ORLANDO, FLA – At 6-3 and 215 pounds, Orlando Solar Bears forward Brent Pedersen cuts a pretty imposing figure when standing behind a podium at a post-game press conference. Teammate Colby McAuley, although a bit smaller at 6-feet even and 185 pounds, is just as impressive. What the pair did on the ice Monday night at the Amway Center may have been even better and a precursor to what fans hope may be in store for.
Solar Bears rookie Brent Pedersen (left) tries to keep the puck away from South Carolina’s Grant Besse during Monday’s game (Photo courtesy of Gary Bassing / Orlando Solar Bears)
Both the rookie Pedersen and the now third-year pro McAuley hit for two goals to lead the host Solar Bears (1-1-0-0) to a 5-4 victory over the South Carolina Stingrays (0-2-0-0) in front of an announced crowd of 3,051. Vincent Dunn added a power play tally, Orlando’s first of the season to help the Solar Bears get out to a big lead before the Stingrays staged a furious third period rally to make the game into a nail-biter.
“I’ve watched him from when I was in Sudbury [Wolves, OHL junior team]. We tried to get him there to come and play for us. I watched him in university in Laurentian (USport collegiate system in Canada) in Sudbury.,” Solar Bears Head Coach and General Manager Drake Berehowsky said about the 23-year old Pedersen. “I knew what he could bring. He’s a big, strong kid who skates hard and he’s a committed, dedicated athlete. It’s not a surprise to me. He’s just going to keep getting better and better I think.”
Coming off of Saturday’s loss to Atlanta, the Solar Bears wanted a better start and they got it thanks in part to the AHL San Jose Barracudas. Just 1:08 into the first period, Mike Monfredo and Alex Schoenborn combined to force a turnover in the Stingrays end. Schoenborn, who along with McAuley was assigned to Orlando in a secondary affiliation deal of sorts, saw his shot blocked right to McAuley who danced into the slot and fired a low, hard laser past South Carolina goalie Adam Morrison for his first goal as a Solar Bear.
The lead lasted all of three minutes and 42 seconds as the visitors struck back. Jonathan Charbonneau made a pass back to teammate Joey Leach at the blueline for a screaming drive that got past Orlando netminder Martin Ouellette. The score was Leach’s first of the season. That was the end of the scoring in the frame as Ouellette stood on his head, turning away 15 of the 16 shots he faced while Morrison recorded four saves on the five Orlando shots in the frame.
The Solar Bears began to assert themselves in the second, bagging three goals to open up a big lead. It all started while Orlando was on its second man advantage of the night. Dunn, who had 27 goals in 134 career ECHL contests going into the game, found himself in the faceoff circle to Morrison’s left with room and the puck on his stick. Dunn fired and found the space between the goalie’s pads for his first of the year and the team’s initial power play score of the year.
Orlando’s Cody Donaghey (center) lines up a shot as Grant Besse looks for a block (Photo courtesy of Gary Bassing / Orlando Solar Bears)
Pedersen then took over the proceedings. At the 14:19 mark, he went to the front of the net to look for either a rebound or a deflection. It was the right decision as a drive from the blueline by Michael Brodzinski – another San Jose assigned player – was stopped by Morrison. Unfortunately for the Stingrays, the puck came off Morrison’s pads right to Pedersen who swung it around the netminder and in for his first professional goal.
Then with a minute left before the second intermission, Pedersen was again in his office when Etienne Boutet sent a drive on net. Somehow Pedersen got a piece of it and it went in for his second of the period.
“The first one, I just went to the net and the defenseman (Brodzinski) made a really good shot to the net. There was a nice rebound laying there for me,”Pedersen said when asked to describe his scores. “The second one, I was just in front of the net and Boutet [had] another really good shot from the defensemen. I don’t know if I actually touched that one or not. It didn’t hit my stick. It either hit my shin pad or my pants or the other defenseman.”
McAuley got back into the scoring column less than two minutes into the third. The key play was made by Cody Donaghey, the fourth member of the Barracudas quartet sent east. Donaghey drove the puck below the goal line while McAuley found himself some space out front. Donaghey threaded a pass and McAuley ripped it home for his second of the night.
Donaghey’s assist gave each of the San Jose players at least a point in the game, fulfilling the missive that the Sharks / Barracudas gave the four.
“We were told to do our things down here, work hard, do the little things that will get us back up [to the AHL],” McAuley said. “While we’ve been down here, the guys have been great. The coaching staff’s been great to us [as well as] the organization. We’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing and we’re having a great time while we’re down here.”
Orlando’s Ryan Siiro (white) tries to lose South Carolina’s Christian Horn during Monday night’s game (Photo courtesy of Gary Bassing / Orlando Solar Bears)
Up 5-1, it seemed like the final result was a lock but the Stingrays failed to get the memo. Goals by Kevin McKernan at the 3:17 mark and Jake Kamrass at 4:23 drew South Carolina within 5-3. The visitors had two power play opportunities between the 7:36 and 16:41 points that could have brought them even closer but Orlando’s penalty killers manned up and held South Carolina off the board.
“They [penalty killers] did a good job. We did some video – you know it’s hard like I said they don’t know the structure that we want to play,” Berehowsky said. “Today we got to do some video from the game two night ago. I still didn’t like the seam pass that they [South Carolina] made at the end there to score the goal. We have to be more leery of that. It’s going to be a process with everything.”
The pass Berehowsky referred to allowed the Stingrays to score a man advantage goal when Grant Besse lit the goal light with 2:21 remaining in regulation. It would however be the closest that South Carolina would get as Ouellette (32 saves) shut the door to earn his first win as a member of the Solar Bears.
Notes: The matchup was the first meeting since the Solar Bears swept the Stingrays in the South division semifinals last spring… Final shots were 36-27 in favor of the Stingrays… Each team found limited success on the power play with South Carolina going 1-for-6 while Orlando was 1-for-3… The two teams will meet again Tuesday night at the Amway Center. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.
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