ORLANDO, FL – All season long, the Orlando Solar Bears have been fighting to put together a string of games where it played at a consistent level where wins came in long stretches. Sunday afternoon at the Amway Center, the Solar Bears had the opportunity to back up a big win against Florida by repeating the effort against the Norfolk Admirals.
And back it up they did.
Tayler Thompson and Hunter Fejes provided the offense with a goal each and goalie Cal Heeter kicked in with 38 saves as Orlando (25-25-5-1, 56 points) edged the visiting Admirals (21-29-5-1, 48 points) 2-1 in front of an announced crowd of 5,696. The victory allowed the Solar Bears to pull within a point of the Atlanta Gladiators for third place in the ECHL South division.
The back-to-back defensive efforts, allowing one goal each to the Florida Everblades (a 3-1 win on Friday) and then the Admirals, was a positive sign to Orlando head coach and general manager Drake Berehowsky, who was cautiously optimistic about putting together a winning streak.
“I hope so. It’s been two games. We’ve got to keep going. It’s good to win and I think it builds confidence in the guys,” Berehowsky said. “There’s still going to be ups and downs through the season. These are young men who are still figuring out the game and they’re here to learn that so there’s still going to be bumps in the road.”
The opening period was a bit of a slog as the energy level for both teams did not seem to be at full speed. It was a see-saw twenty minutes where each team had opportunities to pin the other in its defensive zone. Both Heeter and Norfolk’s Jamie Murray were solid as they each kept the scoresheet clean, taking the game into the first intermission at a scoreless tie.
What the opening stanza lacked in oomph, the second period certainly made up for. Just 1:21 into the frame, the Solar Bears broke out on top. It was a perfect play where J.J. Piccinich skated the puck down the wing to Murray’s left as Thompson made a beeline to the front of the crease. Piccinich waited and sent a perfect feed to Thompson who redirected it home for his sixth goal of the season.
Moments later, the partisan crowd got loud when Orlando forward Joe Perry, who rarely drops the gloves, got into it with Norfolk’s Romain Chuard. The pair each landed a few shots befoe the linesmen stepped in as the fans roared their approval.
The Admirals responded just past the midway point of the period. TJ Melancon took a pass and wound upfor a big slap shot from the point. As it got to the front of the net, Brodie Dupont was in the right place to tip it past Heeter for his 20th goal of the season and a tie score.
Both in between and after the goals, the period reverted to the goalie battle that went on in the first. Murray settled in to make eleven saves in the frame while Heeter, who stopped 30 Everblades shots on Fridat night, parried away seventeen pucks sent his way by the Admirals.
“The execution has been a bit better the last couple of games. We’ve done a pretty good job of limiting their grade-A scoring chances. I thought tonight they [Norfolk] only had a few,” Heeter said about the vastly improved defensive effort the Solar Bears have put in during the games on Friday and Sunday. “I know they scored the one goal there in the second but for the most part I think we kept their shots to the outside and there weren’t too many rebounds. The guys let me see everything.”
After a successful penalty kill to start the third period, Orlando took advantage of two miscues on the same play to score the game-winning tally. The Admirals made mistake number one whena defenseman mishandled the puck at center ice, allowing the speedy Fejes to pounce and take it away. As Fejes raced into the Norfolk end, Murray atarted to come way out of his net and then quickly tried to scramble back. Fejes capitalized on the miscalculation, getting past a diving Murray and depositing the puck in the back of the net for his 23rd goal of the season and his seventh in a Solar Bears uniform.
“I think I kind of caught him [Murray] off-guard. I don’t think he thought I was going to come quite as fast as I was coming,” Fejes said. “He kind of hesitated and then he was like ‘oh, no, I’ve gotta go back’ and it took him too long. I was able to capitalize, bring it in and shoot in into the open net basically.”
From there it was Heeter and the defense that stepped up big time for the second straight game. With the defensemen limiting the dangerous scoring chances, Heeter calmly turned away everything tossed in his direction. He made twelve saves in the final frame to seal his 15th win of the season and a big two points.
Asked after the game about the back-to-back performances by Heeter, Berehowsky was quick to praise both of his netminders.
“I’m confident in both our goalies. I think both our goalies are great goalies and they have tha ability to win games for us,” Berehowsky said about Heeter and his partner Mackenzie Skapski. “We have to look at both of them as number ones and we’re going to play them [both]. Hopefully they both get into a rhythm and a groove and we’ll be able to win more games as a group.”
On the subject of consistency, Fejes said that the efforts on Friday and Sunday are coming at the right time to turn into something much bigger down the stretch.
“I think we’re realizing our potential as a team. This is a great time for us to be clicking,” Fejes said. “The big key point in the locker room is consistency – just making sure we can bring it day in and day out. The playoffs are right around the corner and we’ve got to build momentum. We’ve got to know how to play the right way. That’s what everyone’s been preaching in the locker room. We’re kind of realizing our ability but now it’s showing. We’re starting to show the fans [that] we’re serious and anything’s possible.”
Notes: Final shots in the game were 39 for Norfolk and 30 for Orlando… The Solar Bears killed off all three Admirals power play attempts, running their streak of perfect PK games to four (16-for-16)… Steven Collins, who was acquired from Wheeling on Thursday, played his first game in front of the home fans… With a win Monday night against Norfolk (7 p.m. at Amway Center),Orlando can leapfrog past Atlanta into third place.
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