DULUTH, GA – Scoring first in a game is usually a harbinger of good things for the team that does it. In the case of the Orlando Solar Bears, it is about as close to a guarantee for victory as can be had.
Garret Sparks made 23 saves to win his fourth straight game Saturday night (File photo courtesy of F. Medina & G. Bassing/Orlando Solar Bears)
Saturday night at the Arena at Gwinnett Center, the Solar Bears scored the first, third and fourth goals of the game in the opening period and let the defense do the rest as they defeated the Gwinnett Gladiators 4-1. Forward Brock Montgomery led the Orlando offense with two goals while goalie Garret Sparks stopped 23 of 24 shots to post his fourth consecutive victory.
The Solar Bears (23-16-3-0, 49 points) entered the game looking to gain ground on the Greenville Road Warriors who are currently holding the final playoff spot in the East division. They were also looking to finish their four-game, week long road trip on a high note before heading into a five-game homestand over the next two weeks.
Sparks, who had gotten Friday night’s game off, had to be surprised when the Gladiators had a two-on-one rush at him just thirty seconds into the contest. The Orlando netminder probably breathed a sigh of relief when Brenden Walker’s shot on the rush beat him but clanged off the post and headed into the corner.
The four goals between the two teams in the first period came in two quick spurts. Orlando opened the scoring just eight seconds after failing to connect on a power play. The goal came when Carson McMillan gathered the puck behind the net and snuck a pass to Brady Vail who from a sharp angle put the puck into the net before Gwinnett goalie Kent Patterson knew where it was for his sixth goal of the season. It was the 23rd time the Solar Bears had scored first in a game. In the previous 22, Orlando had a 19-1-2 record so things were looking good.
The lead lasted all of 46 seconds when a weird bounce off the kickplate led to Casey Pierro-Zabotel setting up Walker who evened the score with his twelfth of the year at the 8:30 mark.
The Solar Bears regained control of the proceedings for good late in the frame. At the 17:12 mark, John McInnis took a shot from up high that Patterson stopped. The rebound came away from the goalie and Jake Cepis was right there to poke it home for his tenth score of the season. Less than two minutes later on a power play, Denver Manderson won an offensive zone faceoff back to Cepis. Cepis fired into traffic (breaking his stick in two in the process) where Montgomery redirected into the back of the net for his seventh tally of the year and a 3-1 Orlando lead.
Patterson (32 saves) was the busier of the two netminders early in the second, taking sure goals away from Blake Kessel and McInnis wrapped around hearing the friendly sound of iron when Bryce Aneloski hit the post. He wasn’t so lucky at the 8:18 mark when Kessel sent Montgomery in on a clean breakaway where the big forward got Patterson to bite on a fake and then toe dragged the puck to his backhand and easily slid it into the net.
Down the other end, Sparks was having a relatively easy night as his defense was doing its job well. For the second straight night, they kept the goalie from having to face too many point blank opportunities while forcing most of the shot that got through to the outside.
The defense made it seven straight periods allowing fewer than ten shots in the third, allowing only seven Gwinnett shots to get to Sparks in the third. His best save of the frame came late when he flashed out a leg pad to keep a Bo Dolan shot from getting past him. With the win, Sparks dropped his goals against average to 2.34 while increasing his league-best save percentage to .936. During his current streak, Sparks has two shutouts and allowed only two goals.
After going 3-1 on the trip, Orlando now gets a few days off before facing the Kalamazoo Wings Thursday at the Amway Center.
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