DULUTH, GA – Even early in a season, coaches are always looking for indicators about how their teams will handle adversity. For Orlando Solar Bears Head Coach and General Manager Drake Berehowsky, Friday night’s game at the Gas South Arena in Duluth was one such indicator and he found something out: even though it was only the second game of the season, his Solar Bears won’t quit.
Despite falling behind by four goals early in the third period Orlando (1-1-0-0) made a game of it by netting three goals in a span of 1:05 before eventually falling to the Atlanta Gladiators by a final score of 5-4. Jackson Keane, Jake McGrew and Krystof Hrabik scored the three quick goals midway through the final frame but the Solar Bears could not finish the comeback.
Six days after downing the Gladiators in their home opener, the Solar Bears headed up to Georgia for the first road game of the 2021-22 campaign, looking to win again. On this night, the home team got a quick jump, putting three shots past Orlando starting netminder Zach Emond before the contest was 15 minutes old.
It took Atlanta just 1:23 after the opening faceoff to get on the board. Gabe Guertler did the honors, taking a feed from Luke Nogard and using a defenseman as a screen, beat Emond for his first tally of the season. Less than four minutes later, Guertler was the set-up gut as he fed Derek Topatigh for a rising shot that found the back of the net for his first of the season at 5:11.
The two goals raised the temperature on the ice as play turned chippy. A pair of offsetting unsportsmanlike conduct penalties to Orlando’s Montana Onyebuchi (who was assigned to the Solar Bears by the San Jose Barracuda earlier in the day) and Atlanta’s Josh Thrower started it and a full fledged fight between Steenn Pasichnuk of the Solar Bears and Michael Turner of the Gladiators turned things up.
Atlanta wasn’t done scoring in the period. At the 14:12 mark, Derek Nesbitt set up Hugo Roy who fired over a defender looking for a block and found paydirt for his first tally of the season to give the Gladiators a 3-0 lead.
The three-goal Gladiators lead became four 13 minutes into the middle frame. Following the second throwdown of the night – this one between Orlando’s Luke McInnis and Atlanta’s Guertler – the Solar Bears went on a power play thanks to an extra minor to Guertler. The home team capitalized when Cody Sylvester sent a pass to Mike Pelech who beat Emond for his first goal of the 21-22 season at 13:10.
On the verge of being humiliated, Orlando answered back in the dying seconds of the man advantage. With just one tick remaining, Hrabik fed McGrew for a shot that eluded Gladiators netminder Chris Nell for McGrew’s first goal, making it a 4-1 game.
Any momentum the Solar Bears had heading into the final frame took a bit of a hit less than a minute into the third. Roy picked up his second of the night when he converted a rebound of a shot by Nesbitt. Roy was able to wrap around the net and tuck it in before Emond could get across the crease. At that point, Berehowsky replaced Emond between the pipes with Brad Barone, who was making his first appearance since being signed prior to opening night.
The Solar Bears began their comeback midway through the period. It started on a power play when Braydon Barker moved the puck to Pasichnuk who set up Jackson Keane who hit the back of the net for his first goal. Eighteen seconds later, McGrew got his second of the night with assists from Kyle Topping and Aaron Luchuk. Then at the 11:48 mark (47 seconds after McGrew’s score), Hrabik hit for his second of the year assisted by Michael Brodzinski and goalie Barone and suddenly it was a one-goal game at 5-4.
With just over eight minutes left in regulation and a continued surge, it appeared that Orlando was destined to tie the game up. With Barone (6-for-6 on save attempts in relief) pulled for an extra attacker, the Solar Bears pumped five shots on Nell (30 saves) in the final 1:45 of play but were unable to score.
Orlando heads back home for a Sunday 1 p.m. matinee matchup with the Jacksonville Icemen at the Amway Center.
Notes: Final shots were 39-34 in favor of Atlanta… The Solar Bears went 2-for-4 on the power play, making it two straight games with a pair of man advantage scores. The Gladiators went 0-for-2 and are now 0-for-6 on the power play in two contests against Orlando… McGrew and Luchuk (2 assists) both recorded multi-point games in consecutive outings. McGrew leads the team with 5 points (2 goals, 3 assists).
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