DULUTH, GA – The last time the Orlando Solar Bears visited the Gas South Arena to play the Atlanta Gladiators, Gladiators goalie Tyler Parks was nearly perfect but lost a heartbreaking 1-0 overtime outing to the visitors. Friday night, Orlando was back for another go and this time Parks was perfect.
Parks stopped all 39 shots he faced and got plenty of offensive backing as host Atlanta (9-8-2-0) shutout the Solar Bears (11-9-1-0) by a final of 4-0 in front of an announced crowd of 3,818. Kameron Kielly led the way for the Gladiators with a goal and two assists while Luke Nogard (goal, assist) and Michael Pelech (2 assists) added multi-point nights.
The blanking was the second the Solar Bears have suffered in their last three road games and dropped their record away from the Amway Center to 3-8-1-0. Orlando goalie Hugo Alnefelt, making his second consecutive start after being assigned to the Solar Bears by AHL Syracuse mid-week, stopped 22 of 24 shots before being replaced by Brad Barone seven minutes into the second period. Barone faced 23 shots himself, turning away 21.
Alnefelt did well in the opening thirteen minutes of the contest. He denied the Gladiators’ first 12 shots on net. That twelfth shot, however, led to the first goal of the game. It was taken by Gabe Guertler from the top of the near side faceoff circle. On its way in, Kielly got a piece of it, forcing Alnefelt to make a slightly tougher save. The rebound squirted to the goalie’s left where Michael Turner buried it into the open side of the net for his first goal of the season.
Only down by one at the start of the second period, Orlando had hope for a comeback but the hope quickly began to fade. An early penalty gave Atlanta a power play and the Gladiators struck pay dirt. Tim Davison made a beautiful stretch pass to Nogard who was at the Solar Bears defensive blueline. Nogard carried the puck in and instead of going to the net, he made a quick cut into the slot. Using a defender as a screen, Nogard fired away and beat Alnefelt for his second of the year.
The Solar Bears went on their first man advantage less than two minutes later. Not much happened except that just past the midpoint, Alnefelt was replaced by Barone.
Late in the period, Atlanta put the game out of reach with a pair of goals. At the 15:55 mark, Orlando’s Demitry Semykin lost his stick, giving the Gladiators an advantage. Nogard took the puck and circled the net, finding Tyler Kobryn alone in front. Kobryn got a shot off that avoided a diving attempt by Barone to get across the crease and lit the goal light for his second of the season.
Then at 18:14, Josh Thrower launched a shot from the point that Barone made the initial save on. Kielly had gotten behind the defense at the crease and immediately put a shot on that was also stopped. He stayed with the play, collecting his own rebound and bagging his first goal of the season to make it 4-0 heading into the intermission.
There was no more scoring in the contest as Barone and Parks handled everything thrown their way.
The loss dropped the Solar Bears into third place in the South division behind first place Florida and second place Jacksonville, both of which won Friday night. Orlando continues its six-game road trip Saturday night in Jacksonville with puck drop set for 7 p.m.
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
Follow us on Twitter @prohockeynews
You must be logged in to post a comment.