NORTH CHARLESTON, SC – On Friday night, the Orlando Solar Bears started in the worst way against the South Carolina Stingrays but somehow turned things around for a big win. Saturday night, they returned to the North Charleston Coliseum looking to play a full 60-minute game and grab another two points.
They started off fairly well but their finish was nothing to write home about.
Led by two goals each from Dylan Steman and Cameron Askew, the host Stingrays (16-13-6-2) flipped the script from the night before, coming from two early deficits to take down Orlando (20-14-3-1) by a final of 6-3 in front of a COVID-restricted crowd of 2,650 on Marvel Comics night. Twelve different South Carolina players had at least one point in support of goalie Alex Dubeau who stopped 29 of 32 Solar Bears shots to earn the victory.
Orlando was led by Tyler Bird, who netted a pair of goals in the first period to give the Solar Bears a slim 2-1 lead after twenty minutes. Then the roof caved in as the home team connected for five goals over the final forty to win going away.
Getting his second start since joining the Orlando roster ten days ago, rookie Kris Oldham had his eye on replicating his performance last Saturday against Jacksonville which turned into his first professional win. His teammates had plenty of opportunities to help the youngster out with three power plays in the first 11:30 of the opening period but they failed to cash in.
Bird opened the scoring at the 12:51 mark of the first during a short-handed situation. Aaron Luchuk did the heavy lifting on the play, carrying the puck through center ice into the Stingrays end. Bird busted his tail to join into the play and took Luchuk’s pass in the slot area. Bird settled the puck and wired a shot past Dubeau for his seventh goal of the season to put the visitors up 1-0.
Late in the frame, Askew evened things up for the Stingrays. Taking a stretch pass from Max Gottlieb, Askew skated straight at the Orlando defense causing them to back in. It gave Askew enough room to fire a shot past Oldham from the slot for his fifth goal of the year.
Just seconds later, 34 to be exact, Bird scored his second of the night with a play that will be worthy of the league’s plays of the week. Tristin Langan carried the puck along the near boards into the Stingrays end. He proceeded to flip an aerial pass to the slot where Bird, using his stick like a baseball bat, knocked it into the cage for his second of the night and eighth of the season. The officials reviewed the play and determined that Bird had kept his stick below the crossbar when striking the puck, making it a good goal.
Following a fight between Orlando’s Kevin Lohan and South Carolina’s Mark Cooper 47 ticks into the middle frame, the teams traded penalties which created a four-on-four situation. After the Stingrays penalty expired, Solar Bears captain Chris LeBlanc had a clean breakaway during the penalty kill. LeBlanc was turned away by Dubeau, who also thwarted the rebound attempt, keeping the game a one-goal contest.
Not too long after Dubeau’s twin saves, the Stingrays took the game over. At the 7:00 mark, Askew netted his second of the night when he pushed home a loose puck that was in the crease. The play started when Oldham stopped a shot from the point. The rebound fell to the ice and a scramble ensued with Marc Johnstone poking it loose and off the post. It skidded across the goal line where Askew shoved it across for his sixth of the year.
Just 1:40 later, Steman put South Carolina in front for good with a play that was part luck and part a heads up play. He took a pass from Dan DeSalvo and uncorked a shot that whistled over Oldham’s head. It crashed into the glass behind the cage with enough force to propel it back above the goal line. Steman followed his shot and before Oldham could find it, the puck was in the back of the net for Steman’s ninth of the year and a 3-2 South Carolina lead.
The game remained a one-goal affair until the middle of the third when the home team broke the contest wide open. Cooper took a pass down low and drove along the goal line to the front of the net. As he got to the crease, he was somehow able to slip the puck under Oldham (25 saves) and in for his fifth of the season. One minute and two seconds later, Steman took the same route as Cooper did, bull rushing the cage after fighting off an Orlando defender and netting his second of the night and 10th of the 20-21 campaign.
Down by three with time starting to tick away, the Solar Bears got one back off the stick of Joseph Garreffa. Garreffa, one of the players assigned to Orlando by AHL San Jose, was in the right place to collect a Stingrays defensive zone turnover and beat Dubeau for his 10th goal of the season and his first with the Solar Bears at the 11:37 mark of the period.
South Carolina finished the scoring for the night with a little over five minutes left in regulation. Tim Harrison and Steman did some hard work digging for the puck behind the Orlando net. Steman ended up with it and fed Brett Supinski who was alone in front. Supinski buried his shot into the net for his ninth, putting the game out of reach for the visitors.
The two teams will finish their three games in three days set with the rubber game Sunday afternoon at the North Charleston Coliseum. Game time is set for 3:05 p.m.
Notes: Finals shots were 32 to 32 in favor of Orlando… Both teams finished the night 0-for-4 on the power play… Orlando now holds a 3-1-0-0 lead over South Carolina in their head-to-head season series… Bird’s shorthanded goal was Orlando’s fifth of the season.
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