 8th of his career with the Solar Bears, tying him with Scott Tanski and Patrick Watling for second on the franchise all-time list.
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