ORLANDO, FLA – There are few things better in the game of hockey than when a goalie plays a game while he is “in the zone”. On those nights, even the most difficult of saves can look easy and a win is almost certain.
Brady Vail scored his third goal of the season in Friday’s win (Photo courtesy of F. Medina & G. Bassing/Orlando Solar Bears)
Friday night at the Amway Center, the Orlando Solar Bears got one of those performances from goalie Garret Sparks as the Solar Bears outlasted the Greenville Road Warriors 4-3 in a shootout. Sparks made 48 saves through regulation and overtime then turned back all four Greenville chances in the shootout including an acrobatic stick save to seal the victory. The 48 saves set an ECHL Solar Bears franchise record, breaking the previous mark of 46 held by Cody Reichard and Ross MacKinnon.
“I was happy with my game and then it kind of went off the rails. One thing that I pride myself on is being able to win games and I just wanted to stay in there and our team a chance to win that game even if it didn’t go our way at times,” Sparks said. “I love getting a lot of shots. That’s what I’m here for. You don’t get better when you see twenty shots s game and you’re sheltered. The more fifty shot nights I see, the better it is for me.”
After facing 51 shots through 65 minutes of play, Sparks dug in to face the best shooters the Road Warriors (25-14-0-2, 52 points) had. He stopped Josh Nicholls, saw Emerson Clark whistle a shot high and wide and turned back Vinny Saponari on the first three Greenville attempts.
Already up two on goals by Denver Manderson and Carson McMillan, Kyle Jean tried to keep his team in the game and may have except for Sparks. Jean made a move in close and got the puck in a position to score but Sparks reached out and back with his goal stick to deny Jean and the Road Warriors.
“I don’t remember. I don’t know,” Sparks said when asked about the game-ending stop. “My stance on shootouts is I’m going to do whatever it takes to win. If it looks ugly, I don’t care. If it looks pretty, I don’t care. As long as it stays out of the net, it’s fine by me.”
Right from the opening faceoff, it looked like Greenville was much more ready to play than the Solar Bears (18-14-3-0, 39 points). With Sparks repelling everything in sight, Orlando took advantage at the 5:27 mark when Brett Findlay left a defenseman in his wake and beat Road Warriors netminder Jason Missiaen between the legs for his ninth goal of the season.
Saves by Sparks on Scott Arnold (glove) and Nicholls (right pad on a breakaway) had the visitors shaking their heads throughout the opening stanza. By the time the period ended, Greenville had amassed 23 shots on net but had nothing to show for it.
The second period was almost a carbon copy of the first as Sparks stood on his head, allowing his teammates to increase the lead. The goal came 4:32 into the frame when David Broll fed a pass to Brady Vail in the faceoff circle to Missiaen’s left. Vail leaned into a wrist shot and found the back of the net, giving the Solar Bears a two goal margin with his third of the season.
A couple of minutes later, Orlando looked like it had taken a three score lead when Stefan Della Rovere had a pass hit his skate and go in. After consulting with his linesmen, referee Andrew Wilk ruled that Della Rovere had made a kicking motion to put the puck in and waived off the goal.
Tensions began to flare in the closing three minutes of the period. First, Orlando’s Yann Sauve and Greenville’s Bretton Cameron threw down after a big hit by Sauve along the boards. Less than a minute later, a delayed penalty for boarding to Road Warriors forward Vinny Saponari escalated into a fight between Della Rovere and Samuel Noreau. Thanks to Sparks, the Solar Bears survived playing the final minute of the frame, carrying a 2-0 lead into the break.
“Obviously Sparksy was the story of the night,” Orlando head coach Vince Williams said about his netminder’s performance. “He was outstanding.”
When Manderson took a penalty 19 seconds into the third, it created a two man advantage for the Road Warriors and they took advantage when a Saponari shot was stopped by Sparks and Jean banged the puck home on a second attempt for his eleventh score of the year to cut the margin to 2-1. Two minutes later, Mike Ullrich converted the rebound of a Bryce Aneloski shot for his ninth, restoring the two goal lead.
That lead collapsed before the period hit the midpoint. Playing with another power play seven minutes in, Nicholls was in the right place to put the puck into the back of the net when Sparks lost the rebound of a Spencer Humphries shot. A little over two minutes later, the Solar Bears caught a bad break when an odd carom off a defenseman’s skate found its way past Sparks with Chris McCarthy getting credit for the tying score.
Both teams had chances late in regulation and in the overtime but neither goal budged, sending the game into a shootout. In the penalty shot round, Manderson got Missiaen (38 saves) to commit and then lifted a backhander over the prone goalie. McMillan then froze the Road Warriors goalie with a fake slap shot and threaded the needle between Missiaen’s legs.
“We had a good team effort and obviously Sparksy had a huge game for us. He’s a good goalie,” McMillan said.
The two teams will hit the ice again at the Amway Center Saturday night at 7 pm.
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