WEST VALLEY CITY, UT – With 4:59 remaining in the third period of a 1-1 game Saturday night, the Orlando Solar Bears were handed a five minute major power play by the Utah Grizzlies. It was a golden opportunity to pick up a third victory in four games on their road trip. All the Solar Bears had to do was score one goal and utilize the remaining man advantage time to suffocate the Grizzlies offense.
Unfortunately for Orlando, it failed to do its job and it cost them a second point in the standings.
Eric Williams scored a controversial goal 4:51 into overtime to lift host Utah (6-7-2-1) to a second consecutive 2-1 extra time victory over the Solar Bears (5-7-3-1) in front of an announced crowd of 6,213 at the Maverik Center. Hunter Miska won his second game in as many nights for the Grizzlies, making 25 saves to best his counterpart, Orlando’s Zach Fucale, who turned away 39 shots.
Williams’ game winner came following a drive to the net by teammate Felix Lauzon. Fucale made the initial save but Lauzon’s momentum took him into the netminder and the net itself, seemingly knocking the cage off its pegs. Williams followed the play and converted the loose rebound, drawing an immediate angry response from Fucale who felt he was interfered with. Referee Sean MacFarlane signaled that the goal was good and then after consulting with his linesmen, confirmed the call on the ice, leaving the Solar Bears team and coaching staff extremely frustrated.
From the opening faceoff Saturday, the Solar Bears and Grizzlies played their rematch hard and fast. There was no feeling out process as both sides were shooting and hitting at will. Orlando had three shots on Miska in the first 3:07 of the opening frame before things got really rough when Utah’s Patrick McGrath and Orlando’s Colby McAuley locked up in a wrestling match that saw McGrath given a double minor penalty and a misconduct for unsportsmanlike conduct while McAuley and teammate Taylor Doherty each picked up a single two minute penalty.
Fucale, who was working on a shutout streak of 140:22 coming into the contest, saw his streak come to an end thanks to a Grizzlies power play. Jack Jenkins put a shot on net that trickled through Fucale pads. In the rebound action, Garrett Klotz, who had been in front creating a screen, was able to poke the puck in for his second goal of the season.
The remaining eleven minutes plus in the first stanza belonged to the netminders. They traded big saves as Fucale robbed Utah’s Kevin Davis with a glove save only to see Miska deny the Solar Bears’Jake Coughler with a sliding pad stop. When the buzzer sounded to head to the intermission, the host Grizzlies had a slim 1-0 margin.
The visitors came out hard to start the middle frame with Coughler testing Miska less than a minute in. The Solar Bears controlled much of the action in the front half of the second period and it eventually led to a game-tying tally.
As the period hit the eight minute mark of play, Orlando mounted an attack in the Utah defensive zone. McAuley eventually got the puck to Dylan Fitze who put he puck behind Miska for his first goal of his sophomore season with the Solar Bears.
The Grizzlies nearly took the lead back a few minutes later when Mike Economos beat Fucale with a drive but it hit the post and stayed out. It was part of a revival of the Utah offense, one that saw the hosts regain its lead in shots by the end of the period at 23-17.
Both teams had an opportunity before the third period was a minute old as Peter Tischke tested Fucale at the 21 second mark followed by Orlando defenseman Michael Brodzinski making Miska work to make a save twenty seconds later but the scoreboard remained unchanged.
Utah started to assert itself offensively midway through the frame, labeling eight consecutive shots on Fucale in a span of a little over seven minutes. The Solar Bears netminder was able to hang tough and keep his team from falling behind, giving them hope for coming away with two points.
Then it happened. With five minutes remaining in regulation, Utah’s Griffen Molino slammed Orlando’s Tayler Thompson into the boards between the benches. Thompson had to be attended to by the Solar Bears trainer and the referee wasted no time in assessing a major penalty for boarding and a game misconduct to Molino.
It was the opportunity that the Solar Bears had been waiting for. Despite having gone 0-for-4 including a power play chance earlier in the frame, it was a chance for redemption for the man advantage units. The Grizzlies had other ideas, buckling down and keeping Orlando’s players from getting clean shots at Miska. The visitors recorded just one shot on net – it coming off the stick of Mikhail Shalagin 1:48 into the power play – and the teams headed to overtime.
Orlando tried to end the contest early as Brodzinski and Cody Donaghey combined for three shots in a span of 20 seconds but Miska was up to the challenge. Then Solar Bears forward Chris LeBlanc was sent to the box for interference and momentum swung back to the Grizzlies. Fucale faced four shots during Utah’s man advantage, stopping all four including using his blocker glove to rob Taylor Richart of a certain score. The Grizzlies continued to press and eventually Williams netted the game winner.
Despite the two losses to Utah, the Solar Bears had a very successful four game road trip. They picked up six of a possible eight points including their first two victories away from the Amway Center. Orlando also saw its two netminders, Fucale and Clint Windsor, allow a total of four goals over the course of the trip, giving the offense a chance to win all four.
Orlando will return home to host the Norfolk Admirals Tuesday night at the Amway Center at 7 p.m.
Notes: Final shots were 41-26 in favor of Utah… The Solar Bears went 0-for-5 on the power play while the Grizzlies were 1-for-4… Fucale’s shutout streak of 148:43 came up just over eleven minutes shy of tying the franchise mark set by Max Clermont at 159:57 in March of 2015.
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
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