Nicklas Lindberg played his first game at the Amway Center for Orlando Wednesday night (Photo courtesy of F. Medina & G. Bassing/Orlando Solar Bears)
ORLANDO, FLA – Once upon a time, playing the Orlando Solar Bears at the Amway Center was a task not for the faint of heart. The “Bear Den” was one of the toughest places to play in the ECHL South division but lately it has not been so hard for visitors to leave with a victory.
Wednesday night, the Manchester Monarchs (26-12-1-4, 57 points) traveled south from snowy New England and made winning look relatively easy by shutting out the host Solar Bears (17-17-2-3, 39 points) 3-0. Three different Monarchs scored goals in support of goalie Colin Stevens who made 25 saves to record his second shutout of the season.
For Orlando, it was a night of frustration once again as the mostly partisan announced crowd of 4,785 saw the Solar Bears lose for the tenth time in sixteen contests at home. This one was especially tough to take as the team was coming off a successful 5-2 road trip.
“I don’t think there’s any magical answer that I can give but we’ve got to figure it out,” Solar Bears head coach Anthony Noreen said after the loss. “For whatever reason, our starts aren’t as good here. I don’t know if it is distractions. I don’t know if it is other things going on. Whatever it is, and that’s what we just talked about in the [locker] room, it’s got to get figured out because with the fan support we have, the building we have, everything we have here, it is unacceptable to have the record we do at home.”
Despite losing two of their previous three games, the Solar Bears had every reason to feel positive about Wednesday’s game. Unfortunately for the home fans, Manchester appeared to have the fresher legs as the Monarchs jumped all over Orlando and goalie Ryan Massa. As the shots piled up quickly, Massa held the fort while Stevens saw very little rubber at the other end.
Manchester got on the board first late in the opening period. The goal came as a result of a nifty steal by Alex Guptill near the top of the slot in traffic. Guptill skated the puck toward the Orlando net and with a defender on his back while one more closed in, he slid a pass to Danick Paquette who swept it into the open net for his sixth goal of the season.
After being outshot 16-5 in the first, the Solar Bears needed some push back. Early in the second, Lindsay Sparks tried to light the fuse with a terrific individual effort. He drove the puck into the Manchester defensive zone, eluded two defenders and got within a few feet of Stevens but his shot to the top corner missed wide of the net.
The miss was frustrating enough but when Joey Diamond took a pass from Maxim Kitsyn and buried a one-timer past Massa at the 5:40 mark, things got worse. The goal, Diamond’s eighth of the year, pushed the Monarchs lead to two – which on this night may as well have been four or five given the lack of quality scoring chances coming off the sticks of the Solar Bears.
Orlando tried to open the game up more and it did net the home team more shots and chances. Sparks, one of the few Solar Bears who seemed to be skating effectively, got in alone on Stevens late in the frame but the netminder fended off Sparks’ shot with his arm.
The home team got another golden opportunity early in the third when a pass from down low found Matt Rupert open in the slot. Rupert fired a quick shot but once again Stevens was there to make the stop.
Massa (32 saves) kept his team in the game, making several key saves including one on Stefan Legein midway through the final frame. With the Solar Bears inability to solve Stevens, Noreen pulled his goalie with just under two minutes left. The move did not work out as Mark Anthoine scored his fourth goal into the empty net with 1:18 remaining to close out the scoring.
As frustrating as the loss was, newcomer Nicklas Lindberg – who was playing his first game for Orlando at the Amway Center – said that the potential he saw in the team on the road can be tapped into at home with a little work.
“We had a very successful road trip so I think there’s tons of potential here. We played very well on the road trip but got away from it a little bit last game and tonight maybe,” he said. “I think it’s just small adjustments and harder work. We came out not as hard as we should have maybe but we also had a little break here where we couldn’t skate (all-star break). Tomorrow everybody should be back in shape and ready to go.”
The two teams will meet again Thursday and Friday nights at 7 pm with both games at the Amway Center.
Contact the author at Don.money@prohockeynews.com
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