ORLANDO, FLA – During the regular season, Florida Everblades forward Brendan O’Donnell was a scoring machine, netting 41 goals to tie for most tallies in the entire ECHL. Through two games of Florida’s best-of-seven South division semifinal series with the Orlando Solar Bears, O’Donnell had been held to just one assist by the Solar Bears defense.
Denver Manderson scored two of Orlando’s four goals Thursday night (Photo courtesy of Fernanado Medina / Orlando Solar Bears)
Thursday night at the Amway Center, O’Donnell found his scoring touch just when the Everblades needed it the most.
O’Donnell scored his second goal of the game with 7:08 left in the first overtime to give Florida a heart-stopping 5-4 victory in front of a mostly hostile crowd of 5,479. Mike Ferrantino also scored twice for the visitors, off-setting a two goal and three point night by Orlando’s Denver Manderson, as the Everblades cut the Solar Bears series lead to two games to one with a now pivotal game four set for Saturday night in Orlando.
“It takes different guys on different nights stepping up. We had Ferrantino step up tonight. We had O’Donnell step up tonight,” Florida head coach Brad Ralph said following his first post-season win behind the Everblades bench. “That’s what it takes to win a playoff series. It’s a good sign that everyone contributed tonight.”
Facing falling down by three games, the Everblades knew they had to come out hard in Thursday’s contest. The host Solar Bears knew it too but that did not keep Florida from taking a big bite out of Orlando. Just 3:44 into the first period, O’Donnell was in the right place when Matt Berry wheeled around the Solar Bears net and laid a perfect pass across the crease for the Everblades top scorer. O’Donnell redirected the puck past Orlando goalie Ryan Massa to give Florida the opening score for the first time in the series. For O’Donnell, it was his first lamp lighter of the series.
Just under two minutes later, Massa had absolutely no chance when Mitchell Heard intercepted an Orlando clearing attempt along the boards, looped to the blue line and floated a shot at the Solar Bears net. Thanks to a sea of bodies screening him, Massa never saw the puck and it sailed past him for Heard’s first goal of the post-season.
“I didn’t like our start at all. It wasn’t a good start for us,” Solar Bears head coach Drake Berehowsky said about the early blitz by the Everblades.
Orlando got back into the contest 63 seconds after the Heard tally thanks to a hard push and some heads up passing. It came when defenseman Taylor Doherty launched a shot at the Florida net that Everblades goalie Anthony Peters knocked down. The rebound came to Shane Conacher who rifled a cross-ice pass to Manderson who put it past Peters on the short side for his second goal of the series.
Manderson was also in on the game-tying goal that came less than a minute into the second stanza. He made a stretch pass to Mason Marchment who broke in alone on Peters. After making a couple of stick fakes, Marchment fired a shot that snuck over the goalie’s left pad for the rookie’s first playoff goal.
Orlando had an opportunity to take the lead not long after when the Everblades were called for having too many men on the ice. Florida, always looking to create offense in any situation, took advantage when Mike Aviani and Ferrantino broke out on a odd-man rush. After drawing the defenseman down in an attempt to block a pass, Aviani saucered the disc to Ferrantino who banged it home his first score of the playoffs. The short-handed tally gave the visitors a 3-2 lead that they held into the second intermission.
Playing with a confidence that a series lead gives a team, the Solar Bears came out blazing in the third period. It took only two minutes and 37 seconds for the home team to even the score again when Manderson netted his second of the night. The key play was made by Marchment, who forced a turnover by the Everblades behind their net with a hard, aggressive forecheck. The puck floated to Manderson who skated it to the front of the cage and put a backhander past Peters.
“Me and Marchy [Marchment] had a good forecheck,” Manderson said about the tying score. “He got in there and banged around. I just grabbed the loose puck and on my backhand, went far side and found a hole.”
The roof on top of the Amway Center nearly blew off 28 seconds later when Eric Faille did what he does best – scoring on a power move. Eric Baier fed the puck to the big forward and he got loose for a partial breakaway. With a defenseman nipping at his heels, Faille protected the puck and slipped a shot between Peters’ legs for his first of the series and Orlando’s first lead of the game.
A little over two minutes later, the Solar Bears were tagged for too many men on the ice and it cost them dearly. On the ensuing power play, Berry tried to sip a pass across the slot but it was partially blocked by Orlando’s Joe Perry. Somehow the puck continued to slide and it found Ferrantino who jammed it home for his second of the game and a tie at four.
The final thirteen minutes of regulation were not for the weak of heart as both teams had opportunties to jump in front. Each side had a power play attempt in the back half of the frame but neither Massa (36 saves) nor Peters (32 saves) were ready for the night to end.
In the overtime, the teams went up and down the ice at breakneck speed, each trying to catch the other in a weak defensive moment. Orlando had a man advantage chance 2:43 in when Heard was called for goalie interference but the Solar Bears failed to convert. That failure – part of an 0-for-8 night – came back to haunt them later when Faille was nabbed for boarding with 8:59 left in the extra period. With less than ten seconds left on the power play, O’Donnell was again in the right spot as he tipped a shot by Zack Kamrass past Massa for the game-winner.
Despite the loss, Berehowsky said he was proud of how his troops performed when faced with real adversity for the first time in the series.
“We did show a lot of character. We battled back and we tried to keep putting pressure on them,” Berehowsky said. “They have a good team over there. We knew this wasn’t going to be an easy thing [winning the series]. It’s going to take everyone digging in and working hard.”
Down the hall, Florida’s Ralph was pleased with the effort his team put in after falling into an 0-2 hole at home.
“Our effort and our energy level was the difference tonight,” Ralph said. “Our power play capitalized when we needed it to. I was proud of our group. We stuck with it through the ups and downs of the game. Our group wasn’t going to be denied tonight.
Notes: Florida outshot Orlando 41-36 in the game. It was the first time in the series that the team with the shot advantage won… The game was the longest post-season goal in time (72:52) in the ECHL history of the Solar Bears. The previous longest game was game six of the 2015 series between the two Florida teams. That game was won when Florida’s Alex Aleardi beat Solar Bears goalie Garret Sparks 12:39 into the first overtime… Saturday’s game four is a 7 p.m. puck drop while Sunday’s game five will face-off at 4 p.m.
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