DULUTH, GA – Friday night at the Infinite Energy Arena, the host Atlanta Gladiators debuted a new third jersey that saluted the long history of professional hockey in the Atlanta area. When it came to on-ice matters, however, the visiting Orlando Solar Bears did not want to be a footnote, instead turning what could have been a record-setting low into a hard fought win.
Led by two goals and three points from Troy Bourke and a 32-save effort from rookie goalie Corbin Boes, Orlando (11-8-2-0) came away with a 5-4 win over Atlanta (5-11-3-0) in front of an announce crowd of 5,556. Playing on the same line with Bourke, Brady Shaw (goal, 2 assists) and Jonne Tammela (2 assists) gave the trio a combined eight points in just their second game together.
The Solar Bears were outshot in the contest 36-17 but made the most of their chances.
Needing a better effort than what came in last Sunday’s loss to Norfolk, the Solar Bears struggled to find their offense in the first period but what they lacked in quantity, they made up for in quality. Orlando’s first shot on net came 1:48 into the opening period and it lit the goal light. The play started when Tammela shot the puck in the direction of the Atlanta net. It was blocked and bounced to the side of the cage where Bourke grabbed it and quickly backhanded it off the skate of a defender and past Gladiators netminder Miroslav Svoboda for his fifth goal of the season.
Atlanta, which held a 2-1 advantage on the shot clock at the time of Bourke’s tally, controlled the rest of the frame, finishing with a 16-4 shot advantage. Even when they were killing penalties, the Gladiators were on the offensive, tying the game with a short-handed score by Tanner Pond. Pond, who had been assigned back to Atlanta from the AHL earlier in the week, took a feed from Matt Lane and with the defense giving him room, rifled a shot past Boes for his first of the season.
The Gladiators took the lead 4:20 into the second period when Brenden Troock found Derek Nesbitt in space near the slot area. Nesbitt wasted no time, one-timing the feed into the top corner of the net to Boes’ stick side for his fifth of the year.
The Solar Bears broke out their quick-strike offense midway through the frame, netting a pair of goals in a span of 49 seconds. At the 11:47 mark, Mathieu Foget skated into the Atlanta end as part of a two-on-two mini-break during a penalty kill. Foget cut to the center of the ice, sliding the puck between the skates of a defenseman before firing a quick shot that beat Svoboda for his fifth of the season and fourth with Orlando to even the score at 2-2.
Before the public address announcer had even started to relay the official scoring on the Foget tally, the visitors were right back at it. This time it was Shaw, who after coming out of the penalty box, taking a stretch pass from Bourke and busting in on Svoboda. Instead of taking it to the net, Shaw got into the faceoff circle to the goalie’s right and blasted a wicked slap shot that found the back of the net for his team-leading 13th of the season and a 3-2 lead.
Three minutes after Shaw’s goal, Bourke netted his second of the game and sixth of the season. He and Shaw drove to the net on an odd-man chance with Shaw trying to make a pass. The puck was deflected by a defender but it still found Bourke who showed his scoring skills, starting to drag the disc across the crease before tucking it back in the opposite direction to beat the goalie.
The Gladiators were far from done on this night, pulling to within 4-3 before the middle frame was over. Playing with a power play in the final minute, Nesbitt moved the puck to Troock along the boards. He then found Pond with room in front and threaded the needle with a pass. Pond buried the one-timer from the low slot for his second of the game.
Playing on the defensive at the start of the third, the Solar Bears had to depend on Boes to hold the fort and the rookie did just that. Time after time he turned away shots from Atlanta players. With Boes standing tall, his teammates got him a bit of a cushion at the 12:55 mark when Otto Somppi, who was playing in his first game after being assigned to the Solar Bears by Tampa, slid a perfect pass to Cody Donaghey who blasted a one-time shot home from the left faceoff circle for his third of the season and second in as many games.
Atlanta again pulled within one with five minutes remaining in regulation when Nolan LaPorte set up Brett McKenzie for a drive from the slot that beat Boes for his fifth of the year. That was as close as the Gladiators got as Boes and the Solar Bears hung on for the win.
Notes: Orlando again struggled on the power play, going 0-for-2 while Atlanta was 1-for-3 with the man advantage… Tammela’s two assists extended his point streak to four games (2 goals, 5 assists)… The Solar Bears 17 shots on net were a season low… Prior to arriving in Duluth, the Solar Bears named defenseman Mike Monfredo as the franchise’s sixth captain. The assistant captains are Brady Shaw and Curt Gogol. With Gogol placed on the injured reserve list on Thursday, Troy Bourke filled in as the second assistant captain… Solar Bears defenseman Nolan Valleau, who is up in Syracuse with the AHL Crunch on a PTO, was given a full AHL contract for the rest of the 2018-19 season. The deal also has an option for next year… Orlando headed right back south after the game to prepare for a meeting with the Greenville Swamp Rabbits on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. at the Amway Center.
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