ORLANDO, FL – Since their entry into the ECHL in 2012, the Orlando Solar Bears have been bedeviled by their in-state rivals, the Florida Everblades. In three previous meetings this season, the Everblades had beaten the Solar Bears three times while giving up just one point in the standings to their neighbors from Central Florida.
Orlando’s JJ Piccinich (14) celebrates one of Josh Winquist’s three goals with his linemate Friday night (Photo courtesy of Fernando Medina / Orlando Solar Bears)
Friday night at the Amway Center, everything may have changed for Orlando thanks in large part to a franchise record-tying performance.
Josh Winquist, one of a number of Toronto Marlies assigned players on the Solar Bears roster, netted a hat trick and added two assists as Orlando (13-14-4-1, 31 points) downed Florida (21-5-1-2, 45 points) 5-3 in front of an announced crowd of 7,153. JJ Piccinich assisted on two of linemate Winquist’s scores while Max Novak and Todd Skirving also lit the goal light for the hosts.
“My linemates were buzzing all night with me and we made some good plays,” Winquist said about how he, Piccinich and Darryl Bootland (one assist) played against the number one team in the ECHL’s South division and the Eastern Concerence. “I can’t complain.”
Orlando’s entire team wanted to put on a good show in its last home game of 2017 and what better squad to do it against than the Everblades. The Solar Bears roared out of the locker room to start the game, piling six shots on Florida goalie Callum Booth before the visitors even came close to putting a shot on Orlando netminder Mackenzie Skapski, who became the home team’s go-to goalie with the callup of Cal Heeter by the Marlies Thursday night.
That sixth shot turned out to be Winquist’s first score of the night, although it would take a while for it to be credited properly. Piccinich started it by feeding the puck to Winquist who was at the top of the faceoff circle to Booth’s right. Piccinich snuck behind the Everblades defense and had a wide open net so Winquist attempted to make a pass. Before the disc got to Piccinich, it hit a defender and abruptly changed directions into the net for the St. Albert, Alberta native’s team leading eleventh goal of the year. It was not until a video review after the game that Winquist was credited with the score.
“Pic [Piccinich] won the faceoff and I tried to pass back to him and we got lucky it went off their skate and went in,” Winquist said.
Winquist was also responsible for the Solar Bears second goal of the night, that one coming at the 18:48 mark of the opening frame. Again it was Piccinich who put the puck on Winquist’s stick blade for a shot that was initially blocked. Winquist stayed with the puck and using Bootland as a pick on a defender, crossed the front of the net and put a backhander past Booth for his 12th of the season.
Never ones to turn away from a fight – both literally and figuratively – the Everblades launched a comeback in the second. It began 4:39 into the frame when Tyler Ganly set up Brett Bulmer for a one timer from the circle to Skapski’s left that hit the far corner for Bulmer’s fifth of the season.
Florida then tied things up during a power play at the 8:01 mark when Mitchell Heard made a sweet redirection of a drive by Michael Kirkpatrick for his tenth of the season. A little less than six minutes later, the Everblades went in front during a penalty kill. A bad bounce off the boards allowed Kirkpatrick and Stephen MacAulay to speed away on a two-on-one break. Kirkpatrick drew Skapski and an defender just far enough to his side to allow a clear passing lane to MacAulay who buried it into the open side of the cage for his team-leading 14th of the season.
It was a moment that in the opening weeks would have caused a meltdown but Orlando head coach Drake Berehowsky said that his troops did not let the situation get to them.
Orlandoforward Todd Skirving tries to set up a screen in front of Florida goalie Callum Booth in Friday’s game (Photo courtesy of Fernando Medina / Orlando Solar Bears)
“We had a good feeling in the room today and like I said the guys, they battled,” Berehowsky said about the response to the Florida barrage. “They realized that a bad bounce happened and things like that happen in a game. They went out and battled hard and like I said they deserved this [win] tonight.”
The Solar Bears dug their heels in and responded with a power play goal of their own. Winquist began the sequence with a shot/pass to the net. Bootland was there and banged a rebound off of Booth’s pads that kicked out beyond the goalie’s reach. Skirving swooped in and lifted a backhander up and over Booth for his second in as many games and his fifth of the year.
With the game tied at three heading into the final twenty minutes, tempers got shorter and shorter – a hallmark of most Orlando – Florida tussles. A set of matching minors to the Solar Bears Kristian Pospisil and the Everblades Nolan LaPorte followed quickly by a penalty to Florida’s Keegan Kanzig gave the home team a five-on-three advantage for 1:48 of playing time. A little over a minute into the advantage, Solar Bears defenseman Sam Jardine kept the puck in at the blueline and slid the puck in the direction of Novak. Novak took a stride to the top of the circle and wired a wrist shot past Booth’s stick side for his eleventh of the season and the eventual game-winning tally.
“It was kind of a broken down play. It looked like theywere about to clear it but Sam [Jardine] made a good keep,” Novak said. “He just kind of threw it over. I was in space and Winny was talking to me. I saw I had a shot, I took it and luckily it found the back of the net.”
Florida turned up the heat on Skapski after Novak’s goal, putting a huge amount of pressure on the Orlando goaltender and his teammates. Skapski held the fort on a wild scramble in his crease with five minutes to go to hold the Solar Bears lead in tact. It was a big moment because a little over a minute later, Winquist and Mike Monfredo broke out on an odd-man rush that ended with the swift winger converting a rebound for what turned out to be his hat trick.
Facing a two-goal deficit, Everblades head coach Brad Ralph pulled Booth for an extra attacker. It nearly worked when John McCarron and Quentin Shore combined for a trio of shots in close but Skapski denied all three attempts with a strong right leg. As the final buzzer sounded, the teams came close to blows but cooler heads prevailed.
Afterwards, Berehowsky could not praise his team enough for the effort they put in to pick up their first win of the season against the Everblades.
“It was a great game. I thought our guys came out and they played a full sixty minutes. The energy on the bench was great and they did all the detail things right and that’s part of the reason [why] we won,” he said. “I’m proud of them and real happy. They deserved it tonight.”
Notes: Florida finished the game with a 34-30 shots advantage… Skapski made 31 saves to pick up his third win of the season while Booth stopped 25 of the 30 shots he faced in suffering the loss… The Solar Bears went 2-for-2 on the power play while the Everblades were 1-for-3… Winquist’s five points equaled the mark set by Michael Neal, who had two goals and three assists on January 17, 2013 against Wheeling… In player transaction news, Orlando defenseman Jeff King was recalled by the Marlies along with Heeter. Additionally, defensman Matias Cleland was recalled and reassigned by the Marlies to the Reading Royals. The Solar Bears are expecting forward Martins Dzierkals to rejoin them from Toronto in the next few days… The two teams will meet again Saturday night at Germain Arena in Estero. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
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