ORLANDO, FLA – For the better part of the last three weeks, the Orlando Solar Bears were on a nine-game, four city, two country road trip that was by all accounts successful. The team arrived back in the City Beautiful needing just two points to lock up the franchise’s first playoff berth since the spring of 2015.
Orlando’s Taylor Doherty (left) and goalie Ryan Massa defend against Florida’s Brant Harris (Photo courtesy of Fernando Medina / Orlando Solar Bears)
Unfortunately for them, it seems that at least for one night, the Solar Bears game stayed on that bus.
Led by two point nights from Mike Aviani and John McCarron and a near-perfect effort from goalie Alex Nedeljkovic, the visiting Florida Everblades (45-20-2-3, 95 points) defeated Orlando (35-25-7-3, 80 points) 5-1 in front of an announced crowd of 6,572 at the Amway Center Wednesday night. Mason Marchment scored the lone goal for the Solar Bears, his sixth goal in his last four games.
The loss put a crimp in Orlando’s playoff push, keeping the Solar Bears from eliminating the Cincinnati Cyclones from playoff contention. It also allowed the South Carolina Stingrays, winners over Atlanta Wednesday night, to pull even with the Solar Bears in third place in the ECHL’s South division with two games left for both teams. By virtue of the league’s tie-breaking system, the Stingrays hold the advantage over Orlando, leaving the Solar Bears listed as the fourth seed for the upcoming post-season.
“When you come back off a long road trip like that, you see many teams struggle for the first game. The guys haven’t had a day off in a long time. They’re tired. They were on the road for a long time. We’ve had a lot of travel in between on that road trip,” Solar Bears head coach Drake Berehowsky said following the loss. “I think they just need to recharge their batteries. We’ll refocus and get ready for Friday’s game.”
The home team had an opportunity to get off on the right skate when Florida’s Brendan O’Donnell was called for a penalty just 1:12 into the opening period. The Solar Bears put three shots on net during the advantage but Nedeljkovic, a second round draft choice of the Carolina Hurricanes in 2014, stopped all three – a clear sign of things to come the rest of the night.
The Everblades used the penalty kill as a springboard and opened the scoring at the 4:15 mark of the frame. A defensive zone turnover by Orlando forced by Curt Gogol ended up with the big forward putting the puck on the tape of Matt Berry, who was unchecked in front, and Berry sent it into the open side of the net for his 23rd goal of the season.
Four minutes later, Aviani followed the rebound of his own shot, taking it around the net and getting a wraparound shot off a defenseman’s skate and past Massa for his fourth of the season and a 2-0 lead.
While all this was going on, Nedeljkovic was spot on between the pipes. He denied Marchment from in close to keep Orlando scoreless but the young forward got his revenge moments later thanks to a defensive lapse by the visitors. An Everblades turnover left the puck alone in the slot where Marchment got to it and perfectly placed a quick backhand shot into the net past the goalie’s stick side for his 14th tally of the 2016-17 campaign.
“The puck slid out in the slot and I saw the goalie cheating a little bit because the other guy was coming in,” Marchment said. “I just tried to throw it on net. It was a lucky shot but I was happy it went in.”
Florida got that goal right back – and quieted the largely pro-Solar Bears crowd – less than three minutes later when a good defensive play by Orlando turned sour. Defenseman Kevin Raine lined up a shot that was blocked in front of the net by a Solar Bears player. It squirted into the slot where Zack Kamrass rolled through, grabbed it and eventually put a shot past Massa for his sixth of the season and a 3-1 lead that the Everblades took to the intermission.
“We had some turnovers. I think as well we had a couple of bad breaks – a couple of goals went off our skates,” Berehowsky said about the first period troubles the Solar Bears had. “It just wasn’t our night tonight, that’s all.”
The middle stanza was void of scoring but definitely not of excitement. Both Massa and Nedeljkovic had opportunities to show just how good they are, making big saves to keep it a two game. Nedeljkovic had his chances early, making a stick save on a shot with Marchment, who had been taken down, lying in the crease. He later stoned Eric Faille on a clean breakaway during a period of four-on-four hockey. Massa was just as solid, turning one shot away with his mask before making a huge left pad save save on a break in by Michael Kirkpatrick during a Solar Bears power play.
Orlando’s Ty Stanton (black jersey) and Florida’s Mitchell Heard squared off in a heavyweight battle Wednesday night (Photo courtesy of Fernando Medina / Orlando Solar Bears)
The other notable event in the frame was a bout between Orlando’s Ty Stanton and Florida’s Mitchell Heard. The pair had squared off three minutes earlier, earning each a roughing minor. When they came of the box, the anger was still there and the two met up at the end boards behind Massa and off came the gloves. Heard, known for his fighting ability, appeared to get the best of Stanton in the later stages of the fight.
Down by just two as the third period opened, Orlando still felt confident that it could mount a comeback and take down their in-state rivals. The Everblades took the air out of the building 2:34 in when Aviani fed the puck back to Wesley at the blueline. Wesley teed up a shot that hit the skate of a Solar Bears player and ramped up and over Massa’s left shoulder for the defenseman’s seventh score of the year.
McCarron put the game on ice when he raced into the Solar Bears defensive zone, turned a defenseman and put a backhander between Massa’s legs at the 14:57 mark. For McCarron, it was his 23rd goal of the season.
Despite the way the game turned out, Marchment said he was confident the Solar Bears could recover quickly and come away with a post-season clinching win against the same Everblades in front of the home fans on Friday.
“We’ve got a pretty good group of guys here, a lot of good leaders,” Marchment said. “I think we’ll pull together and we’ll get it done. I think we can beat these guys for sure.”
Notes: With the loss, the Solar Bears record against Florida fell to 3-8-1-0 including a 2-4 mark at the Amway Center… Orlando finished 0-for-3 on the power play while the Everbladees went 0-for-2… Massa made 35 saves in the loss and is still one win shy of breaking Garret Sparks’ franchise mark of 21 wins in a single season… Marchment’s goal extended his point streak to five games (6 goals, 3 assists)… Friday’s game is set for a 7 p.m. start. The two teams will then head to Estero to finish the regular season Saturday night at Germain Arena.
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