Game one of round one in the Kelly Cup Playoffs kicked off the postseason run for the Orlando Solar Bears and the South Carolina Stingrays Friday night in Charleston. The Solar Bears heading into the playoffs are ranked 13th in the league and fourth in the Southern Division. They finished the season with 37-25-10 record, earning their seventh entry into the postseason. The Stingrays are the regular season champions, receiving the Brabham Cup, and leading the Southern Division heading into the playoffs for the 28th time. Last year, the Stingrays failed to make the playoffs, while the Solar Bears advanced to round two before falling to the Florida Everblades. Kismet, these teams played one another on opening night of the regular season. In all eight meetings, the teams played hot. These two teams had a familiar, almost deja vu-like emotion as they got underway on Good Friday.
Things heated up from the start, with South Carolina’s Connor Moore getting tripped up, being missed by officials, followed by Orlando’s Kelly Bent heading to the bench minutes into the period after a big hit by Graves. Bent, hoping for a penalty, does not receive one, returns to the ice, and decides to be the whole problem the rest of the period. Fans got to see a solid minute of hockey before former Stingray Jack Adams and current Stingray Charile Combs started poking each other in the corner, and then everyone got involved. We get penalties for both teams and finish out a solid 4-on-4.
Orlando’s Bent midway down the ice, elbow out hits Lynden Breen and takes him to the ice. Bent ends up with an unsportsmanlike conduct minor, and Jackson van de Leest for going after Bent for the dirty hit. We would see our only goal at 6:30 when Stingrays’ Connor Moore takes control of the puck, sends it to Weiss, and he feeds it back, putting South Carolina on the board. The rest of the period was spent with lots of minor skirmishes, as both teams succumbed to the pressure, and Orlando’s Hudson Thornton ended up with the slashing penalty with 2:45 left on the clock when he chose to whack Charlie Combs with his stick in front of the official. The period closes out South Carolina 1-0 with Garin Bjorklund between the pipes with six saves. Orlando Solar Bears with Jon Gillies with 13 saves.
The second period gets underway, and Orlando immediately takes control, gets a great shot on goal, followed by a shove from Adams to Van de Leest. South Carolina’s Jayden Lee scores at 2:45, coming from behind the goal, and makes it a 2-0 game. We see Orlando get their second slashing penalty of the night, to be followed by a delay of game when Tyson Feist shoots the puck out of play giving the Stingrays a two man advantage. Both teams fight hard for the puck, dislodging the net, sending Gillies to his rear, his arms flailing as Stingrays Micah Miller and Solar Bears Mark Auk start shoving again.
South Carolina would see their first penalty of the night at 10:42, for interference when Ryan Hofer hit Auk behind Orlando’s net. This would give Orlando their first power play, where halfway through, they would make it a 2-1 game with Aaron Luchuk behind the goal. Two minutes later, Ryan Hofer makes it 3-1. South Carolina closes out the second period outshooting Orlando 15-8, but never fails with these two; the period ends with both teams throwing hands in the Stingrays’ crease.
The third period gets underway, and we see both teams going post to post, keeping the puck in play. Orlando takes control once again and gets the first shot on goal. In less than a minute, Orlando ties the game 3-3 with back-to-back goals by Jack Adams and Anthony Bardaro. South Carolina’s Charlie Combs answers back on the next play, putting Carolina back on top 4-3. Both teams buckled down this period and tightened up their play with less chirping between teams. With 5:30 on the clock, Ryan Hofer gets his second set-up of the night and makes it 5-3.
Andrew Perrott headed down the tunnel with three minutes left after taking a puck to the mouth. With 2:41 left, Orlando got a roughing penalty when Kris Myllari checked Weiss up high against the glass. Power Play ends, and Orlando pushes it by pulling Gillies with 19 seconds left. South Carolina shoots at the empty net, and we end up with a faceoff. The faceoff ends the game with the Stingrays on top by two. With only minor pushing and shoving, the players shake hands and leave the ice. South Carolina outshooting Orlando 10-8.
Stars of the Night: Ryan Hofert receives the 1st star for his two goals, Jayden Lee gets the 2nd star for his goal, and Tyler Weiss receives the 3rd star for his two assists. The Stingrays host the Solar Bears for Game 2 on Saturday, April 19, in Charleston. Based on the hockey played here tonight, this game will be nothing short of explosive.
Click here to see photo gallery of this game by ITR’s photographer Julie Taylor.
ITR 43: It's Winning Time – Inside The Rink
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