ORLANDO, FLA – After having one of his toughest games in some time, Orlando Solar Bears goalie Garret Sparks turned to Toronto Marlies goalie coach Pierro Greco for some words of wisdom prior to game three against the Florida Everblades. Based on how Sparks played, Greco should add “Goalie Whisperer” to his title.
Sparks turned away 48 shots and got offensive help from Johnny McInnis who scored twice as the Solar Bears beat the Everblades 5-2 in front of an announced crowd of 4,869 at the Amway Center Tuesday night. The victory allowed Orlando to cut Florida’s series lead to two games to one, guaranteeing a game five in Central Florida on Saturday.
“I don’t think the series got off to the start I wanted it to. I out a lot of pressure on myself,” Sparks said. “I had a good talk with Toronto’s goalie coach Pierro Greco today. He told me to just go have fun and enjoy the experience for what it is. We worked hard to get here. We’re the underdogs so just go out and play and that’s what I tried to do. I think I’m just going to go with that from now on.”
Facing going down 0-3 to the high-powered Everblades, the Solar Bears needed a huge effort from everyone in the lineup. Bolstered by the additions of forward Ben Johnson and defensemen Mike Keenan and Yann Sauve, head coach Vince Williams asked his players to up their games and level of compete while staying within the structure of the game plan.
Sparks played a key role in that plan, stopping all six Florida shots in the opening period. As the defense did its part, the offense – in particular the former Everblade McInnis – found its way. At the 14:27 mark of the frame, Bryce Aneloski fed McInnis who tuened on the jets. He turned a defenseman and drove the net, putting a shot on Florida goalie Allen York. While York made th initial save, his momentum pulled him away from the post allowing McInnis to easily slide the rebound into the open net.
McInnis was not done tormenting his former teammates yet. Early in the second, Marshall Everson threaded the needle with a neutral zone pass that sent McInnis in on a breakaway. McInnis got York to bite on a fake and scooped the puck over the goalie to double Orlando’s lead.
Less than a minute after McInnis’ second score, Johnson took a pass from Patrick Watling and sped down the wing into the Florida defensive zone. Just before he hit the faceoff circle, Johnson wound up and delivered a bullit that blew past York to make it 3-0 and sending the home crown into a thunderous ovation.
“It was a good start for us. We needed to come out and set the tone in our building,” McInnis said. “That’s something they did really well down there and it was something we have to hold a standard to ourselves up here to the same. I think we did a good job of that tonight.”
The two quick scores seemed to wake up the Everblades who had just ten shots on net in the contest at the point of Johnson’s tally. The visitors ramped up the offense along with plenty of pressure that led to two goal of their own in quick fashion. Long-time Solar Bears nemesis Casey Pierro-Zabotel cashed in on an odd-man rush, beating Sparks to the far side at the 7:58 mark of the stanza. When Mike Cornell jumped on a loose puck and scored over Sparks’ shoulder three minutes later, the Orlando lead was just 3-2. By the end of the period, Florida had put 24 shots on Sparks but still trailed by one.
“I thought we generated a lot of shots and generated a lot of scoring chanced [but] we didn’t finish,” Florida head coach Greg Poss said. “Defensively we got beat one on one a few times. To win a playoff game we need everyone bringing their “A” game and we didn’t have that tonight.”
Orlando defenseman Eric Baier drove the crowd into another frenzy 51 seconds into the third period when he skated into a group of Florida defenders inside the Everblades blueline and surprised everyone with a shot that beat York (14 saves). Second later an Orlando penalty gave Florida a power play that yielded eight shots on net but Sparks stopped them all including denying Mitch Wahl with his catching glove while sitting on the seat of his pants.
Two more man advantage opportunities allowed the Everblades to pile up 20 shots in the final frame but Sparks seemed to get better with each one. Brady Vail, the Solar Bears’ leader in short-handed goals in the regular season, capped the evening with an empty net shorty from long distance – just inside his defensive blueline long distance – to put an exclamation point on orlando’s first home playoff victory since joining the ECHL.
Given the way things went in Estero over the weekend, Williams was pleased with his team’s effort on Tuesday.
“I think it was a positive step forward. Going back to the last couple of games when we got hemmed in a little bit, we probably found a way to lose that type of game last week,” he said. “Everything we’re doing is [about] progression and trying to get better as a group every day.”
Game four of the best-of-seven series is set for Thursday night at 7 pm in Orlando.
PHN photos by Les Stockton.
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