The Orlando Solar Bears left two weeks ago with a lack of production on the power play. They returned home with the league best mark on special teams.
The Orlando Solar Bears left the Amway Center on a bit of a downer when it came to special teams.
In back-to-back losses to the Florida Everblades, Orlando went 1 for 13 on the power play. The team was struggling to get shots consistently with the man advantage as the experienced Florida team outmuscled Orlando and forced the team into dump and chase with the man advantage.
Things began to turn as the Solar Bears went on the road.
Against the Idaho Steelheads, the Solar Bears went 1 for 2 on the power play. On the five-game road trip, Orlando went 6 for 17 (35.3 percent) on the power play, including three of four in the 6-5 overtime win over the Greenville Swamp Rabbits.
For the season, Orlando is now 14 for 52 (26.9 percent) on the power play. That is the best mark in the league. And it should be noted the Solar Bears are just 8 for 35 (22.9 percent) in the nine games before the five-game road trip Orlando just completed.
Orlando needed all of those power play goals too. The Solar Bears won three of the five games with shootout losses in the other two. That is eight points in five games, a solid return from the road trip.
The Solar Bears have to keep that up as they return home to take on the South Carolina Stingrays on Tuesday.
The power play line got production all over the place from different mixed and matched lines. Brett Findlay recorded one goal and two assists. Denver Manderson had two assists. Brady Vail also joined the line and recorded a goal and an assist. Eric Faille added two goals and an assist too.
And that does not even mention Johnny McInnis who leads the team with three power play goals this season.
Orlando was getting goals from just about everywhere on the road trip and getting plenty of power play opportunities.
The Solar Bears left Orlando a team struggling to convert on the power play and return a team leading the league in those opportunities.
It is something of a statement the Solar Bears implementation of the system — used by their parent clubs, the Toronto Marlies and Toronto Maple Leafs.
There have been performances early on this season where the Solar Bears certainly were not producing, but Anthony Noreen has come out of games thrilled with the process by which his team got opportunities. If they stuck with it, he said, the results would come.
That was how Orlando left. The team returns seeing many of the results (even if they came in close games).
When Orlando goes up a man, the team has a pretty good chance at scoring. One in three obviously leads the league.
Back in the confines of Amway Center and RDV Sportsplex, the Solar Bears will see if they can keep this momentum up.
