Orlando Solar Bears goaltender Connor Ingram made 40 saves in regulation and overtime, then outduelled his Newfoundland Growlers counterpart, Michael Garteig, in the shootout as the visitors from Florida came away with a 4-3 win in ECHL play at Mile One Centre Sunday afternoon.
The result spoiled a late third-period comeback by Newfoundland (39-17-5), which had trailed 3-1 with less than five minutes left in the final frame.
It was the Growlers’ first loss in its three games which have gone to a shootout this season.
Sunday’s contest was the conclusion of a three-games-in-three days, regular-season series between the two teams. The Growlers had skated to a 5-1 victory Friday, but Orlando (33-21-4) bounced back to take a Saturday-night rematch by a 4-2 score.
Newfoundland’s Josh Kestner, who had would have a hand in all three of the home side’s goals Sunday, opened the scoring 6:49 into the rubber game, but the Solar Bears established a 3-1 lead before the halfway mark of the second period as Cody McAuley, Zach Frye and Troy Bourke tallied.
That’s the way things stood until the Growlers’ Brady Ferguson got his 22nd of the season at 15:21 of the third period, with Kestner and Giorgo Estephan drawing assists. Less than a minute-and-a-half later, Newfoundland tied it up as Kestner scored on a power play.
After a scoreless overtime which saw Orlando register two shots and Newfoundland one, the Solar Bears won the shootout 3-2. Bourke got the deciding goal in the shootout; it stood up when Estephan couldn’t beat Ingram, a former Canadian world junior netminder, on the Growlers’ fourth attempt.
Dog Bites
The Growlers finished a seven-game, 10-day Mile One homestand at 3-3-1 … With the single point it earned Sunday, North Division-leading Newfoundland extended its lead over the second-place Adirondack Thunder to 13 points. The Thunder, by the way, will be the Growlers’ next opponent. Newfoundland begins a six-game road trip with two games against Adirondack this coming Friday and Saturday in Glens Falls, N.Y. … The three stars Sunday at Mile One: 1. Josh Kestner, Growlers, 2. Troy Bourke, Orlando 3. Connor Ingram, Orlando … Attendance Sunday was just under 4,100 after a crowd of nearly 5,800 Saturday … Having finished serving a seven-game league-imposed suspension, Newfoundland captain James Melindy was back in the Growlers’ lineup Sunday. Melindy picked up three minor penalties and finished with an even plus-minus rating … The Growlers’ power play was one-for-three in the game. The Solar Bears were two-for-five … Orlando defenceman and St. John’s native Cody Donaghey, who is Orlando’s second-leading scorer, got an assist Sunday. It was Donaghey’s only point in the three games versus the Growlers, but he was plus-three for the weekend …
