Weekly Report: Feb. 24, 2020

The Solar Bears enter the season’s 21st week in third place in the ECHL’s South Division, after dropping three road games last week before returning home for a 5-1 win over the Norfolk Admirals on Sunday afternoon. Orlando heads out on the road for a match against the Atlanta Gladiators on Friday before returning home on Saturday night for Hockey Fights Cancer Night presented by XYMOPrint against the defending Kelly Cup champions, the Newfoundland Growlers and a Sunday afternoon clash with the Florida Everblades.

STANDINGS:

SOLAR BEARS RECORD: 25-24-5-1 — 56 POINTS (.509)SOUTH DIVISION: THIRD OF SEVENEASTERN CONFERENCE: SEVENTH OF 13LEAGUE: 16TH OF 26

LAST WEEK AT A GLANCE:

LAST WEEK’S RECORD: 1-3-0-0LAST WEEK’S SCORES:

• Wednesday, Feb. 19 at Florida (6-3 loss)
• Friday, Feb. 21 at Atlanta (3-2 loss)
• Saturday, Feb. 22 at Jacksonville (4-0 loss)
• Sunday, Feb. 23 vs. Norfolk (5-1 win)  

THIS WEEK’S GAMES:

Friday, Feb. 28 at Atlanta Gladiators – 7:35 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 29 vs. Newfoundland Growlers – 7 p.m. – Hockey Fights Cancer Night presented by XYMOPrint

Sunday, March 1 vs. Florida Everblades – 7 p.m. – Fairwinds Solar Bears Sunday – The first 100 Fairwinds Credit Union members who present their Fairwinds debit/credit card and photo ID at the Amway Center box office will receive a pair of free tickets to that day’s game. Once the first 100 pairs of tickets are claimed, Fairwinds members can still take advantage of a buy-one-get-one ticket offer. Visit fairwinds.org/solarbears for more information.

SOLAR BEARS LEADERS:

Goals: 17 – Trevor OlsonAssists: 26 – Michael BrodzinskiPoints: 37 – Tristin LanganPlus-Minus: +25 – Tristin LanganPIM: 58 – Trevor OlsonGame-Winning Goals: 3 – Rich Boyd, Taylor Cammarata and Jake CoughlerPower-Play Goals: 6 – Alexey Lipanov (in AHL)Shorthanded Goals: 3 – Trevor OlsonShots: 137 – Cody DonagheyWins: 13 – Clint WindsorGoals-Against Average: 2.46 – Clint WindsorSave Percentage: 0.926 – Clint Windsor

OTHER NOTABLES:

SHORTHANDED SPECIALISTSAlexander Kuqali’s two goals on Sunday in Orlando’s 5-1 win over Norfolk also came with the Solar Bears on the penalty kill, giving the team its ECHL-leading 13th and 14th shorthanded goals of the season. Orlando’s previous single-season record for shorthanded goals was set during the 2018-19 season, when the Solar Bears found the back of the net 15 times when playing down at least one skater. The Solar Bears currently rank third in the league with overall penalty-killing rate of 87.5 percent.

LANGAN CONTINUES TO IMPRESSAfter earning a four-game call-up to the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL, Tristin Langan has come back with a vengeance for the Solar Bears. The rookie forward has eight points (2g-6a) over his last seven games, including a new career-high four points in Sunday’s 5-1 win over Norfolk. He also leads all rookie forwards in plus-minus with a +25 rating.

DONAGHEY BLASTING AWAYDefenseman Cody Donaghey ranks fifth among ECHL defensemen with 137 shots on goal, which also leads the entire Solar Bears roster. The third-year pro has only been held without a shot in four games this season. Donaghey has 310 career shots in his time with the Solar Bears, which places him just 24 away from jumping into the Top 5 of the franchise career shot leaders.