GREENVILLE, SC – Given the fact that they had played well in their last game, the Orlando Solar Bears kicked off a six-game road trip in Greenville, South Carolina on Wednesday night against the Greenville Swamp Rabbits. Knowing the fact that the Swamp Rabbits had been playing well of late, the Solar Bears likely expected to face a tough test.
The visitors did get the test they knew was coming but unfortunately failed to meet the challenge.
Max Zimmer scored twice, once in the first and the second – and game-winning tally – in the third to help Greenville (8-7-1-1) come up with a 4-2 victory over Orlando (11-8-1-0) in front of an announced crowd of 2,247 at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena. Swamp Rabbits goalie Evan Fitzpatrick had his teammates’ backs for much of the night, stopping 33 of 35 Solar Bears shots to post his second win in five outings this season.
Ian Parker and Steenn Pasichnuk each had a goal for Orlando, which saw its road record to start the 2021-22 regular season to 3-7-1-0. Goalie Hugo Alnefelt, who joined the team in Greenville after being assigned to the Solar Bears by the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch on Tuesday, made his first ever ECHL start and played admirably, making 17 saves on 20 shots faced.
The 82nd all-time meeting between the two franchises started much like anyone would have expected the first get-together of the new season to go. The sides spent a lot of time feeling the other out in hopes of being able to figure which tactics would work. Greenville had a power play 2:18 in but did not succeed. Both Fitzpatrick and Alnefelt took care of business well, matching save for save through the opening 19 minutes of play in the first period, keeping the scoreboard empty.
Then in the final minute before the intermission, the Swamp Rabbits struck for the initial goal of the game. Crossing at the Orlando defensive blueline, Jackson Leef left the puck for Zimmer who watched as the Solar Bears defense gave him a clear path to high slot. Zimmer skated there and, after advancing to the top of the near side faceoff circle, snapped a hard wrist shot that found its way past Alnefelt’s blocker side for Zimmer’s sixth goal of the season.
Zimmer’s tally turned out the be the only score of the game’s first 40 minutes of play. Orlando, after collecting just eight shots in the opening frame, got its puck movement in gear and it showed on the shot board. The Solar Bears recorded 15 shots in the stanza, including eight of the first ten total shots in the period, but had nothing to show for it. At the other end, the 20-year old Alnefelt, who was playing in just his seventh pro game in North America, was settling in. Despite not having a multitude of work in the middle frame, Alnefelt turned away all five Swamp Rabbits shots to maintain the one-goal deficit heading into the final twenty minutes.
Five minutes into the third, Greenville upped its lead to 2-0 thanks to a familiar face to the Solar Bears. Advancing over the offensive blueline, Liam Pecararo flipped a short backhanded pass up high to Nikita Pavlychev. Pavlychev, who played last season for Orlando, took the feed and swooped in, cutting through the faceoff circle on his backhand toward the net front. Given room to continue to move across and maintain the puck, Pavlychev switched to his forehand and deposited a shot into the cage for his fifth goal in eight games to make it 2-0.
Orlando needed a break of some kind to get its mojo going and got it less than 30 seconds later. A turnover along the boards in the Greenville defensive zone shot the puck into the slot. Standing there was the Solar Bears’ Parker, who quickly turned and fired away, catching Fitzpatrick by surprise for his sixth goal of the season, cutting the margin to 2-1.
Not wanting to give Orlando any hope of a comeback, the Swamp Rabbits responded with a score less than two minutes later. Roshen Jaswal dug the puck out of the corner and centered it toward Diego Cuglietta in the slot. Cuglietta deftly redirected it to his right where Zimmer was standing all alone. Zimmer settled the puck, made a quick stickhandle move and fired at the net, beating Alnefelt past his catching glove for Zimmer’s second of the night and seventh of the year.
A little over a minute after Zimmer’s tally, Orlando went on its second power play of the game (thanks to old friend Pavlychev) and made it count. Forty seconds into the advantage, Luke Boka and Tristin Langan along with Pasichnuk were crashing the net. In the hectic action, Boka moved the puck in the direction of Pasichnuk who popped it over Fitzpatrick’s shoulder and under the crossbar into the cage. For Pasichnuk, it was his fourth of the year.
There was still just over half the period to go and with the momentum on their side, the Solar Bears went hunting for the tying goal. A third man advantage, this one with 8:34 remaining, could have been the equalizer but Greenville held Orlando without a shot during the power play.
Orlando pulled Alnefelt in the final minutes but it all went for nothing. With 1:25 left, Pecararo made a steal in the neutral zone just outside the Solar Bears defensive zone. He managed to beat three defenders to score into the empty net for his seventh to seal the win.
Both teams are off on Thursday with Orlando next taking the ice in Duluth, GA against the Atlanta Gladiators on Friday while Greenville heads southeast to tussle with the Jacksonville Icemen the same night.
Notes: Final shots were 35-21 in favor of Orlando… The Solar Beas went 1-for-3 on the power play while the Swamp Rabbits were 0-for-1… Pasichnuk’s goal advanced his current point streak to five games (3 goals, 2 assists)… The Solar Bears record against the Swamp Rabbits is now 44-29-5-4… Before the game, Greenville completed a deal with Fort Wayne that sent defenseman and one-time Solar Bear Corbin Baldwin (2021-13 season) to the Swamp Rabbits. He arrived in time to added to the lineup and played, logging two shots on net.
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