The Orlando Solar Bears returned from their first road trip with three points and some adversity faced and lessons learned. The team is making progress.
The Orlando Solar Bears returned home with three points of a possible six on their three-game road trip to New York and Pennsylvania.
As the two-week pole of the season sets in, the Solar Bears are in second place in the division, three points behind in-state rival Florida Everblades, who are due in to Amway Center for a pair of games Saturday and Sunday. Florida also has played three more games than Orlando to this point in the season.
The standings are probably less important to Orlando at the moment than seeing the team make gradual improvements. And, in that sense, Orlando has.
The road trip featured a tough loss to the then-unbeaten Adirondack Thunder. The Solar Bears then lost a two-goal lead before falling in overtime at the Elmira Jackals before bouncing back for a road win at the Reading Royals. And in that game the Solar Bears nearly squandered a three-goal lead before holding on for the win.
Despite a solid record, Orlando still has some work to do.
“We took three of the six, which is nice, but we weren’t really satisfied,” forward Brett Findlay said. “I think we just learned a lot about our team. It’s better to get these jitters out of the way early and fix things now rather than late in the season.”
Defenseman Eric Baier said Saturday’s game was particularly encouraging. It was perhaps the best game the team had played collectively to this point in the season. And it was good for the team to face some adversity and respond with a solid win and strong performance in Reading after losing the third period lead against Elmira on Friday
The road does not get easier either.
The Solar Bears announced Tuesday the Toronto Marlies recalled starting goalie Rob Madore. Madore, who was the ECHL Turner Cup Final MVP last year with Cincinnati, started in four games for the Solar Bears, giving up 3.25 goals against average and a 90.6 percent save percentage.
Madore is likely to spend much of the season bouncing between Toronto and Orlando as needed. The Solar Bears will rely even more on rookie Ryan Massa who has two wins in his first two career starts — giving up a 2.50 goals against average, including Saturday’s win over Reading.
Orlando has done enough to win many games, but has had some holes defensively, conceding 3.2 goals per game and 19.8 penalty ice minutes (essentially 10 two-minute minors) per game.
The Solar Bears though are confident in their defense nonetheless. And the results this season to this point — the team averages 4.7 goals per game — have given Orlando plenty of room for a few mistakes and learning.
“I think our defense for the most part has been pretty solid,” Findlay said. “A couple bad turnovers, a couple bad bounces for us. We are a fast team and we want to play fast and get on the offense. I think the biggest thing for us is taking care of our zone, taking care of the puck and getting out on offense.”
The Solar Bears certainly are playing a very different style. There is an emphasis on speed and turning defense into offense quickly.
Baier said the defense is about pressing puck handlers and cutting down time and space. That can often leave offensive players behind the defense if a team can work the puck around the defense or through the pressure. It has burned Orlando on a few occasions, but has largely worked.
There is still something of an adjustment even though the team has worked on this system from the time many were training with the Marlies last month to their return to Orlando.
There are things to clean up for sure, but the Solar Bears have found a nice rhythm though and have won games. A good start for anything the team is trying to build.
“We’re in a really good spot,” Baier said. “We’re starting to gel. The biggest thing right now is we are finding ways to win which is huge. Even when we haven’t come out with our best games, we’re finding ways to win. We just got to keep it together for 60 minutes and keep those lulls out of our game.”
Whether or not a change in net this weekend will have an effect remains to be seen. Massa is the only goalie on the roster as of Tuesday, although it would seem likely the Solar Bears will have a backup in place by this weekend’s games. Two goalies were present in practice Tuesday, conducted before the team announced the Marlies had called up Madore.
There is still plenty of work to do. But through six games and two weeks, the Solar Bears are in a good place as they continue to build.
“I think we are pretty comfortable with where we are,” Findlay said. “We’re not satisfied saying that. Moving forward here, we’re just trying to stick together, learn every day, come to the rink and work hard. We have a young group and everyone here wants make it to the next level. We’re headed in the right direction.”
