ORLANDO, FLA – All season long, the fans of the Orlando Solar Bears have been clamoring for the team to defend its den, the Amway Center, with the tenacity and ferocity of its namesake in the wild. Now that they have gotten their wish, the end of the team’s ten-game long homestand next Friday is coming too quickly.
Chris Crane (28, blue) scored his first goal as a Solar Bear Saturday night (Photo courtesy of G. Bassing & F. Medina / Orlando Solar Bears)
Led by Tony Cameranesi and Taylor Doherty who had a goal and an assist each, the Solar Bears (9-5-2-0, 20 points) used a three-goal third period to dispatch the Brampton Beast (7-5-1-2, 17 points) 5-2 in front of a loud and appreciative announced crowd of 5,030. Newcomer Chris Crane, Austin Block and the red hot Joe Perry all lit the goal light once in support of goalie Ryan Massa who made 31 saves to notch his seventh win of the season.
The victory was the Solar Bears’ fourth under new head coach Drake Berehowsky and brought the team’s record to 5-2-1-0 in its last seven games on home ice.
“I’m really proud of the guys. Both teams came out and they played hard and God gave us the two points tonight,” Berehowsky said. “We played hard and we were rewarded.”
The fact that the teams would combine for seven goals was certainly not the outcome anyone might have expected the way the first period played out. Both Massa and Beast netminder Bryan Pitton battled as if any goal allowed would mean certain death. Massa had several standout saves including a quick glove hand on Brandon MacLean and back-to-back denials of David Pacan to highlight his perfect 15-for-15 opening frame. Pitton was just as stingy, making several big saves on the way to blanking Orlando on 17 shots faced in the stanza.
Brampton broke the scoreless tie 4:31 into the second period thanks to a great individual effort by Pacan. Pacan picked the puck out of mid-air in the neutral zone and quickly turned it into an offensive zone foray. Navigating his way through a couple of defenders, Pacan was able to feed a pass to the top of the crease where Brandon Marino redirected it just enough to elude Massa for his fourth goal of the season.
The Solar Bears answered back a little over five minutes later as three of the newer faces on the team combined to light the goal light behind Pitton. Doherty took a feed at the point and sent a drive toward the net where rookie Mason Marchment deftly got his stick blade on the puck and changed its direction. That redirect found the leg of Crane where its path changed enough to get past Pitton, glance off the post and skid across the goal line for Crane’s fourth of the season and first since joining the Solar Bears from Allen.
“My presence in front of the net is kind of where I make a living,” Crane, who won two ECHL Kelly Cup championships with Allen, said. “It was just a great tip by Marchy (Marchment). It actually went off my leg [and] it went off the post. It was kind of a lucky bounce but I’ll take it.”
Late in the period the Solar Bears used some heads-up passing to create their second score of the night. The play began with defenseman Eric Baier making a pretty stretch pass to Brett Findlay at the Brampton blueline. Findlay drove into the offensive zone and drew the lone defenseman back toward him. When the defender bit, he dropped a pass back to Perry who was coming down the slot and Perry beat Pitton with a quick wrist shot to the goalie’s stick side for his team-leading tenth goal of the season.
Orlando may have thought it would have the lead heading into the second intermission nut the Beast had other ideas. Again it was an individual effort as David Valloriani weaved his way around two defenders into the slot area and whipped a wrist shot past Massa’s catching glove for his ninth tally of the year and a 2-2 tie at the break.
Neither team was able to get solid traction during the front half of the third period as shots and scoring opportunities were at a premium. Orlando finally broke through and took the lead for good at the 9:50 mark when a shot by Baier missed the net. Eric Faille tracked the puck down behind the net, went around to the other side and slipped a pass to the crease where Cameranesi guided it into the net for his second goal in as many games and his fifth of the season.Bass
Austin Block netted his third goal of the season in Saturday’s game (Photo courtesy of G. Bassing & F. Medina / Orlando Solar Bears)
Just under six minutes later, Block, who was playing in just his third game of the season, took a stretch pass from Trevor Ludwig and broke past the Brampton defense. His initial shot went wide but he followed it and managed to bank a shot off the back of Pitton (32 saves) and in for his third score of the season.
“I don’t know if I have a normal goal but I’ll take it,” Block said. “We were kind of talking about putting pucks high off the glass which is perfect for me. Luds (Ludwig) put it off the glass and I got a breakaway. I missed on the first one – whiffed horribly – and [just] threw it blind hoping it would hit the goalie and go in. Every now and then you need those bounces.”
A late Brampton penalty gave the Solar Bears a power play and they cashed in when Cameranesi drove down the wing and fed a pass to Faille in the middle. Faille saw Doherty, who had gone to the net in front of him, off to his left and put a pass on the defenseman’s tape for a tap in. It was Doherty’s first goal as a member of the Solar Bears and capped the scoring with a less than two minutes to go.
Block, who started the year on injured reserve, said that he likes what the team is looking like on the ice of late – especially in Saturday’s contest – with lots of potential.
“I don’t know what everyone else thinks but I think we look pretty sharp. I think we look physical. I don’t think we’re an easy team to play against and I think we have the best home venue in the entire league. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be laying it out on the ice every game like that,” Block said. “We’re going to make mistakes – every game’s not perfect but if we keep it simple, finish hits, block shots, it’s a simple game. We’re a deep team [and] it’s been fun [so far].”
Notes: Both teams wore jerseys representing their NHL affiliates with Brampton in the “bleu, blanc et rouge” of the Montreal Canadians while Orlando wore the blue and white of the Toronto Maple Leafs… Massa’s win was his 26th which tied him with Garrett Sparks for most career wins during the ECHL incarnation of the franchise. It was also his fourth consecutive win this season… Vallorani’s goal extended his points streak to six games while Brandon MacLean pushed his consecutive games with a point streak to five with an assist on Vallorani’s tally… Doherty now has a three game assist streak going while Faille extended his points streak to three games… The Solar Bears remained unbeaten by the Beast, having swept three games in Brampton last season and the first two games in the current three-game set… Orlando played without forward Johnny McInnis who was suspended by the team on Friday for “conduct detrimental to the team”… Forward Cason Hohmann, who was recalled by the Toronto Marlies earlier in the week, signed with the AHL Charlotte Checkers after being released from his contract by the Marlies… The teams will finish their series Monday night at the Amway Center with puck drop set for 7 p.m.
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