ORLANDO, Fla. – The Idaho Steelheads (35-22-5) fell behind early and couldn’t come back in a 6-2 loss to the Orlando Solar Bears (34-21-5) on Saturday night from Amway Center.
The Solar Bears edged ahead with the first goal of the night at 9:11 of the first period when forward Trevor Olson placed in a centering pass shorthanded to take the 1-0 lead. The Solar Bears quickly expanded their lead before the end of the frame with a goal by forward Troy Bourke at 18:53 and forward Mathieu Foget at 19:58, tripling the lead to 3-0.
The lead grew swiftly in the second period with tallies by Solar Bears forward Colby McAuley at 0:39 on the power play followed by forward Otto Somppi at 6:32 and defenseman Akim Aliu at 6:52, which gave the home side a 6-0 lead. The Steelheads stopped the run at 18:22 when forward Steve McParland deflected a shot from the blue line on a cross through the slot, and the tally finally found an answer in a 6-1 game.
The Steelheads get one more goal in the third period at 12:52 when forward Kyle Schempp sauces a pass over a sliding defenseman for forward Elgin Pearce off the left post for a one-time chip shot to cut the lead down to 6-2. However, the Steelheads couldn’t find more offense and settled in with the loss.
Solar Bears goaltender Connor Ingram (3-1-0) turned away 28 of 30 shots in the win, while Steelheads netminder Tomas Sholl (21-11-0) stopped 29 of 35 shots in the loss.
The Steelheads and Solar Bears continue their three-game stretch on Sunday, Mar. 17 at 3:30 p.m. MT from RDV Sportsplex Ice Den. Coverage begins at 3:10 p.m. MT only on 1350 AM KTIK.
The Steelheads return to CenturyLink Arena on Wednesday, Mar. 27 at 7:10 p.m. against the Rapid City Rush. Single-game tickets and season ticket packages are on sale, with full-season packages starting as low as $300 per seat. Contact the Idaho Steelheads at 208-383-0080 for more information or log on to idahosteelheads.com.
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