ORLANDO, FLA – By definition, a hockey puck is three inches in diameter, one inch thick and made of five to six ounces of vulcanized rubber. It also has edges that can cause it to take funny bounces and hops when one least expects it.
On some nights, those bounces will go the way of one team and provide it with a victory. On others, the bounces can be cruel and horrifying and be the difference in a loss. Either way, that little black disc can bring much joy and heavy sorrow depending on which way it decides to go.
Florida forward Justin Auger (17, white) puts a shot on Orlando goalie Connor Ingram (right) while Chris LeBlanc tries to stop him (Photo courtesy of Gary Bassing / Orlando Solar Bears)
Saturday night at the Amway Center, the Orlando Solar Bears tasted bitter defeat as a bounce led to a turnover that became a goal by John McCarron 14:48 into the second time to give the Florida Everblades a 2-1 double overtime victory in front of an announced crowd of 7,039. The win allowed the Everblades to take the best-of-seven South Division finals by a four game to one count and move to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second consecutive season.
The 94:48 of playing time set a new Solar Bears franchise record for longest playoff game, breaking the previous mark of 90:23 set in Game 3 of the divisional semifinals against South Carolina back on April 17th. It was also the fourth time in the series that the teams had needed extra time to decide a winner.
“It was tough. It was a good game again,” Orlando Head Coach and General Manager Drake Berehowsky said following the epic affair. “When you have that many overtime games, it’s unfortunate that the bounces went their way every night and we couldn’t seem to generate anything to win the games.”
McCarron, who has been a thorn in the sides of Solar Bears teams for years, was the beneficiary of a bounce that led the puck to stray from Orlando netminder Connor Ingram behind his own net. Michael Neville’s stick got in the way of the attempted pass, sending it in front to McCarron who buried it in net before Ingram could recover for his 5th of the post-season.
The critical turnover spoiled yet another virtuoso performance by Ingram, who made 49 saves on 51 shots – his second game of well over 40 stops in this playoff year. Over the course of the two divisional series, Ingram played all 681 minutes over ten games while collecting five wins and making 316 saves to establish new franchise benchmarks in each category.
Ingram’s 156 saves in the divisional finals were matched and exceeded by Florida goalie Callum Booth. Booth turned in a performance just as worthy, making 178 saves against the Solar Bears and won his sixth game in seven starts between the pipes for the Everblades. In the series clinching win, Booth turned away 48 of 49 Orlando chances.
Needing to play with desperation following being shutout in Game 4 on Thursday, the Solar Bears once again found themselves having a hard time generating offense. Florida, which has always had a knack for sending Orlando into the off-season, limited the home teams’ offensive zone time in the early going, holding the Solar Bears to a mere one shot in the initial 6:53 of the opening period.
That one shot, however, was deadly accurate.
Hunter Fejes (23) and Otto Somppi celebrate Fejes’ short handed goal in the first period Friday night (Photo courtesy of Gary Bassing / Orlando Solar Bears)
With Jonne Tammela in the penalty box, Orlando defenseman Alexander Kuqali poked the puck away from the Everblades. It went to Hunter Fejes who broke out with Otto Somppi on a two-on-one rush. Using Somppi as a decoy for a pass, Fejes floated into the faceoff circle to the right of Booth and rocketed a shot past the netminder for a short-handed goal and his 7th of the post season.
Fejes’ tally brought on a foundation-rocking roar from the partisan crowd at the Amway Center. It was so deafening that the players on the bench could feel the energy level coming from the stands rise, giving them a shot of confidence.
“My hat goes off to our fans. They gave us a lot of momentum. I mean when I scored that short-handed goal, I think everyone felt it on the bench,” Fejes said. “I mean the place was electric with the [rally] towels and just the energy. I think that gave us a lot of life on our side of things. Our fans stuck with us all year and I think we have the best fans in the league.”
Ingram kept up his end of things, making several stops including denying Justin Auger on a strong cut to the net. He was able to hold the lead until the 14:02 mark when Florida got on the board. It came when Riley Weselowski moved the puck to John McCarron who in turn sent it to Michael Downing. Using some traffic in front of the net as a screen, Downing placed a perfect shot just high enough to clear Ingram’s right pad and inside the post to net his 3rd tally of the post-season to tie the score at 1-1.
That would end up being the last score for quite a while as Ingram and Booth went into lockdown mode. The two goalies put on a show, matching save for save through the end of the first frame, which ended up with the Everblades holding a 17-5 margin in shots on net and carried into the middle stanza.
Early in the second, Booth was tested by a series of three rapid fire chances by the Solar Bears and then followed it with a close in stop on Tayler Thompson. Ingram then fell under siege during an Everblades power play, making three saves of his own.
During the back half of the period, Orlando had three consecutive opportunities with the man advantage to go back in front. Although each power play produced a pair of shots on net, none found the back of the net on either side.
The battle within the war between Booth and Ingram continued into the final twenty minutes of regulation. Booth took another sure goal away from Thompson within the first minute of the third, setting the tone that Ingram matched when he said no to Logan Roe who had a chance to put Florida in front.
As the clock wound down, the suspense mounted when it became clear that the next goal might just be the game winner. To their credit, both teams sold out on every play to make sure that their netminder had as much support as possible.
Orlando’s Mitch Hults (right) wins a faceoff against Florida’s Kyle Platzer during Friday night’s game (Photo courtesy of Gary Bassing / Orlando Solar Bears)
Then with 1:15 left in regulation, Florida’s Blake Winiecki was called for delay of game. It was the opportunity that the Solar Bears needed to put the game away but the Everblades did a masterful job of holding Orlando at bay, sending the game into overtime.
The Everblades finished off killing the penalty to Winiecki and the hunt for the winning tally resumed with Ingram and Booth in control of their team’s destiny. The first extra period went back and forth with play at times being very deliberate and at others fast and furious. Booth made a sparkling left toe save on Orlando’s Mitch Hults to maintain the tie score and later added a denial of Troy Bourke to his in-game resume.
Ingram was just as solid throughout the stanza, turning away nine more chances by the Everblades to end the game. By the time the final buzzer sounded and despite a combined total of 19 shots on net, nothing had been decided making a second overtime necessary.
The Solar Bears goalie was the star early in period five, robbing Winiecki before committing grand theft with his glove hand on Everblades defenseman Ben Masella who was all alone in front with the game on his stick blade. At the 4:07 mark, Florida’s Nathan Perkovich was sent to the box for hooking, once again putting the contest in the hands of Orlando’s power play units. As they had all night, the Everblades successfully killed off the man down situation, sending the Solar Bears to 0-for-6 on the night.
Ultimately, according to Fejes, it was special teams where the series was won and lost.
“I think the series came down to special teams. We for sure weren’t good enough,” Fejes lamented. “We generated some shots but we couldn’t bear down and capitalize on any of them. That one for sure stings for me being a guy relied upon to score and capitalize on power play opportunities. And especially for our penalty kill – we weren’t good enough.They had more power play goals than we did. You could say that was the deciding factor in the series.”
Orlando’s Michael Brodzinski (20) and Zach Frye (4) surround Florida’s Michael Neville during Friday’s game (Photo courtesy of Gary Bassing / Orlando Solar Bears)
As the clock continued to tick along, the fans – most of whom had stayed to see the outcome and how long it would take to decide a winner – hung on every shot attempt. Then with just over five minutes to go before a third overtime would come into play, a dump in by the Everblades set off the final sequence that led to McCarron’s winner and the end of the Solar Bears season.
Despite the loss, Berehowsky said that he was very proud of the effort that his team put forth in the contest and throughout the post-season.
“I thought they showed a lot of character tonight. I thought the whole playoffs, they showed a lot of character,” Berehowsky said. “I think we had the one bad game [Game 4 against Florida] there and that was about it but they bounced back tonight. To have every game go to overtime except for one, it’s a game of inches and it just proves it right there. It’s details, it’s one slip up can cost you and that’s what happened to us.”
Asked to reflect on what would be the lasting memory from the season, Fejes, who spent much of the season with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose, said it would be the band of brothers that fought as one from day one to the final whistle.
“Probably just the group of guys that we had in this locker room. Everyone got along, everyone shared the common goal, everyone fought until the very end,” Fejes said. “We had a good run. Obviously as I said the numbers [result of the series] were the same as last year but I don’t think the series was as wide open as it was last year.”
Given the same question, Berehowsky echoed Fejes sentiments about the team and what lies ahead during the off-season.
“I’m kind of sad because I think it was a great group of guys. I think they were a very close knit group and its hard to get everybody back again. I’ll probably have to build a whole new team again,” Berehowsky said. “I hope that they enjoyed their time here. I’m really proud of this group. It was a young team – if you look at the stats we’re probably one of the younger teams in the league. They did a good job night in and night out. They battled every night and they gave 100 percent all of the time.”
Notes: Final shots were 51-49 in favor of Florida… The Everblades went 0-for-4 on the power play in the game… Orlando tied or set numerous franchise marks during the post-season including most wins (five) and most overtime games (five)… Fejes finished as the team leader in goals (7) and points (8) as well as setting anew benchmark for most goals in a single playoff season… Captain Mike Monfredo played in 19 post-season games, tying the record set by former captain Eric Baier for most career playoff games played in a Solar Bears jersey… Defenseman Alexander Kuqali led the team in assists with 5 and a plus-minus rating of plus-7. Both numbers established new franchise records.
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
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