ORLANDO, Fla. – The Orlando Solar Bears (23-16-3-0 / .583) host the Florida Everblades (23-15-3-3 / .591) for the eighth of 15 meetings this season tonight at 7 p.m. at the AdventHealth Rink at Amway Center. Orlando enters tonight’s game riding a three-game win streak that began last Friday with a 4-2 home win over the Everblades. Orlando is 4-1-1-0 in its last six games.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
- Orlando has a 4-3-0-0 lead in the series with eight games still remaining in head-to-head competition. A win tonight will move Orlando ahead of Florida based on points percentage in the South Division standings.
- Brad Barone will make his eighth consecutive start tonight for Orlando – Barone is 4-2-0 in six outings against Florida this season with a .933 save percentage.
- Orlando is 21-2-2-0 when scoring three or more goals.
- Dmitry Semykin and Steven Oleksy are both expected to return to the lineup for tonight after sitting out Wednesday’s game.
- Michael Brodzinski’s next point will be his 100th with the Solar Bears (24g-75a) – he will join Eric Baier (2013-18; 111 points) as the second defenseman in team history to record at least 100 career points with the club.
- The Solar Bears are 20-4-1-0 when allowing three or fewer goals.
- Odeen Tufto has been retroactively credited with a secondary assist on Orlando’s second goal from Wednesday, giving him 1g-2a for the night to match his career-high of three points.
- Tampa Bay Lightning 2019 draft pick Maxim Cajkovic is expected to make his Solar Bears/ECHL debut tonight; the forward had last appeared in game action on Jan. 17 for the Syracuse Crunch vs. Belleville, and had missed 10 games with the Crunch prior to his reassignment to Orlando on Friday.
- The Everblades are paced by Blake Winiecki, who leads all Eastern Conference players in points (46) and is third in the league in goals with 20.
NEXT GAME: The Solar Bears remain at home as they host the Florida Everblades on Sunday, Feb. 13 at 12 p.m. at the AdventHealth Rink at Amway Center. Sunday’s game is a VyStar Solar Bears Sunday – VyStar Credit Union Members can score a pair of free tickets to the game using their VyStar debit/credit card – visit vystarcu.org/solarbears for more info.