ORLANDO, FLA – Coming off of a highly successful road trip, the Orlando Solar Bears hoped to carry the momentum into the start of a ten-game homestand at the Amway Center Thursday night. The result ended up being quite a bit less than the team and its fans expected.
Orlando’s Brett Findlay (left) and South Carolina’s John Parker chase the puck in Thursday night’s game (Photo courtesy of G. Bassing & F. Medina / Orlando Solar Bears)
Led by Steven McParland, who had two goals and an assist, and Patrick Gaul’s four assist night, the South Carolina Stingrays (4-4-1-0, 9 points) routed the Solar Bears (4-4-1-0, 9 points) by a final score of 5-1 in front of an announced crowd of 3,769. The loss snapped Orlando’s two-game winning streak and was the team’s third consecutive failure on home ice.
“How we played on the road is how we have to play every game. Whether it be home or away, it doesn’t matter. It makes no difference where we are, what city we’re in, wherever,” Solar Bears captain Eric Baier said after the disappointing loss. “You’ve got to show up and play. That’s the nature of the beast, that’s the business. If we don’t, you’re going to be out of a job. That’s what’s got to happen. Guys have to come up, show up and perform. It falls on us as individuals and collectively as a team. It’s got to be better.”
Riding the wave of a franchise-record seven goal third period against Atlanta last Saturday, Orlando came out of the gates buzzing around the net guarded by South Carolina goalie Parker Milner. The Solar Bears pushed the tempo and it led to an early power play five minutes into the opening period.
Late in the man advantage, T.J.Foster dished a pass back toward the top of the circle to Milner’s left for Denver Manderson. Manderson let go with a slapper that was in actuality a pass to Brett Findlay who was perfectly positioned to redirect the puck home for his fourth goal of the season at the 6:27 mark.
It took the Stingrays more than nine minutes to get their first shot on net in the contest. It came off the stick of McParland who got in past the Orlando defense and tested Solar Bears netminder Ryan Massa. Massa was able to hold tight with his left leg pad to deny the crafty forward a score, giving the home fans hope for yet another big night for their team.
After the teams traded power plays, South Carolina evened the score thanks to an old friend and a bit of a defensive lapse. The Stingrays got the puck down to the base of the face-off circle to Massa’s right but found three or four Solar Bears players waiting for them. Out of the battle for the loose puck, it squirted to former teammate Scott Tanski who turned and fired a shot between the goalie’s legs at the 16:28 mark. For Tanski, who was a cult hero during his time in the City Beautiful before being traded to Reading a year ago, it was his first goal and first point with the Stingrays.
A late period penalty to South Carolina’s Joe Devin gave the Solar Bears a chance to regain the momentum. Instead it turned into punch in the stomach when a neutral zone turnover allowed Gaul to feed McParland who came busting down the right wing. McParland cut toward the front of the net and literally jammed the puck under and past Massa’s right leg for a short-handed tally with less than a minute to go in the frame.
By the time the period ended, Orlando had a 16-5 shot advantage but found itself trailing 2-1 at the break.
“I thought we had a good start [and] probably should have been up [by] a couple early. The power play had a chance to get us ahead by two,” Solar Bears head coach Anthony Noreen said. “I feel like the first one (South Carolina goal) was just two guys beating five coming back and they tied it at one-one. [Then] we get a power play to end the period where we can end on a high note and maybe get ourselves some momentum going in and they get a short-handed goal. Those are back-breakers. They just always are. I thought from that point on we weren’t as good of a hockey team.”
Massa continued to battle, denying Joe Devin who got in alone for a golden scoring opportunity early in the second stanza. As he was keeping his team in the game, Adam Carlson, who had replaced Milner to start the period, was keeping the Solar Bears from finding the back of the net. Milner eventually returned from the locker room with 6:10 left in the frame and finished things off.
Offensively, the Stingrays put another nail in Orlando’s coffin with just under two minutes left before the intermission. McParland started the play by passing the puck out high to Gaul. Gaul saw some open ice and took a couple of strides in before firing the disc on net. Massa made the initial save but Domenic Monardo was on the doorstep to clean up the rebound for his first of the season and a 3-1 lead heading to the final frame.
Milner was again late coming out for the third, forcing South Carolina head coach Ryan Warsofsky to send Carlson back between the pipes. It made no difference as Carlson continued to play perfectly, knocking away anything that the Solar Bears through at him.
The Stingrays pushed the lead to three at the 2:46 mark of the frame thanks to special teams. Playing with a man advantage, Kelly Zajac’s shot from the slot hit an Orlando defender and skidded to Massa’s left. The only player there was Gaul who calmly looked up and slid a cross-crease pass to Devin on the backside for his third goal of the year.
McParland finished the scoring with 2:42 left in the contest, scoring into an empty net after Gaul had managed to draw the attention of three Solar Bears before passing the puck to his teammate who put the icing on the cake.
Findlay, whose goal extended his point scoring streak to three games, said that the loss and the team’s play at home was especially frustrating given the way the team played on its road trip last week.
“None of us can seem to figure it out right now. We can’t put our finger on it,” he said. “We played so well on the road and we come home and it’s like we’re a totally different club out there. It’s a good thing for us that we’ve got to get back to work on Saturday and Sunday. It’s a big four points for us.”
The two teams will meet again Saturday night at 7 p.m. and Sunday afternoon at 1:30 p.m.
Notes: Milner, who made 17 saves in 26:10 of playing time got credit for the win while Carlson was a perfect 15-for-15 in 33:50 of action. Massa made 23 saves in suffering his first loss in three outings against the Stingrays this season…McParland’s two goals upped his season output to three against the Solar Bears in three meetings…Orlando’s penalty killers ran their streak to 23 consecutive kills before Devin’s power play marker in the third period…South Carolina went 1-for-2 with the man advantage in the game while Orlando finished at 1-for-5…Findlay is now tied with Mickey Lang for second on the ECHL Solar Bears all-time goal scoring list with 32. Brady Vail is the leader with 35.
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