Solar Bears series with Railers now split following 4-1 loss

ORLANDO, Fla. – Max Novak scored the lone goal for the Orlando Solar Bears (22-24-5-1) as the club fell to the Worcester Railers (21-21-4-2) by a 4-1 score on Friday night at the ARS.com Rink at Amway Center.

The Solar Bears remain in fourth place (50 points) in the South Division. Orlando sits five points behind Atlanta for third place, with two games in hand; The Solar Bears are ahead of fifth-place Greenville and sixth-place Norfolk by six points with one more game played.

Click here for the box score.

SCORING SUMMARY

Orlando: Max Novak (Hunter Fejes, Martins Dzierkals)

Goaltender: Cal Heeter (13/17), Mackenzie Skapski (18/18)

Worcester: Tommy Kelley (Yanick Turcotte), Matt Lane (Ben Masella, Frankie DiChiara), Barry Almeida (Masella, Chris Langkow), Kyle McKenzie (Masella, T.J. Syner)

Goaltender: Mitch Gillam (42/43)

ON THE SCORESHEET

• Max Novak scored his 15th of the season at 11:04 of the third period to get Orlando on the board.
• Hunter Fejes earned the primary assist on Novak’s goal. Fejes now has a five-game assist streak (6a).
• Martins Dzierkals collected the secondary assist on Novak’s goal, and now has a two-game point streak (1g-2a).
• Cal Heeter took the loss for Orlando, making 13 saves on 17 shots against in 27:58 of play.
• Mackenzie Skapski came on in relief of Heeter and stopped all 15 shots he faced in 31:55 of action.

NOTABLES

• Defenseman Sam Jardine Orlando with seven shots on goal.
• The Solar Bears host the rubber match of their regular season series with the Worcester Railers on Saturday, Feb. 17 at the ARS.com Rink at Amway Center at 7 p.m. as the team hosts Hockey Fights Cancer Night presented by XYMOPRINT. Saturday’s game will be televised on My65 Orlando. Single-game tickets for the 2017-18 season are now on sale at the Amway Center box office and ticketmaster.com.

THREE STARS1) Mitch Gillam – WOR2) Ben Masella – WOR3) Barry Almeida – WOR

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.

Fighting Four Packs, presented by CenturyLink, are now available for purchase! Pick four games and get gift certificates to Sonny’s BBQ, Dick’s Sporting Goods, QDOBA Mexican Eats and a FREE center ice ticket to the our Hockey Fights Cancer Night game, presented by XYMOPRINT on Saturday, Feb. 17! Packs start as low as $64 and include $68 in FREE gifts! Click here or call (407) 951-8200 for more information.

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