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Solar Bears topple defending champs, 5-1

Sunday, March 1st
Solar Bears topple defending champs, 5-1

ORLANDO, Fla. – The Orlando Solar Bears (26-25-5-1) extended their season-high home winning streak to five games with a 5-1 victory over the defending Kelly Cup champion Newfoundland Growlers (37-17-0-1) on Saturday night at the Jewett Orthopaedic Rink at Amway Center.

Box Score

Chris LeBlanc opened the scoring with an unassisted goal as he beat Angus Redmond with a snap shot from the left circle 5:05 into the contest for his 13th of the season.

After the Growlers tied the score with a power-play goal from Justin Brazeau at 11:51, Orlando re-took the lead in the second period and never looked back, as Taylor Cammarata deflected Trevor Olson’s shot at 14:07 for his 14th of the season the eventual game-winner.

Cammarata and Olson then set up Michael Brodzinski for the defenseman’s eighth of the season at 16:17 to send Orlando into the locker room with a two-goal edge at the intermission.

Johno May netted a power-play goal for his 17th of the season at 16:10 of the third period, and Danny Hanlon buried a Dylan Fitze rebound for his first professional goal at 17:29 to close out the scoring.

Clint Windsor stopped 35 of 36 shots to pick up his 14th win of the season; Redmond took the loss for Newfoundland with 20 stops on 25 shots against.

THREE STARS:

  1. Chris LeBlanc – ORL
  2. Clint Windsor – ORL
  3. Trevor Olson – ORL  

OTHER NOTABLES:

  • With Greenville’s 4-3 road loss to the Indy Fuel, the Solar Bears have jumped back into third place in the South Division; only two playoff spots remain in the division after Florida joined South Carolina as the second team to secure a postseason berth with a 5-2 win over Jacksonville; Orlando needs 27 points to clinch a playoff spot
  • Orlando went 5-3-0-0 on home ice in the month of February and improved to 16-10-1-0 at home this season
  • The Solar Bears are now 12-0-0-0 when scoring first at home, and 12-0-0-0 when leading after two periods on home ice
  • Orlando concludes the non-division portion of its schedule with a 4-3-2-0 record against teams outside of the South Division
  • Olson led the team in scoring in February with 11 points (3g-8a) in 13 games; he has also recorded four assists over his last two games
  • The victory was Windsor’s 18th career win with the Solar Bears, moving him into a tie with Martin Ouellette for fifth on the club’s career wins list; the goaltender improved to 8-2-2 this season following a regulation loss
  • Cammarata’s game-winner was his fourth for Orlando in the month of February; the tally was also the 50th in his professional career; Cammarata now has a two-game point streak (2g-1a)  

NEXT GAME:

The Solar Bears host the Florida Everblades on Sunday, March 1 at 3 p.m. for a Fairwinds Solar Bears Sunday. Fairwinds members can visit fairwinds.org/solarbears for more info on how to claim a pair of free tickets to the game. CLICK HERE for tickets to this game.

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