ORLANDO, FLA – Having spent the last five games – including Wednesday’s “home away from home” game against the Florida Everblades – on the road, the Orlando Solar Bears had every excuse in the world to come out flat Thursday night against the Norfolk Admirals. The flat lasted all of one period before Central Florida’s hockey team figured out a way to win.
Orlando’s Daniel Maggio (18, purple) sweeps the puck past Norfolk goalie Brandon Anderson in Thursday’s game (Photo courtesy of Fernando Medina / Orlando Solar Bears)
Four different players scored goals while five others added assists as the host Solar Bears (25-18-6-2, 58 points) bested the Admirals (18-27-4-0, 40 points) 4-2 in front of an announced crowd of 4,292 at the Amway Center. With the win, Orlando moved ahead of idle South Carolina into third place in the ECHL’s South division while moving within one point of second place Greenville, which defeated Manchester 4-3 in overtime.
Joe Perry, Mason Marchment, Daniel Maggio and Chris Crane all lit the goal light for the Solar Bears with Maggio’s first score as a member of the Orlando roster becoming the game-winner. It all came in support of goalie Kasimir Kaskisuo who made 32 saves in earning his twelfth victory of the season.
“I think every time you go on the road and you come back, you have a little bit of a lull,” Orlando head coach Drake Berehowsky said about the win.”Our guys battled through it and we were fortunate to get the two points tonight.”
After getting in late following Wednesday’s overtime loss to the Everblades – a game which Berehowsky said was “a great game” by his squad despite the outcome – the Solar Bears seemed a bit slow out of the gates. Norfolk, playing much better under head coach Robbie Ftorek since he replaced Rod Aldoff, did not fare much better in the opening frame as the two teams appeared to be spending as much sizing up the opponent – an easy thing to do since the franchises meet so infrequently. The closest either team came to scoring in the first period was when Norfolk’s Ben Murphy beat Kaskisuo with a shot but the puck hit square on the crossbar and bounced harmlessly away.
Whatever Berehowsky said in between periods to his team ended up being a solid wake-up call as the Solar Bears came out pushing things in the second. Marchment and Alex Gacek both had golden opportunities to open the scoring but Norfolk netminder Brandon Anderson was equal to the task.
The home team finally got the crowd onto its feet with the first goal of the game 7:11 into the middle frame. Defenseman Ben Danford activated into the play in the Norfolk defensive zone, working the puck to Shane Conacher. Conacher then promptly fed the disc to Perry in the high slot and he did the rest, firing a shot high over Anderson’s catching glove for his 26th goal of the season, tying his career best and bringing him within one of Mickey Lang’s single-season ECHL franchise mark of 27 set during the 2013-14 season.
“[It was a] great pass by Conny [Conacher] there. I was just trying to find the soft area in the middle of the ice and get a quick shot away,” Perry said. “Luckily it found the back of the net.”
The momentum from Perry’s tally continued for the next two shifts and helped produce the second score of the game. Alex Gacek got control of the puck along the half boards and saw Marchment streaking past him into the face-off circle to Anderson’s right. Gacek put the puck on Marchment’s tape and the rookie ripped a shot past the netminder’s blocker glove. For Marchment, it was his seventh goal of the season.
Norfolk, which brought a 12.8 percent power play success rate into the contest, was able to trim Orlando’s lead in half with a man advantage tally of its own. One time Solar Bear T.J. Foster worked a pass down low to John Dunbar below the goal line. Dunbar found a seam and threaded a pass to Domenic Alberga who was standing at the post to Kaskisuo’s left all alone and the big forward popped it past the Solar Bears netminder for his fifth of the season.
The margin remained 2-1 in favor of the Solar Bears well into the third period when the home team got some breathing room thanks to a power play score. It came at the 11:21 mark when Patrick Watling (two assists) sent the puck back to Brenden Miller at the point. Miller unloaded a shot that skidded between Anderson’s legs. Maggio was able to reach across the crease and backhand the rebound home.
Maggio, who had spent time with both the Toronto Marlies and the Solar Bears as a forward before necessity moved him back to the blue line, said that he is getting more and more at ease playing where the team needs him whether it is at forward or on defense.
“I grew up playing defense so I feel more comfortable as the games are going on,” Maggio said. “Wherever coach puts me, I’m just happy to be playing and I’m going to work hard and try to help the team win.”
Ftorek pulled Anderson (38 saves) with a little over two minutes left and the strategy worked when Frankie Simonelli took a feed from former Solar Bear Brady Vail and zipped a seeing-eye shot past Kaskisuo with 2:04 left in regulation. The Admirals applied a ton of pressure in the closing minutes but the Solar Bears held the fort. Crane sealed the win when he grabbed the puck in the near side corner in his own defensive end and lofted it down the ice, nailing the center of the empty net for his thirteenth goal of the season (tenth as a Solar Bear) with 21.3 ticks left on the clock.
Perry said that playing the same team three times in four days – the very situation that the Solar Bears and Admirals find themselves in – could be an advantage.
“I guess you can kind of figure out their tendencies a little more,” Perry said. “We’re obviously going to look back at video from last night (Thursday) for tomorrow’s game, see where we can improve, see where their weaknesses are maybe and try and take advantage of that.”
Berehowsky, never one to tip his hand on a game plan, was tight-lipped about what he had learned that could be used in both Friday’s and Sunday’s meetings.
“I don’t want to tell you because we still have to play them two more games,” Berehowsky coyly said. “They’re a good team. They’ve got lots of talent and we have our work cut out for us the next two games.”
Notes: Both teams finished the game 1-for-2 on the power play… Perry’s career high of 26 goals, which he matched Thursday night, was set while he was with Quad City during his rookie season in 2014-15. Lang’s franchise record was set in 37 games… Orlando played without forward Austin Block who was given a one-game suspension for a slewfoot on Florida’s Curt Gogol in Wednesday’s game… Puck drop for Friday’s rematch with Norfolk is set for 7 p.m. while Sunday’s series finale is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
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