The Orlando Solar Bears had several breakaway chances but only buried the first one as the Florida Everblades took advantage for a 4-1 win.
The Orlando Solar Bears needed the confidence boost. Desperately.
Losers of 13 of their past 15 games entering the wekend, Orlando needed some momentum and some confidence before beginning a long road trip — seven games all on the road until Jan. 27 — and salvage some type of team success for the season.
The team found it in defeating the first-place Florida Everblades in the first two games of weekend back-to-back-to-back. Orlando had stood toe to toe with the division leaders and a team that had stymied it time and time again throughout the season.
A little more than a minute into Sunday’s game, Eric Baier fired a long pass across the ice to T.J. Foster in stride. He picked up the puck near the circle and fired in on Anthony Peters.
The good times seemed like they would continue to roll as the Solar Bears got chance after chance in the first period — many on long-pass breakaways.
Slowly the energy dissipated. The Everblades began pinching the Solar Bears to come through the middle where they were met by a more physical, precise team. The more veteran Florida team found its chances to pounce.
Unlike the Solar Bears, the Everblades converted. Florida tied the score in the first period, scored the game winner five minutes into the third period and added two empty net goals for good measure to defeat Orlando 4-1 at Amway Center on Sunday.
“I think tonight we didn’t capitalize on all of our chances,” Foster said. “We had a few breakaways that we didn’t bury. Earlier in the third if I get that breakaway we have a 2-1 game and then they come back right after to make it 2-1. It sort of flipped there. They buried on that one chance and we had to come back and we just didn’t do it.”
The Solar Bears had the better chances for the first period at least by getting out on the break, leaking out the winger and trying to beat the Everblades over the top some. It would at least stretch the defense and enable them to pass through the middle of the ice to get into the zone.
It gave Orlando some energy early on. Coach Anthony Noreen said he counted five breakaway opportunities. They only converted one and that is not going to lead to too many wins down the road.
Florida seemed to be playing the waiting game. Slowly taking control through the second and third period.
The Everblades went ahead with a bit of the Solar Bears’ own medicine with Matt Marquardt finding Evan Bloodoff across the ice to beat Rob Madore for the lead.
The Everblades seemed content to hang back from there and defend their lead. Noreen said the Everblades forechecked less than they had previously this season. The pace slowed down and the Solar Bears’ inability to convert proved to be the story of the game.
“I think they are certainly more experienced in it,” Noreen said. “My guess is going to be when we break the video down we had the better of the chances. It’s tough to score in this game. You’ve got to score when you get breakaways. it’s really tough to score when you are only getting two power plays.”
Orlando made progress though in the weekend. The puck, as Noreen likes to say, just did not get into the back of the net this game. There was a lethargic air to the game as both teams were playing each other for the third game in three nights.
The Everblades certainly no what they are doing in those situations better. But Orlando found some good combinations and found some energy.
Even in this game, the Solar Bears had control and made big stops to keep Florida from taking control even in a tie game.
Rob Madore made 21 saves in allowing two goals, making some really strong plays. The first goal he conceded came when Denver Manderson could not control the puck and it fell to Matt Willows for a shot past Madore as he reset.
These were the breaks Florida took advantage that Orlando could not.
“It was just one of those scrambly games,” Foster said. “It seemed like it was back and forth and there wasn’t a lot of structure in the game. The pucks were sort of in and out. I think it was kind of one of those games where not a lot of crispness was in the game.”
Bouncing back with a few wins though is critical for Orlando. With all the call ups with goalies and with some of the key forward players, Orlando has struggled to get its footing and some consistency as a group. The team’s 12-14-2-3 record reflects that as does its recent struggles overall.
Taking two wins over the top team in the conference should help the team build conference heading into the long road trip against some new teams — the Solar Bears have played their last 17 games against intra-divisional opponents, the Atlanta Gladiators (four times), Greenville Swamp Rabbits (four times), South Carolina Stingrays (four times) and Florida Everblades (five times). They do not see any of those teams again until Jan. 22 when Orlando closes the home stretch in Estero, Fla., against Florida.
The team needed the boost of energy badly before heading out on this trip with an opportunity to pick up some points and maybe get back into the Playoff race.
“This is something that we should certainly grow from,” Noreen said. “If that’s the best team in our conference and we just played them in those three games and we like the way we played and like the way we matched up all three nights, we should be full of confidence. Obviously, we should not be happy we did not get this one tonight. It’s unacceptable to play any other way.”
