JACKSONVILLE, FLA – With two wins in their back pockets, the Orlando Solar Bears headed up to Jacksonville Saturday night to take on the Jacksonville Icemen for the third time in four days. If they could come away with a win, it would push the Solar Bears into third place in the ECHL’s South division for the first time since January 12th. It would also mean that Orlando would have a three game win streak for the first time since early November.
And when it came down to crunch time, their hottest player in the clutch of late allowed them to accomplish both objectives.
Orlando goalie Martin Ouellette made 30 saves to earn his 14th win of the season on Saturday night (PHN photo by Trina Kirk)
Tayler Thompson was in the right place at the right time to redirect Zach Frye’s shot home to give the visiting Solar Bears (25-18-3-0) a 3-2 overtime victory over the host Icemen (24-21-2-2) in front of an announced crowd of 7,671 at the Veterans Memorial Arena. Cody Donaghey and Michael Brodzinski had the goals for Orlando in regulation and goalie Martin Ouellette made 30 saves to pick up his fifth win in his last six starts.
Unlike the two meetings prior to Saturday, the first period was littered with a slew of penalties in the game’s first five minutes. The overlapping calls led to a four-on-three power play for the Solar Bears and the visitors cashed in. Jonne Tammela worked the puck back to the point to Brodzinski who immediately saw Donaghey open in the faceoff circle to the right of Jacksonville netminder Ken Appleby. Brodzinski made a perfect pass to his fellow San Jose prospect and Donaghey absolutely nailed a one-time blast that lit the goal light for the blueliner’s tenth goal of the season and fifth on the power play.
Later in the frame, Orlando had a chance to extend its lead when a pair of Icemen penalties created a five-on-three man advantage for the Solar Bears. The visitors patiently worked the puck around before Tammela laid the puck back to Brodzinski who blew a shot past Appleby for his seventh of the year and a two goal Orlando lead.
It looked like the Solar Bears would take that margin into the first intermission but the Icemen had other ideas. With 1:39 left before the break, David Broll set up Blake Kessel for a shot from the point that captain Garet Hunt got his stick on. The contact was enough to send the puck careening past Ouellette for Hunt’s sixth and a much more manageable 2-1 deficit after one.
Orlando’s Trevor Olson (purple) sets up in front of Jacksonville goalie Ken Appleby while defenseman Dajon Mingo (right) follows the puck (PHN photo by Trina Kirk)
Orlando got an opportunity very early in the second to push the lead back to two but Jacksonville turned the disadvantage into a game-tying score. It came at the 3:35 mark when Hunt sent Cody Fowlie away on a rush up the near side wing. Carrying a head of steam, Fowlie turned the corner on a defender and made a beeline to Ouellette’s crease. As the netimnder went down to close off the short side, Fowlie slickly drew the puck around Ouellette and slid it into the back of the net for his 11th of the season.
From there, Ouellette and Appleby, who was assigned to the Icemen by AHL Winnipeg on Friday, began a man-to-man battle that lasted through the remainder of the second period, all of the third and into overtime. Both netminders were terrific, coming up with save after save to keep the scoreboard knotted at 2-2. Orlando outshot Jacksonville 24-21 in the second and third stanzas but the game still ended up going into an extra period.
The Solar Bears were gifted a golden opportunity less than a minute into OT when Fowlie was tagged for tripping. The Icemen withstood a couple of power play chances by Orlando to keep the game going.
Fowlie nearly ended things with just over two minutes remaining when he was sent in alone but Ouellette. Less than a minute later, an offensive zone turnover by Jacksonville sent Orlando away on a three-on-one break. Fitze held the puck until Frye got into a position to blast away on Appleby. Just as he did, Thompson stuck his stick into the lane and redirected the shot past the stunned netminder for the game winner, Thompson’s third in just four goals scored so far this season.
Orlando’s Cody Donaghey returned to the lineup Saturday night and netted his tenth goal of the season (PHN photo by Trina Kirk)
Appleby played well enough to win, stopping 36 of the 39 shots he faced in suffering the loss.
Notes: Orlando went 2-for-7 on the power play while Jacksonville finished the night 0-for-5… The Solar Bears improved their record in games going past regulation to 9-0-3-0 including a 7-0-3-0 mark in overtime… Tammela’s two assists helped him extend his point streak to three games (2 goals, 2 assists) while Fitze pushed his point streak to three games as well (2 goals, 1 assist)… In addition to jumping into third place, the Solar Bears pulled within one point of second place South Carolina in the standings… Orlando is off until Wednesday when they head down to Estero to take on the division leading Florida Everblades at Hertz Arena.
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