ORLANDO, FLA – In the wake of a 4-1 loss to the Florida Everblades on Thursday night, the Orlando Solar Bears wanted to exact revenge on their in-state rivals in game two of a grueling back-to-back-to-back weekend series. The problem was that through the first twenty minutes on Friday, it looked like Orlando was on the way to a copycat result.
Thankfully for them and their fans at the Amway Center, there was no repeat in the offing.
The Solar Bears (21-16-3-0) turned the tables on Friday, scoring three unanswered goals to down the Everblades (23-14-3-3) by a 4-2 final in front of an announced crowd of 5,418. Four different Solar Bears lit the goal light in support of goalie Brad Barone who made 35 saves to earn his 14th win of the season.
Fabrizio Ricci and Luke Boka started and ended the Orlando offense, with the first and last goals. They got help from two newcomers, Tye Felhaber and Steve Oleksy, who both netted their first tallies since joining the roster. Felhaber and Boka each added an assist to their goals for multi-point nights while Odeen Tufto and Joe Garreffa had two assist games.
If anyone thought Orlando opening the scoring the night before 3:22 in was quick, Friday’s initial score was light years faster. It took only 33 seconds after the opening puck drop for the goal light to shine as the Solar Bears moved with lightning speed. Garreffa carried into the Florida defensive zone before sliding a pass to Boka who was flying down the right wing. Ricci took the left flank and dragged just enough to allow Boka to send a cross-ice feed to Ricci who skated into the faceoff circle and whipped a wrist shot past Everblades netminder Tomas Vomacka for his third goal of the season.
It took Florida just three minutes and seven seconds to return the favor. Working down below the goal line, Levko Koper and Xavier Bouchard combined to get the puck to the crease for Joe Pendenza. Pendenza got off a shot that went airborn. Barone tried to fight it off but the puck rolled over the goalie’s shoulder and dropped across the line for Pendenza’s 17th tally of the season.
Less than two minutes later, the Everblades took the lead. A three man rush into the Orlando end saw Alex Aleardi drop a pass into the slot that Jake Jaremko skated into. Barone made the initial shot but Aleardi followed the play and popped the rebound home for his 21st of the year and a 2-1 Florida lead that held into the first intermission.
Aleardi’s score was the last one that Barone would allow as the Solar Bears netminder went into lockdown mode. He went on to stop all nine Everblades shots in the middle frame, giving his teammates a shot at regaining the momentum.
Orlando fed off of Barone’s play, knotting the score at the 5:55 mark of the second period. It started when Tufto forced a bad turnover by Vomacka behind his own net. Tufto took the puck and fed Hunter Fejes who was cruising down the wing. Instead of shooting, Fejes saw a passing lane to the opposite circle where Felhaber was wide open and sent a pass to his teammate. Felhaber had enough time to collect the feed before firing it into the open side of the cage for his first goal of the season.
The Solar Bears regained their lead for good 13:14 into the stanza with Olesky doing the honors. Tufto was again in the middle of the sequence, skating with the puck from below the goal line and up toward the point, He curled into the high slot and flipped a backhander at the Florida net. Vomacka made the stop but the rebound slid out to Oleksy who backhanded it over the goalie for his third of the year and first as a member of the Orlando roster.
A one goal lead is usually never enough against the Everblades so Orlando went after and got a little bit of insurance very early in the third. Just 18 seconds in, the Solar Bears won an offensive zone faceoff back to Michael Brodzinski at the point. He fired a shot that Ricci deflected to the right post. Garreffa scooped up the loose puck and circled the net for a wraparound. Vomacka (21 saves) scrambled to make the save but Boka was there to roof the rebound over him for his 11th of the year.
From there, the Solar Bears leaned heavily on Barone, who faced a barrage of shots by the Everblades. Florida put 16 shots on the Orlando net in the final twenty minutes but like he has done on numerous occasions this season, Barone held the fort to secure the victory.
The teams will conclude their three-game set Saturday night in Estero with puck drop set for 7 p.m.
Notes: Final shots were 37-25 in favor of Florida… Both teams went 0-for-2 on the power play… Olesky’s goal was his 200th career professional point.
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