NORTH CHARLESTON, SC – With their playoff hopes hanging by a thread, the Orlando Solar Bears could not afford a second loss to the South Carolina Stingrays. In the end, it was the efforts of a couple of fresh faced rookies that allowed them to stay alive.
Goalie Ryan Massa made 40 saves, 28 in the final two periods of regulation, and Brenden Miller scored two goals including the winner as Orlando (32-27-4-5, 73 points) defeated South Carolina (41-18-7-3, 92 points) 5-4 in overtime Saturday night at the North Charleston Coliseum. The win allowed the Solar Bears to remain alive for a spot in the ECHL’s Kelly Cup playoffs.
Miller, who also had an assist in the game, was one of five different Orlando players to get at least two points while three others had one point in the contest. His winner at 2:44 of the extra period let the Solar Bears come away with two points despite letting a three goal lead get away from them.
With the victory, Orlando stayed within four points of the Kalamazoo Wings and Elmira Jackals who are tied for the last Eastern conference playoff spot. Both the Wings and Jackals have three games left while the Solar Bears have four to go.
Facing a must-win situation, the Solar Bears played the first period with a ferocity level fueled with desperation. Just 1:46 in, a Massa save became an offensive rush that succeeded when Brady Vail set up defenseman Mark Louis for his third goal of the season. A little over three minutes later, Patrick Watling set up Eric Faille who snuck one past South Carolina goalie Vitek Vanecek for his 23rd of the year and a two goal lead.
A pair of overlapping Stingrays penalties to Marcus Perrier and Joey Leach gave the visitors a two-man advantage and the Solar Bears made them pay. T.J. Foster put a shot on Vanecek that the netminder stopped. The rebound went airborne where Jack Rodewald batted it home for his 17th score of his rookie season to give Orlando a huge 3-0 cushion.
South Carolina needed a spark and got it when Joe Devin won an offensive zone face-off back to rookie Colton Saucerman. The former Northeastern University blue liner blasted a shot past Massa for his first professional goal in his very first pro game.
Orlando did not want to let the Stingrays gain any momentum from the goal. The best way to do that was to extend the lead back to three and that is exactly what the Solar Bears did. Watling and Findlay did some intense forechecking and caused a turnover. Findlay eventually sent a pass to Miller who jumped into the play and snapped a shot home for his fourth goal and a 4-1 Orlando leading heading into the first intermission.
The second period opened with an all-out heavyweight fight between Orlando’s Louis and South Carolina’s noted enforcer Trevor Gillies. The two former New York Islanders system players put on a spirited battle that ended with a Gillies takedown following some early success by Louis.
Whether it was the fight or wanting payback for Orlando’s big first period, the Stingrays dominated the middle frame, pounding shot after shot on Massa. They finally put a second goal past the Solar Bears goalie at the 15:50 mark when Austin Fyten shoveled his seventh of the year in out of a scramble. Then with a little over two minutes before the break, a turnover by Orlando turned into a Caleb Herbert backhander that snuck under Massa to trim the Solar Bears lead to 4-3.
South Carolina’s second period onslaught, which manifested itself in two goals and a 12-2 shot advantage, continued in the final frame. Three minutes in, Spencer Humphries made a perfect stretch pass to Herbert who went in alone on Massa and netted his second of the night and seventh of the season to tie the game at four.
The intense Stingrays pressure kept the Solar Bears from creating much if any offense. In fact, it took Orlando almost eleven minutes to get its first shot of the period on the way to a second straight two-shot stanza. Were it not for Massa, who made 18 saves in the final twenty minutes, the Solar Bears may not have gotten to overtime.
Orlando had a chance to win the game early in extra time when Leach was nabbed for tripping. The Stingrays killed off the penalty and had a golden opportunity to win it when the puck went to Leach coming out of the box for a breakaway.
Massa stopped Leach’s attempt and seconds later Rodewald headed back up ice with Foster. Rodewald fed Foster who in turn dropped the puck to Miller who put a wrist shot past Vanecek’s stick-side glove for his fifth of the year and arguably the biggest Orlando win of the season.
The Solar Bears now face the reality of having to win its last four games, all of them against the Florida Everblades. The teams have met ten times already this year with the Everblades having won seven including the most recent meeting on March 30th. The first of the final stretch comes Tuesday night at the Anway Center with puck drop set for 7 pm.
Contact the author at Don.money@prohockeynews.com
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