JACKSONVILLE, FLA – In the wake of losing a game, any team wants to get right back on the proverbial horse and return to the win column. That certainly applied to the Orlando Solar Bears when their bus rolled into Jacksonville to take on the host Icemen at the Vystar Vereans Memorial Arena on Sunday. After falling to South Carolina on Saturday, rebounding with a victory was the only remedy the Solar Bears wanted to take.
Michael Brodzinski collected his 82nd and 83rd career assists with Orlando on Sunday, setting a new franchise record (PHN photo / Trina Kirk)
When they walked out of the building to head back to Orlando, the Solar Bears had to feel a whole lot better.
Led by multi-point games from Odeen Tufto (goal, assist), Tyler Bird (goal, assist) and Michael Brodzinski (2 assists), Orlando (28-22-4-0) defeated host Jacksonville (30-17-2-2) by a final of 4-2 in front of an announced crowd of 4,832. Dylan Fitze and Tristin Langan had the other two goals for the Solar Bears while goalie Brad Barone made 23 saves to grab his league-leading 21st victory of the season.
Within the scoresheet, both Langan and Brodzinski had noteworthy events. Brodzinski’s two helpers put him at the top of the franchise’s list for most assists in Solar Bears history with 83. Langan’s tally was his 53rd in an Orlando jersey, tying him with Joe Perry for most goals in the history of the ECHL Solar Bears.
Playing their fourth game in five days, the Solar Bears seemed a bit sluggish in the first period. The Icemen wanted to take advantage but Barone, playing in his 19th consecutive game, had other ideas. He turned away all nine Jacksonville shots in the opening frame while his counterpart, Francois Brassard, stopped all four shots the Solar Bears were credited with.
The visitors regained their wind at the intermission and came out gunning in the second, connecting for a pair of goals in the first 3:19 of the period. First at the 2:51 mark, Fitze and Jake Transit worked themselves into a rush, playing a little give-and-go. Eventually Transit set up Fitze who buried a shot behind Brassard for his second in as many games and ninth goal of the season.
Seconds later, Jacksonville’s Craig Martin was called for a high-sticking penalty, putting the Solar Bears on the power play. It took all of 13 seconds for Orlando to win the offensive zone faceoff and work the puck around the perimeter of the zone to Tufto who blasted a one-timer home for his sixth of the year and a 2-0 lead.
Turnabout was fair play as the Icemen responded at the 8:59 mark with a man advantage goal of their own. With Bird in the box for hooking, Jacksonville worked the umbrella around the offensive zone. Eventually Jake Elmer tried to make a pass to Martin who was in a soft spot in the slot. Although the feed was not clean, Martin did gain control and using Derek Lodermeier as a screen, beat Barone with a wrist shot for his 15th of the season, cutting the deficit to 2-1.
Clinging to their one-goal lead starting the third, the Solar Bears needed some insurance. They got it less than a minute in when Bird and Shawn Element combined forces to set up Langan for his 12th goal of the 2021-22 campaign. A couple of minutes after that, it looked like the Icemen had again trimmed the margin but the referee ruled that Steve Oleksy had been deliberately shoved into Barone by Lodermeier and waived off the tally.
Goalie Brad Barone made 23 saves to pick up his league-leading 21st win of the season on Sunday (PHN photo / Trina Kirk)
It was an important point in the contest because at the 5:22 mark, Brodzinski made a costly error. He tried to go up the middle with a pass from behind the net but instead put the puck on the stick blade of Brendan Harris. Harris wasted no time in whipping a wrister from point blank range past Barone for his fifth goal of the season and officially making it a 3-2 contest.
That would be as close as the Icemen would get as Barone locked down his cage. He turned away the final five Jacksonville shots he faced. Bird sealed the deal with an empty net score for his 14th of the season set up by Tufto and Brodzinski in the final minute.
After a couple of days off, Orlando will head up to Jacksonville on Wednesday for the front end of a home-and-home set with the Icemen. The teams will then bus down to the City Beautiful for the rematch on Thursday.
Notes: Finalshots were 25-20 in favor of Jacksonville… The Solar Bears went 1-for-2 on the power play while the Icemen were 1-for-5… Orlando leads the season series with Jacksonville 6-4… Tufto’s goal ended a nine-game drought for the Tampa Bay Lightning prospect… With his win, Barone tied Garret Sparks for fourth on the all-time Solar Bears list for most win by an Orlando goalie in a single season.
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
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