ORLANDO, FLA – Improvement is a word that just about every coach in every sport has used at least a thousand times. In the most general thought process, improvement happens with the more teams play together in practice and in games. Of course, there are those moments when expected improvement fails to happen.
Thursday night at the Amway Center, the Orlando Solar Bears figured to only get better after Saturday’s convincing win over Greenville. Instead, the Solar Bears put in a far-less-than-perfect performance in gutting out a 6-3 victory over the Norfolk Admirals in front of a posted crowd of 4,418.
Eric Faille scored twice and added an assist to lead the way as nine different players hit the score sheet for Orlando (2-0-0-0, 4 points). Lindsay Sparks chipped in with three assists in support of goalie Rob Madore who made 40 saves, many coming in key situations during the final period.
“I think the positive is that we scored six goals. A positive was Rob Madore who made some big saves when we needed them. The only other thing I’ll say is that we need to get a lot better,” Orlando head coach Anthony Noreen said. “[There were] a lot of areas that can use a lot of improvement. We’ll get back to work tomorrow (Friday) and we’ll be better on Saturday night.”
With Toronto Maple Leafs assistant general manager Kyle Dubas among the sets of eyes at the Amway, Orlando fans thought they would see an even better performance than what they witnessed on opening night. What they got however was a contest that could have been an easy ride but turned into something completely different.
Norfolk (1-3-0-0, 2 points) came in off a bad loss to Florida on Wednesday but got an early jump on its hosts. It took only 2:02 of playing time for the Admirals to score when Madore lost the rebound of a Josh Currie shot and Greg Chase converted it into his second goal of the season. Chase’s job was made easier when Madore lost his crease, giving Chase the opportunity to slip the puck around the netminder and into the wide open net.
Noreen obviously got his team’s attention on the bench as the Solar Bears responded with a seven minute barrage that netted them three goals and ended Admirals starting goalie Phillippe Cadorette’s night in a hurry. It all started at the 3:10 mark when Cadorette stoopped a shot by Eric Baier but kicked the rebound into the slot area. Chris Clapperton was in the right place at the right time to one-time the puck into the net for his first score as a Solar Bear.
Eric Faille scored two goals and added an assist Thursday night (Photo courtesy of Fernando Medina/Orlando Solar Bears)
A little over two minutes later, Orlando took the lead thanks to some luck and quick thinking. Sparks put the puck on the stick of Faille who drove toward the net. His initial shot was blocked but the disc came right back to him. Seeing Cadorette down, Faille swung around the cage and deposited a wraparound shot into the twine for his first goal in an Orlando uniform.
“I guess you could say it was kind of a lucky bounce,” Faille said. “I tried to put it on net [but] it came right back to me so I did a kind of a wraparound and put the puck in the net.”
Just past the midpoint of the opening frame, the Sparks-Faille-TJ Foster line was at it again. Sparks again was the setup man, finding Foster alone in the slot for a one-time blast that put the Solar Bears up by two and sent Cadorette to the bench in favor of Ty Rimmer.
Noreen said that seeing Sparks’ line hit the score sheet was a perfect example of the depth of the Orlando lineup.
“We’re not going to be a team that is just going to ride a first line or ride one defensive pair or one goaltender. We feel like we’ve got depth up and down our lineup,” he said. “Lindsay Sparks’ line tonight was probably our best line. They were held off the score sheet the other night. They come out today and score three goals. If you’re going to make a run and you’re going to win hockey games, you need different guys to chip in on different nights.”
Norfolk still had plenty of fight in them, cutting the margin back to one score just over a minute after Foster’s tally. Playing with the power play, Tommy Mele fed the puck to Michael Pelech who was camped right outside Madore’s crease. Pelech made a stick handle move, dragging the puck around the Orlando and slipping it in for his second goal of the year.
The middle stanza was evenly played, most of it being dominated by Rimmer (26 saves) and Madore. The Solar Bears held the lead until late in the period when another defensive lapse bith them. This time it came when Gabriel Verpaelst waled down the slot and beat both defensemen before sliding the puck between Madore’s legs to even the score.
Patrick Watling scored the game-winning goal Thursday against Norfolk (Photo courtesy of Fernando Medina/Orlando Solar Bears)
Coach Noreen’s aggressive style of penalty killing, which netted his team two short-handed tallies in the opener, came into play early in the third. With Zach Bell in the box, defensive pressure forced a takeaway and a clearing attempt back to the point. When the puck was not cleanly handled, Patrick Watling swooped in and raced away on a clean breakaway. He made a couple of moves before beating Rimmer for what proved to be the game-winning goal.
“It was just a jumping puck that came to the defenseman and me and Rode (Jack Rodewald) were going full tilt at him,” Watling said. “The puck went over his stick and I just went around him, pulled it in, made a couple stick ahndles, faked a shot and went five-hole.”
Madore did some of his best work following Watling’s score. He turned away several shots during a second Admirals man advantage. He seemed to be getting stronger ith each successive shot, including denying a flurry of chances with just under six minutes left in regulation.
Running out of time, Norfolk pulled Rimmer for an extra skater but the plan backfired when Rodewald set up Brett Findlay for an empty net tally with 59 seconds left. Faille later added another empty netter for his second of the game to close the scoring.
After the game, Dubas said that based on Saturday’s effort, Thursday’s game was “a disappointment”, especially when it came to the Toronto-assigned players. He added that given the amount of time the Toronto prospects have been together, there was no excuse for taking the foot off the gas.
“The large majority of these players have been together for over a month between Leafs camp, Marlies camp and exhibition season and now the two weeks here,” Dubas said. “If we were Norfolk and we had a game like that I would probably write it off as a cost of doing business early in the season. Here [in Orlando] with the amenities the players have here with the setup that they have and the experience they have together as a unit, I don’t think [a lack of] cohesion and chemistry can be used as an excuse.”
The Solar Bears and Admirals will meet again on Saturday night at the Amway Center. Puck drop is set for 7 pm.
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