Pedersen’s 1st 2 goals lift Solar Bears to 1st win
The Orlando Solar Bears picked up their first win after getting an offensive boost from a first-year player. But not before holding off a third-period rally.
Rookie forward Brent Pedersen scored twice as part of a three-goal second period for the Solar Bears, who then withstood a shaky third period to pull out a 5-4 victory over the South Carolina Stingrays in ECHL action before an announced crowd of 3,051 Monday night at Amway Center.
Pedersen, who also had an assist in the opener, now leads the Solar Bears with three points after recording his first professional goals.
“I’ve watched him for a long time, and I knew what he could bring,” Solar Bears coach Drake Berehowsky said of Pedersen. “He’s a good strong kid who skates hard. It’s not a surprise to me. He’s just going to keep getting better and better.”
Colby McAuley also scored two goals and Vincent Dunn added a powerplay goal that broke a 1-1 tie as the Solar Bears (1-1-0-0, 2 points) beat the Stingrays (0-2-0-0) for the fifth straight time dating to last season’s Kelly Cup playoffs when Orlando swept the four-game series.
Martin Ouellette finished with 32 saves to earn his first win for the Solar Bears.
Pedersen’s first goal came at 14:29 of the second period. Michael Brodzinski’s shot from the blue line was stopped by Stingrays goaltender Adam Morrison but Pedersen was there to put in the rebound.
Pedersen was in front of the net again for his second goal, this time redirecting a shot from the point by Etienne Boutet.
The Solar Bears, who have now scored five of their seven goals this season in the second period, took a 5-1 lead early in the third period on McAuley’s second goal.
Then the Stingrays began chipping away.
“I think we stopped skating. We probably started cheating a little bit [on defense],” Berehowsky said. “I didn’t like our defensive alignments. We have new guys who are learning our formations and how we want to do things. You can’t cheat in this league because it will come back to bite you.”
Kevin McKernan and Jake Kamrass scored in a 1:26 stretch as South Carolina pulled within 5-3.
The Solar Bears killed off two straight penalties — with the Stingrays failing to even get off a shot during one power play — to maintain the two-goal edge. But South Carolina took advantage of a third power-play opportunity when Grant Besse scored at 17:39.
“I think it’s natural for a lot of teams when you’re up like that to let your foot off the gas and I think we have such a young team they have to learn to play with the lead. It’s one of our things: If we’re down five or we’re up five, whatever the situation you can’t tell. We want to play the same consistent way all the time.”
The Stingrays pulled Morrison for an extra attacker but failed to convert in the closing minutes.
“I think we just shied away a little when we had that lead. We fought through it and got the win and at the end of the day that’s what matters,” said McAuley, one of four players from the AHL’s San Jose Barracudas with the Solar Bears.
For much of the first period, though, Orlando struggled with shot production, as it did in Saturday’s season-opening 4-2 loss to the Atlanta Gladiators. South Carolina was credited with 16 of the final 18 shots in the period and outshot Orlando 17-5.
But the Solar Bears were aggressive early and it paid off as McAuley started the scoring just 1 minute, 8 seconds into the game. Alex Schoenborn’s shot was turned away by Morrison but the puck stayed in the zone. McAuley, who had just entered on a shift change, picked up the puck and skated to his left unabated through the zone before snapping a wrister past Morrison.
The lead was short-lived. The Solar Bears were whistled for a penalty while on a power play they couldn’t convert. They were one second from killing off the penalty when Stingrays defenseman Joey Leach scored.
The teams meet again Tuesday night at 7 as the Solar Bears finish off a three-game homestand. Following Tuesday’s game, Orlando will play five of its next six games on the road — all against South Division opponents.