Orlando Solar Bears send fans home happy in finale

The Orlando Solar Bears closed their home schedule in grand fashion. Patrick Watling scored in the final second of overtime to deliver a thrilling 4-3 win.

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Zach Bell, Rob Madore, Orlando Solar Bears
Orlando Solar Bears goalie Rob Madore and defender Zach Bell fight off a shot from the Greenville Swamp Rabbits in the Solar Bears' 6-5 loss at Amway Center on February 4, 2016. Photo by Fernando Medina/Orlando Solar Bears.

The Orlando Solar Bears have not been that consistent on home ice at the Amway Center throughout the year. There were plenty of times where the team seemed to fall short or not put together the best effort.

With the Playoffs all but out of reach for the Solar Bears, they saved the best for their fans in their last game. Orlando always seemed to step up the most when the crowds were the biggest — opening night, Teddy Bear toss night, Defend the Den night and the like.

The home finale saw the Solar Bears pack in 8,226 into the Amway Center. It saw them take the lead. It saw them come back. And it saw them deliver the game-winner with 0.3 seconds left in overtime.

Patrick Watling, who spent most of the season injured after a nasty hit against the boards during one of the team’s first road trips, fired in a rebound shot from Brett Findlay to deliver the Solar Bears a 4-3 victory to close out the season at Amway Center. Orlando will travel south to Estero for two more games against the Florida Everblades to close the season.

“I don’t think anyone left too disappointed tonight,” Solar Bears coach Anthony Noreen told Jason Hall of the Orlando Sentinel. “That’s one of those games you can draw up, and it doesn’t get more thrilling than [that]. … We felt like our guys deserved it, based on the effort, and just as much that our fans deserved it, based on the support we’ve had from them all year.”

It was a night that was all for the fans in many ways.

The Solar Bears scored two goals in the first period and seemed like they were on their way to a comfortable win. That is not something they have been able to do against the physical Everblades all year. Then a fan hit a shot from the opposite blue line for $100,000.

The Solar Bears got to celebrate their fans and with their fans even though they are not likely to make the Playoffs for a third straight season. A somewhat disappointing season, but at least it had a good ending.

Jack Rodewald and Brett Findlay scored in the first period to take that 2-0 lead. The Everblades responded with three goals in the second to take the lead into the final 20 minutes.

Erick Bradford found the game-tying goal midway through the third period, setting up drama for the final moments and into overtime.

Orlando has not always scratched those games out. Tonight though they delivered for the fans in the finale, building some momentum to the offseason.

The Solar Bears still have a slim chance at the Playoffs. The three teams ahead of them — Wheeling, Kalamazoo and Elmira — all have 79 points, the maximum number of points Orlando can earn the rest of the season. The Solar Bears have to win the next two games and have two of the three teams ahead of them lose their remaining games in regulation.

Orlando though needed this one for the fans. And the team delivered.

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