Solar Bears crush Everblades 7-2

ESTERO, Fla. – Brent Pedersen tied a club record with a five-point (2g-3a) performance and the Orlando Solar Bears (31-19-4-0) rolled to a 7-2 victory over the Florida Everblades (37-15-5-0) on Friday night at Hertz Arena.

Click here for the box score.

The first period was a scoreless affair, while the Solar Bears kept the Everblades at bay thanks to a 2-on-0 breakaway save by Clint Windsor on Nathan Perkovich shortly after Perkovich had exited the penalty box at the 18:41 mark.

Otto Somppi gave the Solar Bears a 1-0 lead with a spectacular highlight-reel goal at the 3:22 mark of the second period. The forward skated behind the Florida net and elevated the puck on his stick blade before he tucked the puck underneath the crossbar at the left post for his fifth of the season. The goal earned the distinction as the No. 1 play of the night on ESPN’s SportsCenter.

Pedersen made it 2-0 when he teamed up with Trevor Olson and knocked in Olson’s rebound for his eighth of the season at 13:10.

Pedersen struck again on the power play when he parked himself in front of the net and deflected Mathieu Foget’s shot at the right circle past Jamie Phillips to make it 3-0.

Florida got on the board in the third period when Michael Neville jammed the puck past Windsor during a scramble in the Orlando crease at 4:09.

Dylan Fitze restored Orlando’s three-goal edge to make it 4-1 at 6:16 when Troy Bourke’s initial shot squeaked through the pads of Phillips and Fitze buried the loose puck for his 10th of the season.

Somppi netted his second of the contest at 13:54 on the man advantage when Fitze sent a pass from the trapezoid to Somppi at the left circle, and the forward roofed a shot past Phillips to make it 5-1.

The Everblades struck again on the power play at 13:54 when Ernie Hartlieb scored off the rush with a snapshot from the slot for his first pro goal since the 2013-13 season, as Florida’s all-time games played leader had come out of retirement and signed with the club earlier in the day.

Olson answered with a power-play goal for Orlando at 16:37 when a shot from Bourke rebounded off the pads of Phillips and Olson buried his 14th of the season to make it 6-2.

Bourke capped the scoring with his seventh of the season for Orlando at 19:08 when he flipped a pass back to Matthew Spencer, and the defenseman attempted a shot on the Florida goal. Although Spencer’s shot was blocked, Bourke scooped up the puck and backhanded it past the reach of Phillips for the strike.

Windsor picked up the win with 29 saves on 31 shots against; Phillips took the loss with 21 stops on 28 shots against.

THREE STARS1) Brent Pedersen – ORL2) Otto Somppi – ORL3) Ernie Hartlieb – ORL

NOTABLES:

• The Solar Bears now lead the regular season series with Florida with a 5-2-1-0 record.
• Orlando went 3-for-6 on the man advantage, matching its best output on the power play this season.
• Pedersen’s five-point performance matched the club mark for points in a single-game. The rookie joins Max Novak (March 17, 2018 at Florida), Joshua Winquist (Dec. 29, 2017 vs. Florida) and Michael Neal (Jan. 17, 2013 vs. Wheeling) as the fourth player in team history to achieve the feat.
• Olson’s two-point performance extended his point streak to seven games (7g-4a). His goal also extended his goal streak to five straight games (6g), matching the club mark originally set by Ryan Cruthers during the 2012-13 season and matched by Brenden Miller during the 2016-17 campaign.
• Somppi has recorded at least a point in each of his seven games while he has been assigned to Orlando (6g-5a).

NEXT GAME: The Solar Bears return home on Saturday, March 2 to host Florida at the ARS.com Rink at Amway Center at 7 p.m. for Military Appreciation Night, presented by Hunter Vision. CLICK HERE to purchase tickets for this game.

2019-20 Season Ticket Memberships on Sale Now:

Upgrade to Solar Status and become a Season Ticket Member today. Season ticket memberships for the 2019-20 season are now on sale and start as little as $270 – CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION.

2018-19 Season Presented by XYMOPrint:

The Orlando Solar Bears are proud to have local digital printing experts XYMOPrint as the presenting sponsor of the 2018-19 season. As a special offer, fans who call XYMOPrint at (888) 223-9390 from now until June 15, 2019 and reference the Solar Bears will receive 30% off their first order of 500 business cards.

2018-19 Single-Game Tickets Now on Sale:

Single-game tickets for the Orlando Solar Bears 2018-19 regular season home schedule are now on sale. Fans can purchase single-game tickets for as little as $15 at the Amway Center box office, or online at Ticketmaster.com.

About the Orlando Solar Bears:

The Orlando Solar Bears are the proud affiliate of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning and members of the ECHL, the premier “AA” hockey league in North America. In six seasons of operation, the team has qualified for the Kelly Cup Playoffs four times. 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.

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