NORTH CHARLESTON, SC – On many occasions throughout time, athletes who had outstanding rookie season struggled in their sophomore season. For whatever reason, things just did not come as easily in their second season – possibly because opponents now had a “book” and planned better or maybe it was simply a case of not being to match the performance.
For Orlando Solar Bears forward Chris LeBlanc, his second season was slow to get rolling but on Saturday night, he came through with a career night.
LeBlanc scored a key goal and added three assists for four points to lead the Solar Bears (20-16-3-0) to a wild 7-4 victory over the South Carolina Stingrays (21-17-2-0) in front of an announced crowd of 9,676 at the North Charleston Coliseum. Jonne Tammela added a tally and two assists while Alex Schoenborn and Colby McAuley each produced a goal and a helper. The big offensive burst allowed Orlando goalie Clint Windsor to earn his first ECHL win by making 36 saves.
Wanting to make up for a lackluster performance in Friday night’s meeting between the two ECHL South division rivals, the Solar Bears prepped Saturday morning by watching video and getting a game plan adjustment from head coach and general manager Drake Berehowsky and assist coach Marc LeFebvre. Whatever the bench bosses said to and showed the team, it struck a nerve and the visitors came out with a new attitude and resolve.
The Solar Bears went crazy in the first 3:39 of the opening period, scoring three times in that span to jet out to a lead. The first indicator that things would be different came 1:31 in when defenseman Kevin Lohan lobbed a pass into the neutral zone that rookie Dylan Fitze tracked down. Fitz immediately sped into the Stingrays defensive zone and from the faceoff circle to the left of South Carolina goalie Angus Redmond ripped a shot into the far side of the cage for his sixth goal of the season.
Orlando’s next shot also found the back of the net as one minute and 24 seconds later, defenseman Myles McGurty threw the puck to the front of the net from the corner. The pass hit a defenseman and bounded to McAuley who knocked it home for his sixth of the year – five of them coming against the Stingrays.
A penalty against the home team on one-time NHLer Josh Gratton set up the visitors with a power play and the Solar Bears made their rivals pay. Defenseman Mike Monfredo fired a shot that missed the net but the carom came out the other side to Tammela who one-timed it in for his ninth and a 3-0 lead.
South Carolina shook off the shock of the opening blitz, turning a 9-2 shot click deficit into a 12-11 positive margin over the final twelve minutes of the frame but Windsor remained calm. With the help of his teammates, the 25-year old netminder fended everything sent his way to take the three goal margin into the intermission.
The second period started off much like the first as the Solar Bears hit the Stingrays for two more lamp-lighters before South Carolina could get its bearings. At the 1:49 mark, Cody Donaghey sent a cross-ice pass to Michael Brodzinski at the right point. With traffic crossing in front of Redmond, Brodzinski’s floating wrist shot found its way past Redmond for the San Jose prospect’s sixth goal of the season. The score ended Redmond’s night as Stingrays’ head coach Spiros Anastas sent one-time Orlando netminder Gordon Defiel out between the pipes.
Defiel was rudely greeted at the 3:17 mark with a brilliant passing play that ended in a score. It started with Tammela, a Tampa prospect, skating into the neutral zone and whipping a behind-the-back pass to Schoenborn who was joined by blueliner Oleg Sosunov. As the pair headed in on an odd-man rush, Schoenborn saucered a feed to the lanky defenseman and Sosunov snapped a shot home for his first ever ECHL tally and a 5-0 Solar Bears lead.
At that point, the intensity of the contest took a hard turn as the Stingrays began to fight back in anger. It came to a head when forward Andrew Cherniwchan caught McGurty with an open-ice hit that left the Orlando defenseman on the ice bleeding and woozy. McGurty had to be helped by two teammates to get off the ice and never returned to play while Cherniwchan was tagged for a match penalty and game misconduct for an illegal hit to the head.
South Carolina killed off the five-minute major power play from the Solar Bears and used the momentum to spoil Windsor’s perfect night. Playing with a man advantage late in the middle frame, Gratton used a cross-ice feed to set up teammate Christian Horn in the slot. Horn shifted the puck to his backhand and went top shelf for his seventh goal of the season, cutting the Orlando lead to 5-1 after two.
The lingering anger from the Cherniwchan hit boiled over at the start of the final frame. It took just 32 seconds for McAuley to complete his Gordie Howe hat trick when he dropped the gloves with South Carolina’s Patrick Gaul. A minute later, the Solar Bears’ Trevor Olson and the Stingrays Vinny Muto tangled and were sent off for four minutes each. Then Brodzinski and SC’s Cam Askew traded pleasantries and were banished to the penalty box for two minutes.
When Orlando’s Tayler Thompson was penalized for closing his hand on the puck,the home team found itself with a four-on-three man advantaged and cashed in. It came at the 3:05 mark when Kevin McKernan set up Matt Pohlkamp who blasted a one-timer home for his thirteenth goal of the season. Just 1:39 later, Chris Leone put the puck on the stick of Grant Besse and Besse tickled the twine behind Windsor for his fourteenth to trim the margin to 5-3 with a little over fifteen minutes remaining in regulation.
Following a timeout called by Berehowsky, LeBlanc went to work. He proceeded to pick the pocket of a Stingrays opponent at center ice and carried the puck into the South Carolina end. He drove to the mid-slot before firing a shot that beat Defiel between the legs – a goal that his one-time volunteer coach in high school Mike Eurizone would have appreciated – for his fifth of the season to push the lead back to 6-3.
The Stingrays dug in once again and were able to get their fourth goal of the night at 12:22 when Askew took advantage of a misplay by Windsor to set up Tad Kozun for his eleventh (and third in as many nights).The Solar Bears returned the favor with 2:34 to go when McAuley forced a South Carolina turnover that led to Schoenborn, who had been activated off the injured reserve list earlier in the day, netting his third to put the game out of reach.
By the end, the teams had combined for 67 penalty minutes – 31 for Orlando and 37 for South Carolina – but the Solar Bears walked away with the win to even the weekend set at one victory each heading to Sunday’s final meeting before the ECHL’s All-Star break.
Notes: Finals shots ended up 40-34 in favor of Orlando… The Solar Bears finished 1-for-3 on the power play while the Stingrays went 2-for-4… LeBlanc’s four points erased his previous career high of three points in one contest set back on November 18th at Worcester (1 goal, 2 assists)… With his two points, McAuley now has five goals and three assists against South Carolina this season… The Stingrays Defiel made 19 saves in 38:11 of relief time and suffered the loss… With the win, the Solar Bears moved back within one point of the Stingrays for third place in the division, making the 3:05 p.m. game on Sunday in North Charleston a big one as the teams will have but one meeting in late March left against each other.
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