The Orlando Solar Bears (5-3-1-0), proud affiliate of the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs and AHL's Toronto Marlies, used a five-goal run between the second and third periods to defeat the Idaho Steelheads (4-6-2-0) by a score of 5-4 in front of a crowd of 4,717 on Thursday night at the Amway Center.
Idaho's Taylor Peters gave the Steelheads the lead in the first period after taking a pass from Colton Beck and lifting the puck over the pads of Ryan Massa at 6:20.
Orlando got on the board in the second period when Brenden Miller's shot from the left point caromed off of Matt Rupert's arm and past Maxime Lagace at 4:19.
The Solar Bears took their first lead of the night when Jack Rodewald intercepted a Steelheads clearing attempt at the right wall and fed the puck to Brett Findlay in the slot, who fired a wrist shot into the net at 12:07.
Orlando continued to surge in the third period, as Rupert buried his second of the match just 10 seconds into the frame.
Just 89 seconds later, Mark Louis powered his way to the net from the right wall and knocked in his own rebound with a backhand shot at 1:39.
The Solar Bears completed their five-goal run when Lindsay Sparks beat Lagace for a power-play goal at 3:04.
The Steelheads did not fade in their efforts, as Colton Beck scored two goals at 6:14 and 10:17, and Zack Kamrass fired a shot from the point at 13:20 that cut the Solar Bears' lead to just one goal. That would spell the end of Idaho's scoring, as the Solar Bears hung on for the victory.
Massa made 30 saves on 34 shots for the win; Lagace made 25 stops on 30 shots.
WFTV
