ORLANDO, FLA – Sometimes in team sports, individual players can have a great amount of luck against one particular opponent. No matter what the defense tries, they just can’t seem to keep the star under control. But what happens when you have two such scorers?
If you are the Florida Everblades and you put Michael Huntebrinker and John McCarron on the ice, you enjoy beating up on your rivals.
Saturday night at the Amway Center, Huntebrinker and McCarron continued their mastery of the Orlando Solar Bears with a combined three goals as the Everblades (19-5-0-1) beat the host Solar Bears 4-1 in front of a COVID-restricted sell out crowd of 2,250. Rookie goalie Devin Cooley stopped 36 of 37 Orlando shots as the Everblades moved to a record of 10-2-0-1 against their in-state rival.
Jake Coughler netted his third goal in two games and goalie Clint Windsor made 23 saves for Orlando but it was not near enough to overcome the Everblades offensive stars. In 13 meetings with the Solar Bears, Huntebrinker (10 goals, 5 assists) and McCarron (9 goals, 5 assists) have combined for 19 of their season-long total of 27 lamp lighters.
Playing at home for the first time in three weeks, the Solar Bears did not have luck on their side in the opening period when the Everblades got on the board first. The sequence began in the corner of the Orlando defensive zone where Florida’s Marcus Vela and and the Solar Bears Aaron Luchuk were battling for the puck. Vela won the disc and sent it toward the front of the net. As he and Luchuk moved toward the net, Vela’s stick appeared to catch Luchuk up high, sending the Orlando forward to the ice. The play was allowed to continue and ended up with Hugo Roy converting a rebound for his third goal of the season.
The home team finally did catch a break early in the middle stanza. Just 1:15 in, Tristin Langan tried to get a wrist shot to the Florida net but it was blocked. The carom went to Coughler,who had some room to skate. He got around a defender and when he got to the goal line, Coughler threw the puck toward the cage. It hit off the back of Cooley’s leg and bounced in for Coughler’s ninth goal of the year.
With just over five minutes left in the period, Huntebrinker went to work and scored what would be the game-winning tally. He pressured Orlando defenseman Nolan Valleau at the point, causing a turnover. Huntebrinker sped off and quickly turned it into a breakaway. He went in, got Windsor moving and slid the puck between the goalie’s legs for his team-leading 14th goal of the season to give his team a 2-1 lead.
The game took an ugly turn as the buzzer sounded to end the frame. As the Solar Bears headed to their locker room, Florida’s Mason Mitchell engaged Orlando’s Langan in front of the open door. The video showed Mitchell throwing a crosscheck, Langan grabbing Mitchell’s stick and then the pair plus two other Solar Bears tumbling under the walkway covering. By the time order was restored, Mitchell and Langan had twelve minutes in penalties – a minor for roughing and a continuing altercation misconduct – assessed to them while Orlando’s Matthew Spencer and Florida’s Matt Petgrave received double minors for roughing.
Orlando came out hard to start the third period and nearly tied the game but Cooley came up with a big save on Luchuk who got a clean shot from the slot. It wasn’t until McCarron buzzed down the right wing and picked the top corner over Windsor’s right shoulder for his 12th of the season that the home fans got nervous. McCarron put the finishing touch on the night when he hit an empty net from just inside his defensive zone with 2:47 to go to create the final count.
Orlando gets to rest a bit before returning to the ice on Friday when it hosts the Jacksonville Icemen at the Amway Center at 7 p.m. Florida has a shorter wait until it hits the ice next on Wednesday when the South Carolina Stingrays invade the Hertz Arena in Estero.
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
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