Bear Bites: Week of Feb. 15, 2021

ORLANDO, Fla. – After winning their last two games in Greenville, the Orlando Solar Bears conclude their season-high seven-game road trip this week with a pair of games in Estero, before returning home on Saturday to face the Florida Everblades at the AdventHealth Rink at Amway Center. 

THIS WEEK’S GAMES: 

• Wednesday, Feb. 17 at Florida Everblades at 7:30 p.m. 
• Friday, Feb. 19 at Florida Everblades at 7:30 p.m. 
• Saturday, Feb. 20 vs. Florida Everblades at 7 p.m.   

SEASON RECORD: 11-8-1-0 (.575) LAST WEEK’S RECORD: 2-1-0-0 RECORD IN LAST 10 GAMES: 5-4-1-0 EASTERN CONFERENCE STANDINGS: 3rd of 7 

ACTIVE LEADERS: TOP SCORER: Aaron Luchuk – 15 points MOST GOALS: Jake Coughler – 6 goals MOST ASSISTS: Aaron Luchuk – 11 assists PIM LEADER: Matthew Spencer and Devante Stephens – 16 PIM PLUS-MINUS LEADER: Devante Stephens – +7 

LAST WEEK’S GAMES: 

Thursday, Feb. 11 at Greenville: 8-2 L Mark Auk and Devante Stephens scored, but the Solar Bears suffered their largest loss of the season against Greenville. 

Saturday, Feb. 13 at Greenville: 5-0 W Orlando responded to Thursday’s loss with its first shutout victory of the season, as Michael Lackey recorded 19 saves for his first pro shutout. Nolan Valleau recorded two points in just his second game back with the Solar Bears, including the game-winner. 

Sunday, Feb. 14 at Greenville: 4-1 W Lackey followed up his performance the night before with a 37-save effort as Tyler Bird and Jake Coughler each scored for the second straight game, and Nikita Pavlychev tallied the game-winner for Orlando as the Solar Bears moved up to third place in the Eastern Conference. 

BEARS IN THE NHL: 

Several former Solar Bears occupy spots on NHL rosters or taxi squads during the 2020-21 season – here we will track their progress: 

*Indicates on taxi squad as of Monday morning

BITES: 

• Orlando enters the week 8-0-0-0 when scoring first, and 7-0-0-0 when leading after two periods 
• Tristin Langan needs two points for 50 in his Solar Bears career (16g-32a) 
• The Solar Bears are 5-0-0-0 in Friday games this season 
• Johno May enters the week with a three-game point streak (1g-2a) 
• Jake Coughler and Tyler Bird each enter the week with a two-game goal-scoring streak (2g) 
• Aaron Luchuk needs four more points for 100 in his pro career (37g-59a); he also needs only three more games with Orlando for 100 career ECHL games 
• Orlando is sixth in the ECHL averaging 2.90 goals scored per game; the Solar Bears are 11-1-1-0 when scoring three or more goals 
• Michael Lackey went 2-1-0 last week with a 2.16 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage 
• Orlando is the least-penalized team in the Eastern Conference, averaging only 12 penalty minutes per game 
• Alexander Kuqali, Tristin Langan, and Aaron Luchuk are the only players to have played in every single game for Orlando this season 

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