Graveyard Gossip: Solar Bears Stomp Savannah

Last night, the Savannah Ghost Pirates played the Orlando Solar Bears at home in Enmarket Arena. Unfortunately, the game did not end in favor of Savannah, as they lost 6-4. The Ghost Pirates played hard and tough, but the Solar Bears wanted to win more at the end of all 60 minutes on the ice. They will have another chance for redemption tomorrow as they travel to Orlando to play at Amway Center. 

Starting out one minute into the game, Orlando scored due to Jaydon Dureau on assists from Jimmy Mazza and Zachary Massicotte. They didn’t have the lead for too long, though, because Savannah struck back hard at 6:42, thanks to Darian Skeoch setting up Carter Long for a great shot that would become a goal. Although the only two penalties of the period were on Savannah players, there were no Orlando power play goals. That did not keep the Solar Bears from scoring again, though, because, at 13:17, the Solar Bears’ Brayden Low lit the lamp, thanks to Jimmy Mazza and Tyler Bird for their assists. The period remained in Orlando’s favor, 2-1, with shots on goal even at 10 for each team. 

As mentioned earlier, the first period only had two penalties, but there was still a lot of aggression and physicality on the ice from both teams. They all made up for the lack of PIMs in the middle period, given that there were four offenses from Orlando and three from Savannah. The Ghost Pirates got two goals this period from Jett Jones and Alex Gilmour. Logan Drevitch and Nolan Valleau assisted Jones’ goal at 4:20 in the period, while Sebastian Vidmar and Peter Tischke assisted Gilmour’s goal later on in the period. The Solar Bears got three goals during the period, finishing it with the lead 5-3. The super scorers for the Solar Bears were Mitchell Hoelscher, Tanner Dickinson, and Luke Boka. Savannah still had the lead in terms of shots on goal 22-17.

Just 46 seconds into the third period, Simond Pinard scored a power play one-timer off of Brandon Estes and Vincent Marleau. The Ghost Pirates could have had a chance to regain the lead and win the game, but Orlando had other plans. At 19:43, Steve Jandric scored the last goal of the game off Jaydon Dureau and Jimmy Mazza.

Although Savannah lost last night’s game, it was well played offensively for the most part. In terms of who shot the most for Savannah during the matchup, Alex Gilmour took five, Logan Drevitch and Robbie Fromm-Delorme both took four, and Matthew Boudens and Nolan Valleau took three. Michael Bullion played for the first two periods, and new goalie Jimmy Poreda finished out the third. The game finished once again with Savannah leading in shots on goal 38-25. Leading so far in goals for Savannah is Marleau with four, Gilmour with three, and Pinard with three. 

The Ghost Pirates play at home next Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Thursday’s game will be a very special event, as the Ghost Pirates will turn into the Golden Ghosts.