Brodzinski, Cammarata lift Solar Bears to comeback win over Admirals

ORLANDO, Fla. – Michael Brodzinski’s two power-play goals in the final minute of regulation rallied the Orlando Solar Bears (23-21-5-1) from a 4-2 deficit, and Taylor Cammarata scored in overtime to lift Orlando to a 5-4 win over the Norfolk Admirals (12-33-6-0) on Saturday night at the Jewett Orthopaedic Rink at Amway Center.

Box Score

With Clint Winsor pulled for an extra skater and two Admirals penalized late in the game to give Orlando a 6-on-3 man advantage, Brodzinski wristed his fifth of the season past a screened Jake Theut at 19:12 to pull Orlando to within one.

On the ensuing 6-on-4 sequence, Cammarata flipped the puck back to Brodzinski along the right boards, and the defenseman’s pass deflected off a Norfolk skate past Theut to tie the score at 4-4.

Cammarata won it at 1:02 of the extra frame when Cody Donaghey scooped up the puck in the corner, curled back along the left half-wall and fed Cammarata in the slot, who roofed his 12th of the season past Theut.

The Solar Bears initially had the game’s first lead, as Jake Coughler scored twice in the first period to put Orlando ahead 2-1 heading into the first intermission.

But the Admirals reeled off three straight tallies in the second period, prompting the coaching staff to replace starting netminder Mike Condon with Windsor following River Rymsha’s goal at 15:18. Condon finished the night 23-for-27.

Brodzinski also assisted on Coughler’s opening goal just 1:11 into the game for a three-point night, while Coughler led the Solar Bears with four points (2g-2a) on the evening.

Windsor earned his 11th win of the season with 11 saves on 11 shots against; Theut took the overtime loss for Norfolk going 47-for-52.

THREE STARS:

1. Michael Brodzinski – ORL
2. Jake Coughler – ORL
3. Taylor Cammarata – ORL  

OTHER NOTABLES:

• The Solar Bears are now 3-3-0-0 against Norfolk this season, with two games remaining in the head-to-head series
• Orlando’s 52 shots set a new season-high, surpassing the previous season-high of 51 set on Oct. 18 vs. Norfolk; Orlando’s 24 shots in the third period also set a new season-high for shots in a single frame, passing the previous total of 21 set in the second period on Nov. 5 vs. Jacksonville
• The Solar Bears improved to 9-0-0-0 when scoring first
• Orlando recorded at least a power-play goal for the third consecutive game, matching a previous season-high; the Solar Bears are currently 4-for-14 (28.57%) with the man advantage during the most recent stretch
• Brodzinski’s goals – at 24 seconds apart – were the fastest pair of goals scored by the Solar Bears this season; the previous mark was 34 seconds set on Dec. 21 at Atlanta (Alexey Lipanov, 14:12 of the 2nd; Brodzinski, 14:46 of the 2nd)
• Brodzinski is now tied with Jacob Cepis for fourth on the team’s franchise leaderboard for power-play points with 27
• Cammarata becomes just the fifth Solar Bears player in team history to record multiple overtime-winning goals in a single season – Mickey Lang holds the current record with three, set in 2013-14; Cammarata now has a three-game point streak (1g-3a)
• Johno May collected two assists on the evening in his 100th career professional game; he now has a two-game point streak (1g-3a)
• Cody Donaghey picked up his 50th career professional assist with the helper on Cammarata’s goal  

NEXT GAME:

The Solar Bears host the Atlanta Gladiators on Sunday, Feb. 16 at 3 p.m. Sunday’s game is also a Fairwinds Solar Bears Sunday – the first 100 Fairwinds members who present their Fairwinds debit/credit card and photo ID at the Amway Center box office will receive a free pair of tickets to the game. Fairwinds members can also take advantage of a buy-one-get-one ticket offer. Visit fairwinds.org/solarbears for more information. CLICK HERE for tickets to this game.