ESTERO, FLA – Saturday night at Hertz Arena, the Orlando Solar Bears and Florida Everblades played in their final games prior to the ECHL’s Christmas break. Given the fact that it was the third game in three nights between the two bitter rivals, the outcome was guaranteed to leave one side filled with joy while the other felt like it had gotten a large lump of coal in its stockings.
In this particular case, however, it was the fans who ended up with the best gift of all – an intense contest that gave them a little extra.
In a see-saw battle that showed why these two franchises always try to give each other their best, Justin Auger’s goal 3:17 into overtime gave the host Everblades (18-6-5-0) a thrilling 6-5 victory over the Solar Bears (14-11-3-0) in front of an announced crowd of 6,290. Auger’s heroics overshadowed two big performances from defensemen as Orlando’s Cody Donaghey and Florida’s Derek Sheppard each recorded two goals and an assist in the contest.
After splitting the first two games of the three game set, neither team wanted to go into the break on a losing note. Orlando’s challenge was to give rookie netminder Corbin Boes, who was pressed into service for the first time since December 9th due to the AHL callup of Martin Ouellette, a fighting chance against the Everblades offense while Florida was looking to defend its home ice against the visitors from Central Florida. What eventually transpired was a back-and-forth affair that saw both sides mount quick strike comebacks in a memorable third period.
Boes was the star in the opening period as the Everblades went on the offensive but the young Solar Bears goalie stood tall. He faced three Florida power plays in the first frame, turning away every shot for a perfect ten-save stanza.
The Solar Bears rewarded Boes with the game’s opening score three minutes in. It was a perfect play as Chris LeBlanc won an offensive zone faceoff back to Donaghey at the point. Donaghey, a San Jose assigned player, let go with a hard blast that beat Florida netminder Jeremy Helvig through a screen for the blueliner’s fifth goal of the season.
Not satisfied with trailing after one, the Everblades put on a three-goal blitz in the back half of the second period to gain control. Playing with a two-man advantage, Everblades forward Zach Nastasiuk took advantage of the extra room to net his ninth of the year. Starting to the left of Boes, Nastasiuk was allowed to skate right to the crease area and tuck the puck around the goalie on the other side of the net for the score.
Sheppard gave the home team the lead just shy of four minutes later on a transition rush. Following a successful penalty kill, Sheppard broke out with Kyle Platzer and Shane Walsh on an odd-man rush. Once in the Orlando end, the trio traded passes until Walsh set up Sheppard for a wide open shot that found the back of the net for his eighth of the season. One time Solar Bear Matt Finn then pushed the margin to 3-1 when he followed his own rebound and beat Boes for his second and the Everblades second tally in 43 seconds.
Orlando refused to give up and cut the margin in half before the middle frame was over. With a delayed penalty coming on the Everblades, Ryan Lough looped from along the boards to the center of the ice near the blueline. He closed into the high slot and lasered a shot past Helvig for his first goal of the year.
If anyone in the arena was impressed with the Everblades run of three goals in 4:23 in the second, the Solar Bears had their heads spinning early in the third. Playing on a 4-on-3 power play, Michael Brodzinski put the puck on Donaghey’s stick and the St. John’s, Newfoundland native did the rest, blowing a shot into the back of the net for his second of the game and sixth of the season at 4:05.
Seconds later – 29 to be exact – Orlando captain Mike Monfredo saw an opening on the back door and snuck up to within a handful of feet from the net. Mitch Hults saw Monfredo and threaded a pass that the big blueliner sent past Helvig for his third of the year and a 4-3 Solar Bears lead. Twenty-four ticks after that, Donaghey made abeautiful stretch pass to send LeBlanc on a breakaway. LeBlanc finished it off by netting his fourth goal at 4:58, giving Orlando three goals in a span of just 53 seconds to go frome one down to up 5-3.
Tempers, as usual a key component of any Solar Bears-Everblades battle, flared a couple of minutes after LeBlanc’s tally. Following a whistle stopping play, Orlando’s Monfredo and Florida’s Mitch Vandergunst tangled at center ice. Neither player had much of an advantage as the linesmen moved in quickly to squelch the battle. Both players received fighting majors and ten minute misconducts with an extra two going to Vandergunst for instigating but the ensuing Solar Bears power play failed to connect.
Florida never gives in easily and the Everblades had no intentions of doing so to their in-state rivals. At the 12:29 mark, Auger got the puck to Sheppard who faked his way around one defender before skating into the mid-slot area. From there, he rifled a shot off the underside of the crossbar and in for his second of the night and ninth of the season.
A power play opportunity with 1:37 left in regulation allowed Everblades head coach Brad Ralph to pull Helvig (16 saves) for an extra attacker and a six-on-four advantage. That was all Florida needed as with a Solar Bears defender breaking a stick to make it essentially a six-on-three opportunity, sniper John McCarron cashed in a rebound with 1:28 to go for his 14th of the season and a 5-5 tie.
The teams went up and down the ice during the three-on-three overtime period with not much to choose between them. Then with 1:43 remaining before a potential shootout, Aguer took a feed from Logan Roe and fired through some traffic, scoring the game winner on his fifth goal of the year.
Prior to the game, Orlando announced a series of transactions. The first was receiving forward Justin Kea from Fort Wayne to make good on the voided transaction that had sent Aiden Muir from the Komets to the Solar Bears (Muir failed a physical and was returned to Fort Wayne). Orlando Head Coach and General Manager Drake Berehowsky immediately turned Kea around and sent him to Toledo in return for two future considerations. In a separate deal, Reading sent goalie Charlie Millen to Orlando for future considerations. Millen had a short stint with the Solar Bears late in the 2016-17 season, filling in for an injured Ryan Massa but never getting an opportunity to play.
Notes: Final shots favored Florida 45-21… The Solar Bears went 1-for-6 on the power play, giving them at least one man advantage score in four straight games. The Everblades were successful on two of seven opportunities on the power play… Bobby Fowler was signed by Orlando as an emergency backup goalie (EBUG) to fill in for Ouellette… The Solar Bears three goals in 53 seconds missed tying the franchise record by three seconds. On January 18, 2014, Orlando netted three in 50 seconds against Florida, a game that ended in a 6-5 loss in regulation… Orlando is now 3-1-1-0 against Florida this season… With a goal and an assist, LeBlanc notched his second consecutive multi-point game while Hults extended his point streak to three games (3 goals, 1 assist)… The Solar Bears are off until Thursday when they start a three-in-three set against the Jacksonville Icemen in Jacksonville.
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