NORTH CHARLESTON, SC – Orlando Solar Bears Head Coach and General Manager Drake Berehowsky stands by his theory that instead of identifying his forward lines as first, second and third, he prefers to see his players up front as a single, ten-man group. Although he prefers to see balanced scoring up and down the lineup, he most certainly will accept it when one of his trio of groupings has a big night.
Saturday night at the North Charleston Coliseum, Berehowsky’s set comprised of Brady Shaw, Troy Bourke and Corey Kalk had a night to remember as the trio combined for eleven total points to lead the Solar Bears (7-3-1-0) to a 5-3 victory over the host South Carolina Stingrays (6-6-0-0) in front of an announced crowd of 4,280. Shaw had the hot stick, netting a hat trick and adding an assist while Bourke chipped in with a goal and three helpers and rookie forward Kalk contributed three assists.
The line pairing was hatched by Berehowsky and assistant coach Marc LeFevbre on Wednesday after sniper Hunter Fejes received a call-up to the AHL’s Rockford Ice Hogs. Prior to that, Bourke was plugged in to replace Mitch Hults, who played two games before being recalled by AHL Syracuse as Bourke was being reassigned to Orlando. It proved to be sheer genius as the three accounted for four of the five goals that turned a tie game into a near runaway.
Starting a five-game road trip, the Solar Bears wanted to get off on the right skate but it was South Carolina that struck first. Just 2:22 into the opening period, Christian Horn made a perfect stretch pass that sent Matt Pohlkamp in alone on Orlando goalie Martin Ouellette. Pohlkamp drove in and fried a wrist shot past Ouellette’s blocker glove for his fifth score of the season.
It took nearly seven minutes for the visitors to find their scoring touch but when they did, it touched off a torrent of goals. As the frame approached the midpoint, Bourke got control of the puck behind the net of Stingrays netminder Adam Morrison. He was able to find Shaw on the left side of the net with a pass and Shaw jammed it home for his fifth of the year.
Four minutes later, the Solar Bears took the lead for good when Mathieu Foget drove down the right wing and fed Tayler Thompson in the slot. Using some traffic in front of Morrison as a distraction, Thompson fired a shot that found its way into the back of the net for his first tally of the season.
South Carolina had an opportunity to even things up before the first intermission with an extended power play sequence that included 29 seconds of five-on-three advantage time. Ouellette and his teammates held the fort, holding the Stingrays at bay to take their 2-1 lead into the break.
The second stanza quickly turned into the Shaw-Bourke-Kalk show. Just 1:15 in, Shaw went to the right side post and took a pass from Bourke, jamming the puck in for his second of the night. One minute and 51 seconds later, Kalk got the primary helper and Shaw the secondary assist when Bourke beat Morrison for his third goal as a Solar Bear.
Late in the period, Bourke flipped the puck to Shaw in the slot. Shaw did the rest, going to his backhand before netting his third of the game and seventh of the season. By the end of the period, South Carolina was outshooting Orlando 31-26 but the Solar Bears had a commanding 5-1 lead as Ouellette stopped all 15 Stingrays shots he faced in the frame.
South Carolina refused to give in and attempted to mount a comeback in the third. The Stingrays pulled within 5-2 at the 5:53 mark when Andrew Cherniwchan won an offensive zone faceoff to Grant Besse who ripped a seeing eye shot through traffic past Ouellette for his ninth goal of the season. Then with a little over three minutes remaining in regulation, Nick Roberto buried a shot during a power play for his first of the year.
Roberto’s tally drew the home team within 5-3 but it was as close as they would get as Ouellette (36 saves) slammed the door shut the rest of the way.
South Carolina’s Morrison finished the game with 30 saves in suffering the loss.
Notes: Final shots favored South Carolina 39-35… The Solar Bears went 0-for-2 on the power play, breaking a three game streak of scoring at least one man advantage goal. The Stingrays finished the night 1-for-5… Defenseman Matthew Spencer, who was reassigned by Syracuse to Orlando on Friday, made his Solar Bears debut. He picked up the secondary assist on Thompson’s goal… South Carolina’s Joe Masonius collected his first professional point with an assist on Roberto’s goal… In four games since joining the Solar Bears, Bourke has put up multiple points in each contest. Saturday’s four point night gave him three goals and nine assists in that time… Shaw extended his points streak to three games, during which time he has four goals and four assists… Kalk’s three helpers ran his two consecutive games totals to one goal and four assists… The Solar Bears are 6-0-0-0 when leading after two periods this season… The win was Berehowsky’s 99th behind the Orlando bench… The Solar Bears will continue their road trip on Wednesday when they visit the expansion Maine Mariners in Portland, ME for the first time. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
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