ST. JOHN’S, NFL – When the Orlando Solar Bears left sunny but cold Central Florida for their first ever trip to Newfoundland, they knew they would be facing one of the best teams in the ECHL. Solar Bears Head Coach and General Manager Drake Berehowsky maintained – and rightfully so – that if his team played its game, they had a solid chance of beating the well rounded Growlers on their home ice.
What the Solar Bears and Berehowsky did not count on was one thing that was in their collective control: the play of its special teams – which on Friday night at the Mile One Centre did not do Orlando any favors.
Led by two goals each from Brady Ferguson and Scott Pooley, the host Growlers (39-16-4-0) throttled the visiting Solar Bears (31-21-4-0) 5-1 in front of an announced crowd of 3,993. Mathieu Foget had the lone goal for Orlando, which saw its penalty killing units give up three goals while the Solar Bears squandered four power play chances of their own.
The lack of special teams prowess spoiled the Solar Bears debut of goalie Connor Ingram, who made 37 saves after being reassigned by the Tampa Bay Lightning from AHL Syracuse in a surprise move on Wednesday.
Ingram, who wore the number 51 jersey of fellow netminder Martin Ouellette who was recalled to Syracuse to replace Ingram, brought a 14-7-0 record in the AHL along with six shutouts into the contest. However it was just his fourth ever appearance in an ECHL game (he played three games in Adirondack a year ago). He had little time to think about things as the host Growlers came out with a snarl, forcing Ingram to make a number of saves including a robbery of Giorgio Estephan as part of a six shot blitz in the first 4:18 of the opening period.
At the other end of the ice, Newfoundland’s Michael Garteig was not nearly as busy but the Solar Bears did find the mark on just their fourth shot on the Growlers goalkeeper. It came at the 6:32 juncture when Mitch Hults, who was seeing his first action since mid January, slipped a pass from the half boards to teammate Chris LeBlanc in the slot. Seeing a defender closing on him, LeBlanc made a perfect backhand pass to Foget who put the puck in the open side of the net for his 17th of the season (16th with Orlando).
Foget’s tally proved to be the highlight of the evening on “The Rock” (as Newfoundland is affectionately called) as the Growlers retook control of the game. During a power play a little past the midpoint of the first frame, all it took was seven seconds for Newfoundland to win an offensive zone faceoff and work the puck down low to Marcus Power who threaded a cross-crease pass to Pooley who was uncovered on the backside of the play. Pooley had plenty of open net to put the puck into for his team-leading 25th goal of the season.
The Growlers finished the first period tied on the scoreboard but holding a clear edge in play as indicated by their 14-6 shot advantage. Orlando opened the second stanza with a good deal of pushback, logging eight of the period’s first nine shots but coming away empty.
Thanks to Garteig, Newfoundland regained its bearings and posted the next seven shots on net with the last two finding the back of the net. The first belonged to Power,who netted his 20th of the season when a cross-slot pass from Pooley found his on the weak side as part of a perfect tic-tac-toe play. Power wasted little time in burying the puck past Ingram, who could not get from post-to-post quick enough.
Just 41 seconds later, Ferguson found some open real estate in the slot for Estephan to make a pass to. Ferguson collected the feed and whipped a wrist shot home for his 20th of the year and a 3-1 Growlers lead.
From the 9:02 mark of the middle frame to the 18:11 point, the Growlers recorded 16 straight shots on Ingram with no answer from Orlando. The Solar Bears finally got two shots on Garteig in the final 1:30 of the period but failed to light the goal light, leaving them trailing 31-15 on the shot clock and 3-1 on the scoreboard with twenty minutes remaining.
Orlando was gift wrapped an opportunity early in the third period to get back into the contest. It came when during a Solar Bears power play, Trevor Olson locked up with Growlers defenseman (and one time Solar Bear) Alex Gudbranson in front of the Newfoundland net. Olson never got his gloves off as Gudbranson pounded away, continuing to pummel his opponent as the pair went to the ice. For his efforts, Gudbranson was given a fighting major and a game misconduct for continuing the altercation while Olson picked up a minor for roughing.
When the dust settled and Olson’s infraction expired, the Solar Bears had themselves a three minute major power play with a chance to score as many times as they wanted. Despite having the advantage, Orlando failed to get a shot on Garteig during the three minutes, giving a big boost to the Growlers and their fans.
The noise level rose again in the Mile One Centre when the home team upped its lead to 4-1 with its third man advantage score of the night. This one came at the 10:36 mark when Ryan Moore (a former Solar Bear from the 2016-17 playoffs) teed up Pooley for a one-time bomb from the right faceoff circle for his second of the night and 26th of the season.
All that was left was to get the win for Garteig (24 saves). The Solar Bears mustered just four shots over the final nine-plus minutes of regulation, not enough to fluster the Newfoundland netminder. Ferguson put a bow on the night when he tallied his second of the game and 21st of the year off a slap pass from rookie Cory Dunn with a pinch over 28 second left. The assist was Dunn’s first professional point.
The two teams will meet in part two of their three-game series on Saturday night at 7 p.m. Newfoundland time (5:30 p.m. Eastern) at the Mile One Center.
Notes: Final shots were 42-25 in favor of Newfoundland… The Solar Bears went 0-for-4 on the power play, breaking a string of three straight games with a man advantage tally, while the Growlers were 3-for-4… Prior to Thursday’s trade deadline, the Solar Bears acquired forward Shaquille Merasty as part of a three-way deal with Fort Wayne and Rapid City. The Solar Bears got Taylor Crunk to complete a trade from October (Ryan Siiro) and then sent Crunk and defenseman Myles McGurty to Rapid City for Merasty… Orlando also picked up the ECHL playing rights to rookie forward Ivan Kosorenkov from Worcester to complete a deal that sent Matt Schmalz north in December. The deal opens up the possibility of Kosorenkov, a San Jose contracted player, playing for the Solar Bears… Forward Colby McAuley was assigned back to Orlando on Thursday but did not dress on Friday night… The win was Newfoundland interim head coach John Snowden’s second against his former team. Snowden was an assistant under Anthony Noreen and Berehowsky from 2015-2018. He took over the reigns of the Growlers after head coach Ryane Clowe was forced to step down due to health issues in January.
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