KALAMAZOO, MI – Playing on the road, the old addage is earning a point of any kind is a good thing. When that point comes during a long trip, it can be just as good as a two point victory.
Saturday night at the Wings Event Center, the Orlando Solar Bears fought hard for sixty minutes and earned a point that later in the year could be very important.
Brendan Bradley’s goal twenty-two seconds into overtime gave the host Kalamazoo Wings (9-8-1-1, 20 points) a 2-1 win over the Solar Bears (10-10-4-0, 24 points) in front of an announced crowd of 2,267 on a snowy December night in southern Michigan. J.J. Piccinich scored a short-handed goal for Orlando’s lone tally of the night and goalie Mackenzie Skapski made 36 saves on a night when the team needed a big performance between the pipes.
Skapski was pressed into service when netminder Cal Heeter was called up to Orlando AHL affiliate in Toronto after an injury to Marlies goalie (and one time Solar Bear) Garret Sparks on Friday night. Head Coach Drake Berehowsky turned to Skapski, who has been improving of late, as the Solar Bears went in search of their third straight win.
Skapski was the story of the first period as the Wings pounded away with 14 shots on net in the opening frame. He made several saves that kept Orlando in the contest. The lone shot that beat him came at the 7:01 mark when Jimmy Mullin took a feed in the slot from Eric Ylitalo and found the back of the net for his third goal of the season. It was also a big score for the Wings fans as the tally brought teddy bears and other stuffed animals from the stands as part of Kalamazoo’s Teddy Bear Toss night for charity.
The Solar Bears were still trying to figure out how to beat Kalamazoo netminder Joel Martin as the second period began. Just shy of six minutes into the frame, Orlando found itself on a penalty kill but it became an avenue to a tie score. With time running down in the Kalamazoo man advantage, Jean Dupuy created a Wings turnover in the neutral zone and dragged the puck into the Solar Bears offensive zone. Drawing a defender in his direction, Dupuy put a pass on the tape of Piccinich who drove the net and buried a backhander high over Martin’s blocker glove for his sixth of the season.
As the game moved to the third period, the teams found themselves locked in a defensive struggle ruled by the men in the masks and big pads. Kalamazoo reverted to its strategy from the first, opening up the offense in hopes of wearing down Skapski and his teammates. The Solar Bears netminder continued to be sharp, fending off ten Wings shots while at the other end Martin, who finished the night with 20 saves, was equal to the task on all five Orlando attempts on net.
What could have been a long extra period ended swiftly when Bradley took the puck from Kyle Bushee in the Kalamazoo end and raced end to end along the right wing. Entering into the Orlando end, Bradley cut toward the slot, giving himself enough room to fire the puck past Skapski’s glove side for the game winner. For Bradley, it was his third goal of the season and capped off a big night for the Wings and their fans.
Notes: Kalamazoo outshot Orlando 38-21 in the game… Neither team connected on the power play as the Solar Bears finished 0-for-2 while the Wings went 0-for-5… The game marked the 600th professional game for Kalamazoo’s Bushee… Wings goal Martin moved into second place for career minutes played in ECHL history… With his assist, Orlando’s Dupuy extended his point streak to three games (2 goals, 4 assists)… The game was a family reunion for the Bootland clan as Orlando’s Darryl faced off against his brother Nick who is the head coach of the Kalamazoo squad… The Solar Bears will finish off the northern part of their ten-game road trip Sunday afternoon with a meeting against the Fort Wayne Komets. Puck drop at the Allen County Memorial Coliseum is set for 5 p.m.
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