WEST VALLEY CITY, UT – For the first time in franchise history, the Orlando Solar Bears found themselves at the Mavrik Center to face the Utah Grizzlies on Friday night. Riding a two-game winning streak, the visitors from Central Florida were looking for another solid outing and a third straight road win.
Unfortunately, the bears from Florida met up with some northern grizzlies who were in no mood to lose.
J.C. Brassard scored 1:52 into overtime to lift Utah (5-7-2-1) to a thrilling 2-1 victory over Orlando (5-7-2-1) in front of an announced crowd of 5,327. Grizzlies goalie Hunter Miska made 29 saves to post his first win in a Utah jersey, outdueling Solar Bears netminder Clint Windsor who stopped 31 in a losing effort.
Brassard’s goal, his second of the season, came with a little bit of luck to it. Jack Jenkins sent the puck toward the Orlando net and it ended up in the skates of Solar Bears defenseman Michael Brodzinski. Brassard was able to dig the disc out and send it past Windsor to close the contest.
With the Grizzlies having won just twice in their last ten games and the Solar Bears coming off of an impressive win over Idaho two nights earlier, the visitors had a good deal of confidence going into Friday’s contest. Orlando was however missing a key offensive piece as forward Hunter Fejes was in Toronto meeting the AHL’s Manitoba Moose after agreeing to a PTO earlier in the day.
Miska, who was playing in his first game since being assigned to Utah by the AHL’s Colorado Eagles, was tested early on when Solar Bears forward Dylan Fitze broke in all alone on the third year pro netminder. Miska denied Fitze with a glove save to keep the game scoreless.
Seven minutes into the opening frame, the Solar Bears were hit with a penalty that put them on the penalty kill. Riding a streak of eleven games without giving up a power play goal, Orlando set out to kill off the Utah man advantage. This time, however, the Solar Bears were not able to successfully fend off a score when Joe Wegwerth set up Eric Williams who beat Windsor for his second of the season and a 1-0 Grizzlies lead. Felix Lauzon had the secondary assist on the tally for his first professional helper.
Seconds later, Orlando went on a power play of its own and worked the puck around the Utah end of the ice in fine fashion. Solar Bears rookie forward Jake Coughler nearly evened the score when he put a shot on net that beat Miska but the puck nailed the post and bounded harmlessly away.
Coughler found himself in the middle of things not too long after when he squared off with Utah’s Teigan Zahn. The two combatants put on a spirited battle that had the crowd and both benches cheering loudly when the linesmen stepped in.
Late in the frame, the Solar Bears found their offense and were able to even the score. It came at the 17:38 mark when a shot by Kevin Lohan hit something in front of the net. It caromed to the side where Chris LeBlanc was able to corral it and shovel a backhander past Miska for his team leading fourth goal of the season and a 1-1 tie.
The second period was a showcase for the goalies and penalty killers. Windsor, who was playing in his first game since November 13th, was on point in the frame. He saw fifteen Utah shots come his way and stopped all of them. Miska was equally good, turning away twelve Orlando attempts. The teams combined to go 0-for-5 on the power play as each sides’ defenses stepped up and played solidly.
With the score tied at one heading into the final twenty minutes of regulation, both benches knew that the next goal to be scored would be huge. It drove up the tension on the ice, especially when Orlando’s Tayler Thompson and Utah’s Peter Tischke tussled at the 4:21 mark with both heading off with roughing minors.
Those matching penalties came after the Grizzlies started the frame with four shots in a span of 3:29 that tested Windsor. The Orlando netminder found himself under fire again four minutes later when Yuri Terao and Lauzon had back-to-back chances within a span of three seconds but he made both saves.
At the other end, Miska had his best save of the final twenty minutes when he fended off a drive to the net by Thompson with just over four minutes left in regulation. Between them, the two netminders combined for a second consecutive period with a clean sheet as Windsor stopped eleven and Miska stopped ten to send the game to an extra period.
Terao nearly ended the game a little over a minute into the overtime when he got one past the Orlando goalie but the ring of iron was heard throughout the building. It was only a matter of seconds later when Brassard succeeded in lighting the goal light to end the game.
The two teams will finish their season series Saturday night with a return match at the Mavrik Center at 7:10 p.m. Mountain time (9:10 p.m. Eastern).
Notes: Final shots were 33-30 in favor of Utah… The Solar Bears went 0-for-4 on the power play while the Grizzlies were 1-for-5 with the man advantage… Friday’s meeting was the first since the 2016-17 season when the Solar Bears and the Grizzlies split a pair of games at the Amway Center in Orlando.
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