Winquist matches Solar Bears record in 5-3 win

ORLANDO, Fla. – Joshua Winquist tied a club record with a five-point night and recorded a hat trick to pace the Orlando Solar Bears (13-14-4-1) to a 5-3 win over the Florida Everblades (21-5-1-2) on Friday night at the ARS.com Rink at Amway Center.

Winquist factored into every Orlando goal to give the forward a share of the club single-game point record previously set by Michael Neal, who originally achieved the mark on Jan. 17, 2013 vs. Wheeling (2g-3a).

Click here for the box score.

SCORING SUMMARY

Orlando: Joshua Winquist (J.J. Piccinich), Winquist (Piccinich, Sean Zimmerman), Todd Skirving (Darryl Bootland, Winquist), Max Novak (Sam Jardine, Winquist), Winquist (Mike Monfredo)

Goaltender: Mackenzie Skapski (31/34)

Florida: Brett Bulmer (Tyler Ganly), Mitchell Heard (Michael Kirkpatrick, Zack Kamrass), Stephen MacAulay (Kirkpatrick)

Goaltender: Callum Booth (25/30)

ON THE SCORESHEET

• Joshua Winquist found the back of the net for the second consecutive game when he snapped a shot past Callum Booth at 6:06 of the first period to open the scoring. Winquist tacked on another goal at 18:48 when he dug out his own rebound and roofed a shot past Booth. After assisting on Todd Skirving and Max Novak’s goals, Winquist completed the hat trick and five-point evening by teaming up with Mike Monfredo for a 2-on-1 and buried a rebound from Monfredo at 16:31 of the third period.
• J.J. Piccinich tallied two assists on the night, setting up both of Winquist’s first two goals.
• Sean Zimmerman picked up his second assist of the season with the secondary helper on Winquist’s second goal.
• Todd Skirving tallied a power-play goal at 15:21 of the second to even the score at 3-3 after the Everblades had reeled off three straight to take the lead from Orlando. Skirving’s goal was his second in as many games, and his fifth of the season.
• Darryl Bootland earned the primary assist on Skirving’s goal.
• Max Novak broke a 3-3 tie to give Orlando the lead again when he scored the eventual game-winner at 7:11 of the third period while the Solar Bears were on the man advantage. Novak snapped a shot from the left circle past Booth for his 11th goal of the season.
• Mike Monfredo earned the lone assist on Winquist’s third goal.
• Mackenzie Skapski picked up his third win of the season by making 31 saves on 34 shots against.

NOTABLES

• The Solar Bears went 2-for-2 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill.
• Orlando has improved to 11-1-1-1 when allowing three or fewer goals; the Solar Bears are now also now 10-2-0-0 when scoring four or more goals.
• Winquist led the Solar Bears with six shots on goal.
• Winquist’s 35 points (13g-22a) now sits only two points behind Casey Pierro-Zabotel of the Allen Americans for the league scoring lead. Winquist is currently tied for fourth in league scoring.
• The victory was Orlando’s first of the season through four meetings with Florida. The Everblades still maintain a 6-3 point advantage in the Wawa Sunshine Cup Series. Orlando takes on the Everblades tomorrow at 7 p.m. at Germain Arena.
• The Solar Bears return home to host the Jacksonville Icemen at the ARS.com Rink at Amway Center on Sunday, Jan. 7 at 1:30 p.m. Single-game tickets for the 2017-18 season are now on sale at the Amway Center box office and ticketmaster.com.

THREE STARS1) Joshua Winquist – ORL2) J.J. Piccinich – ORL3) Max Novak – ORL

About the Orlando Solar Bears:The Orlando Solar Bears are in their sixth season of operation in the ECHL, the premier “AA” hockey league in North America, and are the proud affiliate of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs and the AHL’s Toronto Marlies. The Solar Bears are owned and operated by the Orlando Magic and the DeVos Family, and play at the ARS.com Rink at Amway Center, the 2012 Street and Smith’s Sports Business Journal Sports Facility of the Year.

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Officially licensed Orlando Solar Bears replica team jerseys, apparel, and headwear can be purchased at orlandosolarbearshockey.com/shop.