Orlando Solar Bears hosted the Atlanta Gladiators tonight at Amway Center in Orlando for some ECHL hockey action in the South Division. The Solar Bears  entered with a record of 28-23-6-1 and rank 6th while the 29-23-5-1 and rank 5th.

The scoreboard remained stagnant until late in the first period when Atlanta’s Bode Wilde gave his team the 1-0 lead and the only score for the period.  The Gladiators defenseman found the net at the 3:14 mark assisted by Billy Constantinou and Gabe Guertler.

The second period scoring started out quickly for Orlando when just over a minute into play, the Solar Bears tied the game with a power play goal from Grant Mismash.  Both team went scoreless for the next 15 1/2 minutes before Atlanta racked up 3 unanswered goals before the ending the period up 4-1.  In that span, the Gladiators added goals from Bode Wilde(3:21), Cody Sylvester(2:06), and the third from Sanghoon Shin with 8 seconds left in the period.

Atlanta extended their lead to 5-1 in the third period at the 9:53 mark when Tyson Empey found the back of the net.  Orlando responded with a goal from Mathieu Foget(5:40) and another power play from Ross Olson(4:25) to cut the Atlanta lead to 3-5.  With time waining,  the Solar Bears pulled their goalie to try to give them an offensive advantage.  Unfortunately the strategy backfired when Atlanta’s Sanghoon picked up an empty net goal with 1:31 to play.  Orlando’s Olsson would add another goal with just 37 seconds left to play to close out the final score 6-4 in favor of Atlanta.

Orlando was able to score first in the new period once again.  Michael Brodzinski found the new assisted by Luke Book at the 14:29 mark to extend the lead to 4-2.  With the crowd still celebrating, Boutoussov racked up his second of the night just 35 seconds after Brodzinksi’s to further extend their lead to 5-2.  Florida edged a goal closer when Cole Moberg found net at the 3:59 mark.   With time running thin and just under 3 minutes to play , Florida pulled their goalie in an effort to give them an upfront advantage.  Less than 2 minutes later at the :56 mark, Solar Bears defenseman Chris Harper scored an empty net goal to drive their lead up 6-3 and end the game.

The Solar Bears fall to 28-24-6-1 and will host the Jacksonville Ice Men on Sunday, March 12 at 3:00 p.m.  Atlanta improves to 32-18-7-1 and will host the Greenville Swamp Rabbits on Tuesday, March 14 at 7:00 p.m.

Photo credit: Brianna Russell/FAAZ Sports