NORTH CHARLESTON, SC – It had been a while since the Orlando Solar Bears had scored more than three goals – February 13th against the Florida Everblades to be exact – so when the boys from Central Florida pulled into the North Charleston Coliseum on Friday night, they were chomping at the bit to have a breakout game. Standing in their way were the South Carolina Stingrays who were in the middle of a season that they would rather forget the way things have gone so far.
The Stingrays did what they thought would bring them a win by scoring three times. This time, however, the Solar Bears found their scoring sticks at the right time and lit the goal light just enough times to survive.
Led by a four-assist night from defenseman Michael Brodzinski and three more helpers from Odeen Tufto, Orlando (27-21-4-0) came away with a come-from-behind win over the host Stingrays (17-29-6-0) by a final of 4-3. The victory was the Solar Bears second straight and gave them points in their last three contests.
Luke Boka, Tristin Langan, Shawn Element and Maxim Cajkovic had the goals for the visitors. Element’s tied the game midway through the third period before Cajkovic bagged his second ECHL tally on a partial breakaway with a little over five minutes remaining in regulation to give Orlando its only lead of the night when it mattered the most.
After a first period that saw Orlando goalie Brad Barone, who was starting his 17th consecutive game, turn away not one but two breakaway chances (Cam Strong early and Derek Gentile late) on the way to a scoreless frame, things got hectic in the second.
Two minutes and 39 seconds into the period, South Carolina opened the scoring. Entering the Solar Bears defensive zone, Carter Cowlthorp slid a pass to Jade Miller who raced along the near wing. He circled the net and beat Barone to the far side post, slamming the wraparound home for his 10th goal of the season. A little over a minute later at 3:47, the Stingrays lead doubled. Captain Andrew Cherniwchan made the key play, knocking an aerial puck down with his glove and quickly shoveling a feed to Justin Florek inside the far side circle. Barone made the stop on Florek’s initial shot but the power forward followed the play and put the rebound between the goalie’s legs for his 15th and a 2-0 lead for the home team.
The Stingrays may have had control of the front end of the stanza but the Solar Bears took the momentum back in the back half. A delay of game penalty to South Carolina’s Nick Isaacson gifted Orlando a power play 11:14 in and the visitors took advantage. Less than a minute into the man advantage, Tufto slotted a pass to Brodzinski in the center of the blueline. Brodzinski quickly snapped a wrist shot toward the net where Boka, standing with his back to Stingrays netminder Ryan Bednard, got his stick on the puck and redirected it in. For Boka, it was his 13th goal of the year, tying him for the team lead with Tyler Bird.
Boosted by the Boka goal, the Solar Bears began to push hard and just under five minutes later found the equalizer. Langan took a stretch pass from Nolan Valleau and led a three-man charge into the South Carolina end. Langan went straight at the lone Stingrays defender, pushing him back. When Langan got level with the faceoff dot, he rifled a shot past Bednard for his 11th and sending the game to the third even at two.
South Carolina rebounded to regain the lead four minutes into the final frame. Working with the puck along the side boards, Ryan Dmowski found a lane between two defenders and skated through the near side circle toward the slot. Seeing he had plenty of room, Dmowski fired away and beat Barone for his 14th of the season to make it a 3-2 game.
As the period approached its midpoint, again the Solar Bears needed a spark. They found it in the teamwork provided by Brodzinski and Tufto. The pair played a little give-and-go game, setting up Brodzinski in the high slot. The blueliner skimmed a shot along the ice in the firection of Element, who was further down toward the cage with his stickblade in the shooting lane. The puck hit Element’s stick and arced over Bednard’s shoulder and in, giving Element his second goal and his team new life at 3-3.
Four minutes and change later, Orlando grabbed its first lead of the night thanks to a bluelind stand. The Stingrays had numbers approaching the Solar Bears zone. Tufto, Brodzinski and a couple other teammates jammed the line, forcing a turnover. As the puck changed hands, Cajkovic headed toward center ice where Brodzinski hit him with a stretch pass. Cajkovic split the defense and skated free, eventually snapping a wrister past Bednard’s glove hand for his second of the season.
In the closing minutes and with Bednard pulled for an extra attacker, the Stingrays nearly tied the score. Gentile carried in and got loose, looking like he was going to fire. Instead, he saw Isaacson beating a defender to the post on the backside of the rush. Gentile’s pass to Isaacson was not perfect, ending up connecting with Isaacson’s stick on the heel instead of the toe. The puck grazed the post and skidded across the crease, going under the diving Barone and out the near side. It was the best chance the Stingrays had as the final seconds ticked off.
Barone finished the night with 37 saves in picking up his 20th win of the season (tops in the ECHL this season) and setting a new professional career high for himself. Bednard was almost as good, stopping 38 Orlando shots in taking the loss.
The two teams will finish their weekend set Saturday night at 6:05 p.m. at the North Charleston Coliseum.
Notes: Final shots were 42-40 in favor of Orlando… The Solar Bears went 1-for-2 on the power play while the Stingrays were 0-for-2. The man advantage score by Orlando’s Boka was the team’s first since February 13th… Brodzinski’s four assists gave him 81 for his career with Orlando, putting him one behind Chris LeBlanc for most career helpers in franchise history… Barone joined Clint Windsor (23 in 2020-21), Ryan Massa (22 in 2016-17) and Garret Sparks (21 in 2014-15) as the only four goalies in team history to hit the 20-win plateau.
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