NORFOLK, VA – After finding some success during the middle stretch of a long road trip, the Orlando Solar Bears were riding the low of a three game winless streak heading into Saturday night’s trip finale against the Norfolk Admirals. With an opportunity to finish the roadie with an above .500 record, the Solar Bears needed to summon up all the strength they could muster to get the job done – and that is exactly what they did.
Led by two goals and an assist from Josh Winquist, Orlando (11-12-4-0, 26 points) scored three times in the first period on the way to a 7-2 win over Norfolk (8-17-1-0, 17 points) in front of an announced crowd of 4,094 at the Norfolk Scope. Max Novak added an goal and an assist as twelve different Solar Bears hit the scoresheet.
Coming off a loss to the Admirals on Friday and knowing that the teams have three more meetings to come in Orlando before Christmas, the Solar Bears wanted a better start than the night before. They got it and then some as the visitors roared out of the locker room and scored early and often.
Just 16 seconds into the opening period, Michael Turner found himself in front of Norfolk goalie Ty Reichenbach when the rebound of a shot by Darryl Bootland came off the netminder’s pads. Turner quickly pout it into the back of the net for his second goal of the season. Tayler Thompson was awarded a secondary assist on the play.
A little over seven minutes later, the visitors’ lead grew to two as some pressure brought about by a power play led to a score. Just after the man advantage ended, Kristial Pospisil was in the right place at the right time to redirect a shot/pass by J.C. Campagna past Reichenbach for his eighth of the season. Defenseman Sam Jardine, who got the puck to Campagna, picked up an assist on the score.
A minute and ten seconds later, Joe Perry forced an Admirals turnover in the neutral zone and quickly fed it to Novak. Novak drove into the Norfolk defensive end and whistled a wrist shot into the back of the net for his team-leading 10th goal of the season. The score was the end of the night for Reichenbach who was replaced by Jamie Murray between the pipes for the Admirals.
While all that was going on, Orlando goalie Cal Heeter was holding down the fort at the other end of the ice. As he did on Friday, Heeter was strong in net, making nine saves as the Solar Bears took a 3-0 lead into the intermission.
The Admirals came out firing in the second, putting Heeter to a much stronger test than he faced in the first. Early on, Patrick D’Amico drove in on a two-on-none but the Orlando netminder thwarted the attempt. Heeter’s work allowed the offense to go back to work and they rewarded their teammate with a fourth goal. Campagna made the key play again, making a pass out the high slot where rookie defenseman Aleksandr Mikulovich grabbed it and stepped into a drive that beat Murray high to the stick side for his second goal of the season and a 4-0 lead at the 7:12 mark of the middle stanza.
The Admirals, mindful that it was Teddy Bear Toss night, dug down and gave their fans what they wanted. At the 15:06 mark, an successful offensive zone faceoff allowed Don Olivieri to get the puck to Grant Besse who drove a wicked slat shot past Heeter for the rookie’s tenth of the season and allowing the fans to throw their stuffed animals onto the ice.
Norfolk pulled a bit closer early in the third when during a penalty kill, Jordan Abt sent the puck to Tommy Schutt who was flying into center ice. Schutt left two Orlando players in his wake, driving in and sliding the puck between Heeter’s legs for his fourth of the season.
With their lead trimmed to 4-2, the Solar Bears were handed a golden opportuinty to put the game out of reach when overlapping penalties to Norfolk put the visitors on a five-on-three power play. Just before the advantage ended, Winquist got the puck from Nolan Valleau in the faceoff circle to Murray’s left. He patiently waited for and found enough room to laser home a shot for his seventh goal of the season.
Orlando still had power play time to use and just 29 seconds after Winquist’s tally, Chris LeBlanc stole a clearing attempt in the Norfolk end and threw it down to Winquist. Winquist dragged the puck across the front of the net and as Murray followed, he backhanded a pass back to LeBlanc who put it into the open side of the net for his sixth of the season and a 6-2 margin.
With time running down, Winquist still had a little more magic in him. Carrying the puck into the Norfolk end along the near side boards. He hesitated to create some room and drove into the faceoff circle before caroming the puck off the skate of a defenseman past Murray for his second of the game to close out the scoring.
Notes: Heeter finished the game with 42 saves as Norfolk outshot Orlando 44-41 in the contest… The Solar Bears were 2-for-7 on the power play while the Admirals went 0-for-4… Mikulovich’s goal was his first since October 21st against Allen… With the win, Orlando finished its road trip with a 5-4-1-0 record… The teams will play in Orlando this coming Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday all starting at 7 p.m. Saturday’s game will be the Solar Bears Teddy Bear Toss game.
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