Weekly Report: March 2, 2020

The Solar Bears enter the season’s 22nd week in fourth place in the ECHL’s South Division, with the opportunity to make up some major ground on a chase for a fourth consecutive trip to the Kelly Cup Playoffs. Orlando picked up a big 5-1 win over the defending champions, the Newfoundland Growlers to push their season-high home win streak to five games, but that streak came to an end the following afternoon in a 3-0 loss to the Florida Everblades. The Solar Bears host the Atlanta Gladiators on Tuesday and the Greenville Swamp Rabbits on Wednesday before traveling to play the Gladiators on the road Friday.

STANDINGS:

SOLAR BEARS RECORD: 26-26-5-1 — 58 POINTS (.500)SOUTH DIVISION: FOURTH OF SEVENEASTERN CONFERENCE: EIGHTH OF 13LEAGUE: 17TH OF 26

PLAYOFF PICTURE:

The top four teams in the South Division will qualify for the 2020 ECHL postseason. Both the South Carolina Stingrays and Florida Everblades have already clinched playoff berths, leaving just two spots available. At 58 points through 58 games, Orlando can finish the 72-game regular season with a maximum of 86 points and no higher than third place in the South Division. Orlando currently requires 27 points to clinch a playoff spot and 28 points to lock up third place in the Division. A regulation win over Atlanta on Tuesday will reduce Orlando’s “magic number” to 23 points.

LAST WEEK AT A GLANCE:

LAST WEEK’S RECORD: 1-2-0-0LAST WEEK’S SCORES:

• Friday, Feb. 28 at Atlanta (6-1 loss)
• Saturday, Feb. 29 vs. Newfoundland (5-1 win)
• Sunday, March 1 vs. Florida (3-0 loss)  

THIS WEEK’S GAMES:

Tuesday, March 3 vs. Atlanta Gladiators – 7 p.m.

Wednesday, March 4 vs. Greenville Swamp Rabbits – 7 p.m. – Wine Down Wednesday – fans can take advantage of $5 wine specials during the game

Friday, March 6 at Atlanta Gladiators – 7:35 p.m.

SOLAR BEARS LEADERS:

Goals: 17 – Trevor OlsonAssists: 27 – Michael BrodzinskiPoints: 37 – Tristin Langan**Plus-Minus: +25 – Tristin Langan**PIM: 64 – Trevor OlsonGame-Winning Goals: 4 – Taylor CammarataPower-Play Goals: 6 – Alexey LipanovShorthanded Goals: 3 – Trevor OlsonShots: 139 – Cody DonagheyWins: 14 – Clint WindsorGoals-Against Average: 2.51 – Clint WindsorSave Percentage: 0.925 – Clint Windsor**in AHL

OTHER NOTABLES:

THREE MAJOR DEADLINES LOOMThe American Hockey League Trade Deadline is this afternoon at 3 p.m. ET. The ECHL Recall/Reassignment Deadline is Wednesday, March 4 at 11:59 p.m. ET – if a player contracted with an NHL or AHL club is to be moved from one ECHL team to another, it must be done by this deadline. The ECHL Trade Deadline is Thursday, March 5 at 3 p.m. ET. The Solar Bears have already made several notable trades this season:

• Dec. 13 – Forward Johno May acquired from the Greenville Swamp Rabbits in exchange for defenseman Mike Monfredo and future considerations
• Jan. 14 – Forward Taylor Cammarata acquired from the Idaho Steelheads in exchange for forward Colby McAuley
• Feb. 26 – Goaltender Jeff Smith acquired from the Utah Grizzlies in exchange for future considerations  

FEBRUARY WRAP-UPThe Solar Bears finished the month of February with a 7-7-0-0 record. Trevor Olson led Orlando in scoring for the month with 11 points (3g-8a) in 13 games, while Taylor Cammarata finished second with 10 points (5g-5a) and tallied three game-winners, including two that came in overtime. Clint Windsor went 5-4-0 in nine appearances with a 2.78 goals-against average and .923 save percentage.

SCORING FIRST, LEADING AFTER TWO PERIODS KEY DRIVERS TO SUCCESSThe Solar Bears are 21-5-1-1 this season when scoring first; Orlando is 12-0-0-0 when scoring first at home. Orlando is 21-1-2-0 when leading after two periods, and 12-0-0-0 in that situation at home.

BRODZINSKI SET TO SURPASS CAREER MARKSDefenseman Michael Brodzinski is living up to his All-Star selection in January after finishing February with another strong month. The blueliner led Orlando’s defensemen in scoring in February with eight points (4g-4a) in 10 games and led the entire roster in plus-minus in for the month with a +6. With 35 points (8g-27a) in 54 games this season, The fourth-year pro is in striking distance of shattering his previous career marks for goals (9), assists (29) and points (38).

WINDSOR CLOSING IN ON SOLAR BEARS ROOKIE WIN MARKAfter earning his 14th victory of the season on Saturday, Clint Windsor is now just five wins back from matching the club single-season record for wins by a rookie goaltender. Ryan Massa set the current mark with 19 during the 2015-16 season. Windsor – who earned four wins last season after joining the team in the middle of the campaign - has already tied Martin Ouellette (18) for fifth on the franchise career wins list. His next win will move him into a tie with Cal Heeter for fourth place.

EYE ON THE AHLForward Tyler Bird, who was loaned to the Syracuse Crunch on Feb. 22, has skated in three games for the AHL affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning, most recently tallying his first AHL point with an assist in Saturday’s 4-2 win over the Rochester Americans. Brent Pedersen, who has spent the majority of the season on loan to the Manitoba Moose, has nine points (3g-6a) in 34 games this season in the AHL.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCKA number of recent injuries and call-ups have necessitated the addition of several young players to the roster over the past two weeks. Rookie forwards Bryson Cianfrone, Guillaume Gauthier, Danny Hanlon and J.M. Piotrowski have all joined the Solar Bears in that time and remain on the roster as of Monday.

LEBLANC, OLSON CLIMBING FRANCHISE GOAL LISTForwards Chris LeBlanc and Trevor Olson each enter the week with 33 career goals for Orlando, placing them in a four-way tie with C.J. Severyn and Eric Baier for seventh on the franchise goal-scoring list.

1. Joe Perry – 532. Eric Faille – 513. Brett Findlay – 384. Brady Vail – 354. Jacobe Cepis – 356. Denver Manderson – 347. Eric Baier – 337. C.J. Severyn – 337. Chris LeBlanc – 337. Trevor Olson – 33