Johnny McInnis (21, grey) scored the game-winning goal in Orlando’s shootout win Friday night (Photo courtesy of F. Medina & G. Bassing / Orlando Solar Bears)
ORLANDO, FLA – It may be Valentine’s Day weekend and Heart Health Awareness month but the Orlando Solar Bears showed a third definition of “heart” Friday night. It was the kind of heart that might just get them to the post-season.
Johnny McInnis scored in the fourth round of a shootout to give the Solar Bears (20-19-2-4, 46 points) a 2-1 victory over the Atlanta Gladiators (26-17-3-2, 57 points) at the Amway Center. It was Orlando’s third consecutive victory overall and second straight at home – the first time the team has put together back-to-back wins at the Amway since October.
It was a gutsy performance, one that head coach Anthony Noreen was as proud of as much as getting two points on home ice.
“I think people from the outside looking in maybe don’t realize what the roster looked like tonight and what our lineup looked like tonight compared to what it usually is. The horses were missing that play huge roles for us and big minutes,” Noreen said after the victory. “Some guys had to step up. We knew it had to be a gutsy type victory. For me, [it was] probably as gutsy a victory as we’ve had all year. I was proud of the guys for that.”
Gutsy may be a bit of an understatement. The Solar Bears, who were already missing Rylan Schwartz (up with the Toronto Marlies), also ended up minus rookie forward T.J. Foster. It left Noreen short a ninth forward – that is until Austin Block (acquired in a trade with Manchester announced earlier in the day) literally got off an airplane and arrived at the arena minutes before the opening puck drop.
Orlando’s nine forward, seven defensemen lineup got off to a bit of a slow start but goalie Ryan Massa held his team in the contest early. His biggest early save came when he stared down Atlanta’s Derek Nesbitt – the team leader with 22 goals – on a clean break-in after a neutral zone turnover.
“I thought Ryan did a really good job, especially early,” Noreen said about Massa. “Those first couple of minutes, they had us on the ropes a bit.”
The Gladiators did manage to open the scoring thanks to a man advantage opportunity. With Jack Rodewald in the penalty box, Atlanta worked the puck around to defenseman Matt Register who blasted a shot from the blueline. Massa made the save but failed to control the rebound. It bounced out to Thomas Frazee who, with no defender near him, shoveled it home for his eighth goal of the season.
At the other end of the ice, one time Solar Bear Kent Patterson was doing everything in his power to defend the Gladiators’ net. Time after time he was in position to fend off scoring chances by the Solar Bears, stopping all ten he faced in the opening stanza.
Atlanta took its lead into the middle frame and had another chance on the power play to increase the margin. Orlando’s penalty killing units stool tall, not allowing a shot on Massa during the disadvantage situation.
Seconds after killing the Gladiators’ power play, the Solar Bears evened the score. The key play came from defenseman Rory Rawlyk, who sent a perfect indirect pass off the opposite side boards to a streaking Matt Rupert. Rupert fielded the pass and busted into the Atlanta end, getting to the base of the circle to Patterson’s right before sniping a perfect shot over the netminder’s catching glove into the top corner of the net. It was Rupert’s tenth goal of the season and could not have come at a better time.
The teams remained even through the second period into the third. Massa (30 saves) and Patterson (31 saves) continued to one-up each other in a do-or-die, playoff-like struggle. The announced crowd of 5,366 was on pins and needles throughout the final twenty minutes waiting to see which team would score.
With the goalies setting the pace, the game headed to overtime where once again neither team was able to end the contest.
In the shootout, neither netminder flinched so on it continued into the first sudden death round. Justin Buzzeo went first, driving at Massa before firing a shot that the rookie goalie stopped with his left arm.
That set the stage for McInnis. The Boston-area native skated straight down the slot and fired a wicked wrist shot that beat Patterson low to the glove side to win the game.
“I saw a bunch of guys go before me make moves and fail [or] lose the puck a little bit,” McInnis said about his strategy. “I said before I went out there I’m shooting it. I’ll just kind of take what he gives me and I put it over his pad under his glove and it went in.”
Asked if the second straight win at home was the start of a positive turnaround, McInnis said that it is a sign that the young roster is beginning to mature and learn how to win.
“We’ve got a lot of young guys in the room that came from major junior [hockey] and are still learning how to win at this level. It’s a little different. You can’t do everything yourself,” he said. “I think we’re starting to learn how to win close games at home and [it’s] kind of the right time of the year to kind of make a run here. We need it.”
The two teams will square off again Saturday night in Orlando. Game time is set for 7 pm.
Contact the author at Don.money@prohockeynews.com
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