DULUTH, GA – Playing in front of an announced crowd of 10,003 on Star Wars Night at the Infinite Energy Arena on Saturday, the Orlando Solar Bears dug themselves an early hole. It could have been a death sentence but the visitors somehow managed to channel their positive energies and found a way to defeat the dark forces that tried to take them down.
Tayler Thompson’s solo effort 2:13 into overtime and 32 saves in net by Martin Ouellette allowed Orlando (21-17-3-0) to start the unofficial second half of the season by edging the Atlanta Gladiators (13-19-6-1) 3-2. Trevor Olson and Colby McAuley each scored once to erase a two-goal deficit and force the extra period.
In the overtime, Mathieu Foget’s rush through center ice led to the speedy forward circling the Atlanta net before throwing the puck in front. The puck was cleared to the boards where Thompson tracked it down and began a wide looping skate in the Gladiators defensive zone. He split a pair of defenders and cut toward the net. Thompson got Atlanta goalie Sean Bonar to bite on a backhanded fake before tucking the disc into the net on his forehand side for the game-winner.
With the host Gladiators riding a five-game win streak, the Solar Bears knew they would have to fight hard. As the team took the ice, the ravages of injuries and suspensions showed as Orlando had just nine forwards and five defensemen dressed for its first game after the All-Star break.
Playing off the energy from the large home crowd, Atlanta found itself on a power play just 2:41 into the first period. It took only eleven seconds for the Gladiators to open the scoring when Avery Peterson cleaned up the rebound of a shot by Matt Lane and beat Ouellette for his second goal of the season.
The Solar Bears fell into a bigger hole midway through the frame. Atlanta captain Derek Nesbitt started the play by sending the puck to Lane. Lane drew the defense to him before slipping a pass to Filip Pyrochta who beat Ouellette with a wrist shot for his first goal playing professionally in North America at the 9:19 mark to make it 2-0.
Little did anyone know that it would be the last time that the Gladiators would light the goal light behind the Orlando netminder. Ouellette, who was reassigned by the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch to the Solar Bears after he beat Binghamton on Monday afternoon, stopped the last three shots he faced in the first and went on to deny 23 more over the final 42:13 of play.
Held to just four shots in the opening stanza, the Solar Bears continued to have trouble generating offense in the second period. Orlando added just four more shots on Bonar – last week’s ECHL Goalie of the Week – in the initial twelve minutes of play.
The vistor’s luck took a turn for the better at the 12:08 mark when Orlando was handed a power play. Thirty-one seconds after the offensive zone draw, Foget took a pass from Michael Brodzinski and clanged a shot off the post to Bonar’s left. The puck slid into the crease where Olson got to it first and shoved it home for his second of the season.
Trailing 2-1 heading into the third, the Solar Bears had to kill off an Atlanta power play and did so masterfully as the penalty killing units allowed just one shot on Ouellette. Boosted by the special teams’ effort, Orlando started to push the tempo, The uptick in play turned into the equalizer when Jonne Tammela carried the puck into the Atlanta end along the far boards. As he was confronted by a couple of Gladiators, Tammela saw an opening and sent the puck to the slot where McAuley had gotten loose. McAuley collected the biscuit and went to the net, getting Bonar to commit before dragging it around the former Solar Bears netminder and sliding it in for his seventh tally of the season.
There was still more than half a period left in regulation but neither goalie was ready to give up the deciding score. Ouellette turned away seven shots down the stretch while Bonar stopped three Orlando opportunities to send the game to an extra period.
Atlanta nearly won the game 1:04 into overtime when Nick Bligh got loose for a clean breakaway but Ouellette kept the game going with a big save. Seconds later it was Bonar’s turn to shine when he turned back a two-on-one by Foget and Tammela who each squeezed off shots. The Gladiators had one more opportunity when Joel Messner fired away but Ouellette made the save, setting the stage for Thompson to slay the Gladiators.
Bonar finished the game with 21 saves in suffering the loss while Ouellette picked up his first win in an Orlando jersey since December 21st against Florida.
Notes: Final shots were 34-24 in favor of Atlanta… The Solar Bears went 1-for-3 on the power play while the Gladiators were 1-for-5 with a man advantage… Orlando was missing both forward Dylan Fitze and defenseman Cody Donaghey who were suspended by the ECHL following incidents in last Sunday’s game against South Carolina. Fitze (boarding major) was suspended for three games while Donaghey (cross checking major) was tagged for five games… To make room for Ouellette on the roster, Orlando released goalie Charlie Millen… Solar Bears defenseman Myles McGurty missed his second straight game after taking a hit to the head from South Carolina’s Andrew Cherniwchan last Saturday… Orlando forward Mitch Hults also missed his second consecutive contest… Both McAuley (5 games / 3 goals, 3 assists) and Tammela (3 games / 3 goals, 4 assists) extended point streaks in the game… The victory brought Orlando’s record against Atlanta to 4-1-0-0… The Solar Bears are off until next weekend when they travel to Greenville on Friday and back to Duluth to take on the Gladiators on Saturday.
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