JACKSONVILLE, FLA – Over its previous nine games, the Orlando Solar Bears were having problems putting together a full sixty minute effort. Offensively, the Solar Bears had scored more than two goals in a single contest only twice while defensive lapses put a lot of pressure on the netminders to steal victories.As the team began a four game road trip Saturday night in Jacksonville, the Solar Bears needed a boost to break a winless streak and may have found it just in the nick of time.
Led by a tenth straight perfect night of penalty killing and a franchise-tying three shorthanded scores, Orlando (4-7-1-1) came away with a 3-0 victory over the host Jacksonville Icemen (3-7-2-0) in front of an announced crowd of 7,526 at the Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena. Alexey Lipanov, Hunter Fejes and Trevor Olson each tallied a man-down goal while goalie Zach Fucale stopped all 25 shots he faced to pick up his first win and shutout as a member of the Solar Bears.
Having already beaten the Icemen twice this season in two meetings in Orlando, the Solar Bears carried with them a decent amount of confidence that they could break the four game run without a victory that was casting a cloud over the squad. Defensively, they had done a good job in limiting Jacksonville to just three goals in the prior clashes. The question that needed to be answered was whether Orlando’s seemingly loaded roster would score at will as it did in a 6-2 win over the Icemen or if it would have to lean on Fucale to be next to if not perfect to give the Solar Bears a replay of their 2-1 victory ten days ago.
Adding to the suspense was the look of the Solar Bears lineup itself. After Thursday’s loss to Florida, Orlando Head Coach and General Manager Drake Berehowsky had promised changes designed to jump start his squad and he was a man of his word. When the Solar Bears took to the ice, four familiar faces – Mike Monfredo, Alex Kuqali, Ryan Lohin and Chris LeBlanc were no where to be found (Monfredo, Kuqali and Lohin had been put on injured reserve on Friday while LeBlanc was put on reserve).
In their places were newcomers Jake Coughler, who had been signed on Monday and was playing in his third game while Lucas Kohls (signed Friday) and Rich Boyd (signed Saturday). All three were expected to step in and produce and as it turned out, they did.
With Jacksonville wearing special Spiderman-themed jerseys in celebration of Marvel Comics night, the large and boisterous home crowd saw its heroes get a golden right away. A double minor for high sticking on Kohls and a minor to Michael Brodzinski left Orlando two men short less than two minutes into the first period, providing the Icemen an opportunity to blow the game open early.
The Solar Bears penalty killers, who entered the game having killed off their last 33 times short, accepted the challenge and stepped up big time. After surviving a short by Hayden Shaw that rang the post, Orlando’s players kept Jacksonville’s power play to the outside and when shots came, they went into block mode. Both Colby McAuley and Cody Donaghey were stunned by drives but they fought through the pain and helped Fucale to keep the Icemen at bay.
When Orlando finally got its own man advantage chances, the power play units were able to generate offense. The problem was that Jacksonville goalie Michael McNiven was on point and marching Fucale save for save. McNiven, who had been assigned to the Icemen by Montreal earlier in the week, stood up to all ten Solar Bears shots in the opening frame while Fucale stopped all seven he faced to keep the game scoreless after one.
Three overlapping penalties in the first 5:35 of the second period – two to Jacksonville and one to Orlando – led to a truncated two man advantage for the Solar Bears and a power play for the Icemen. It was during that Jacksonville advantage that the visitors struck.
Just five seconds into the penalty kill, the Solar Bears went on a counter attack. A trio of Orlando players headed into the Jacksonville defensive zone, leading into a shot by Coughler at the net. Donaghey, who had jumped up on the rush before the kill had started, redirected the puck into McNiven’s pass. The rebound kicked far enough for Lipanov to poke it home for his third goal of the season.
The energy from Lipanov’s score powered the Solar Bears into attack mode. They continued to pound away at McNiven but were not able to find the back of the net.
Less than four minutes remained before the second intermission when Jacksonville went on its fifth power play of the night. It turned out to be a killer for the home team when Fejes forced a turnover at his defensive blue line and sped away with the puck. Fejes turned on the jets and as he turned a defender in the faceoff circle to McNiven’s right, the Solar Bears sniper put a shot inside the far post for his fourth of the year and fifth shorthanded goal in an Orlando uniform.
As the third period opened, all eyes were on the Solar Bears as they attempted to hold the lead. Orlando faced its sixth penalty kill of the night 6:05 into the final frame and came through it unscathed again for the team’s 39th consecutive successful kill.
Desperate for a goal, Jacksonville Head Coach Jason Christie pulled McNiven (34 saves) with 4:32 remaining. As time continues to tick away, the frustration being felt by the Icemen combined with the rivalry between the two teams manifested in a scrum in front of Fucale. Eventually Orlando’s Boyd squared off with Jacksonville’s James Phelan. Boyd appeared to win the fight, landing numerous blows before landing on top of Phelan on the ice.
McNiven went back into his net but was pulled for a second time with 2:15 to go. As the Icemen pressed to close the gap, Solar Bears defenseman Taylor Doherty stepped up and blocked two shots to keep Fucale’s shutout in tact.
A penalty on Orlando’s Donaghey gave the Icemen one last power play with 1:30 left to go. The six-on-four opportunity for the home team turned sour when Olsen got control of the puck in the far corner of the Solar Bears defensive zone. Olsen proceeded to launch a clearing attempt that went the length of the ice and into the empty cage for his second tally of the season and the team’s third shorthanded score of the night.
Notes: Final shots were 37-25 in favor of Orlando… The Solar Bears went 0-for-6 on the power play while the Icemen finished 0-for-7 according to the boxscore. Orlando has now killed off 40 straight man-down situations… Fejes’ shorthanded goal tied him with Eric Baier and Brady Vail for most career shorties as a Solar Bear… The three team shorthanded goals equaled the franchise mark set on December 28, 2012 when Ryan Reaves netted two and CJ Severyn scored one in an 8-4 win over Florida… All three of Lipanov’s goals this season have come on special teams – two power play and Saturday’s shorthanded score – against Jacksonville… Orlando will continue its road trip out west on Wednesday in Idaho against the Steelheads before heading to Utah for two against the Grizzles on Friday and Saturday. All three games will drop the puck at 9:10 p.m. Eastern time.
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