ORLANDO, FLA – With the race for playoffs spots in a shrunken postseason, every point matters. And when a team has to play its fiercest rival a total of 27 times, the battle for said points can be epic. In the case of the Orlando Solar Bears, that takes every contest with the Florida Everblades up a few more notches on the intensity scale.
Friday night at the Amway Center, the stakes for the host Solar Bears were up and they came up with a performance that matched the level of need to win.
Riding two first period goals and a textbook 29-save effort from netminder Clint Windsor, Orlando (14-10-3-0) came up with a 3-0 shutout over the visiting Everblades (21-6-0-2) in front of a COVID-restricted crowd of 2,250. Rookie Luke McInnis’ first professional goal was the game-winner while Mark Auk and Jerry D’Amigo added insurance markers.
Windsor, who was playing in his fifth game since returning from a callup to AHL Syracuse, got plenty of help from his teammates. The Solar Bears limited Florida to single digit shots on net in both the first and second periods of Friday’s contest. They also did an outstanding job of staying composed, allowing the Everblades only two power plays in the game and successfully killing both off.
Orlando wanted to set the tone and did so before the game was ten minutes old. It started seven minutes in when the rookie McInnis jumped into the play and showed off his offensive skills. The play started when Auk carried the puck into the neutral zone and threaded a pass thru traffic to newcomer Anthony Repaci. Repaci fed it to McInnis who was flying down the far wing. In the blink of an eye, McInnis was in the faceoff circle and cut to the front of the net where he went five-hole on Everblades goalie Jake Hildebrand. Hildebrand got a piece of the puck but not enough to keep it from sneaking across the goal line.
Two minutes and change later, the Solar Bears doubled their lead. Capitalizing on pressure, Aaron Luchuk got control below the goal line and fed Auk back at the point. While that was happening, the traffic in front of Hildebrand got into the crease area, creating contact that knocked the netminder to the ice. Auk did the rest, firing the puck over Hildebrand in into the cage for his third of the season.
For the next 39 minutes of play – a span that ran from the 9:47 mark of the first to nearly the final minute of regulation – Windsor and Hildebrand were the stars of the show. The two put on a show worthy of a post-season battle. The Orlando defense helped Windsor out, killing one Florida man advantage and limiting the high-powered Everblades offense to nine shots on net in the second period. At the other end, Hildebrand turned away 14 Solar Bears opportunities during the middle frame.
Florida turned up the heat in the third period, pushing the tempo that produced seven shots on Windsor in the first two minutes of play. The Everblades posted the first nine shots of the stanza before Orlando began pushing back with a run of seven straight tries on Hildebrand.
A penalty on the Solar Bears with just under five minutes remaining gave the visitors an opportunity to get back into the contest but the Orlando penalty killers held Florida without a shot. Hildebrand was pulled for an extra attacker with 2:34 to go but D’Amigo scored into the empty cage from the center ice stripe with 1:04 remaining for his fifth of the season to cap the scoring.
Hildebrand deserved a better fate, stopping 39 of 41 shots faced in suffering the loss.
The two teams will continue their three games in three days weekend series Saturday night at the Amway Center. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.
Notes: Neither team scored on the power play as Florida went 0-for-2 while Orlando was 0-for-1… Solar Bears Luchuk and Jake Coughler each picked up a point, extending their personal scoring streaks (Luchuk to nine games, Coughler to six)… Orlando’s Auk had his fifth multi-point game of the season with a goal and an assist… Windsor’s fifth career shutout in an Orlando jersey put him into sole possession of second place on the Solar Bears all-time ECHL list, passing Ryan Massa and Zach Fucale.
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
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