ORLANDO, FLA – The 2015 portion of the ECHL schedule was not so kind to the Orlando Solar Bears, especially the stretch between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve. So far in 2016, if you asked every member of the team how the new year has been, they would probably tell you the same thing: it is perfect.
Saturday night at the Amway Center, Jack Rodewald had his second straight multi-point night while goalie Ryan Massa was near perfect as the Solar Bears (12-13-2-3, 29 points) defeated the Florida Everblades (22-11-0-0, 44 points) 3-1 in front of an announced crowd of 7,661 and significantly more at home watching on local television. The win was Orlando’s second in as many nights over the South division leaders and gave the Solar Bears their second win in the first two nights of the new year.
“I thought it was something that we certainly felt coming after Christmas. I thought we played a couple of good hockey games an came [up] on the wrong side of them,” Solar Bears Head Coach Anthony Noreen said. “As we’ve preached to these guys all year, just stick to it, keep getting better, don’t worry about the past [and] let’s look forward. I thought our guys did a really good job the last two nights. Both of them, no matter what the score was [or] what the situation was, I thought we kept playing our game. That’s what you’re supposed to do. That’s what pros do. That’s what men do and I think our guys are growing into that every day.”
Rodewald, who had two assists on Friday, opened the scoring three and a half minutes into the opening frame. Taking a pass from Brady Vail, Rodewald skated into position for a shot that Florida goalie Anthony Peters stopped. Rodewald kept coming and shoveled the rebound home for his fifth goal of the season.
It proved to be the lone goal of the frame thanks mostly to Massa. Playing in his fifth game against the Everblades, Massa turned away several testing shots by the likes of Kevin Lynch, Maxime St. Cyr and Matt Willows on the way to twelve saves in the stanza.
Peters and Massa took center stage in the second, putting on a show for the fans in the stands and at home. The Florida netminder was especially tough early, denying Rodewald and later Eric Faille on scoring bids. Massa stood tall during a pair of overlapping Solar Bears penalties. Late in the period, he again turned Lynch away when the Everblades forward tried to beat him with a backhand attempt.
The Solar Bears increased their lead early in the third. It came 1:22 into the frame when Rodewald set up Denver Manderson who beat Peters (30 saves) over the shoulder on the short side. For Manderson, who had just been activated off the injured reserve list earlier in the day, it was his second goal of the season.
“I’ve been itching to get back [into the lineup]. Having a little injury like I did, it can be kind of annoying especially when the team was in a bit of a slump. I wanted to get back,” Manderson said. “[Playing in] The first game in a bit, you’re in a bit of a survival mode but I’m glad I was able to chip in.”
Massa (32 saves) continued to frustrate the Everblades at every turn as he looked to become just the second goalie to blank Florida this season (South Carolina’s Vitek Vanecek had done it in November). His bid was foiled by Justin Agosta who laced a shot high to the top corner on Massa’s left side with 6:05 left in regulation. It was the sixth goal of the season for the rookie.
The Everblades turned up the heat in an attempt to find the game-tying goal but Massa was having none of that. He continued to thwart every Florida advance in the closing minutes. Faille sealed the victory when he slid his fourteenth goal of the year into an empty net with 33.9 seconds left.
After the win, Rodewald said the two wins in two nights had given the Solar Bears back the confidence that had been missing of late.
“Obviously, Florida throughout the year has gotten the better of us up until this weekend,” Rodewald said. “I think it was just kind of enough’s enough and we’ve been able to get four points from them this weekend. We still have another big one tomorrow (Sunday).”
The Solar Bears and Everblades will finish their three-game set Sunday evening at the Amway Center. Game time is set for 6 pm.
Contact the author at Don.money@prohockeynews.com
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