ORLANDO, F.L. – After seeing a one-goal lead slip late, Simon Pinard buried the overtime game-winning goal 5:34 into the extra frame to push the South Carolina Stingrays past the Orlando Solar Bears, 2-1, on Tuesday evening at the Kia Center.
Winners of four straight games, South Carolina (22-11-1-0) looked to tie its season-long win streak of five games. The Stingrays turned to goaltender Garin Bjorklund for his fifth consecutive start, and once again dominated. Orlando (12-17-4-1) pressured Bjorklund early with multiple chances across the first 10 minutes of the 1st period, but the netminder denied every opportunity the Solar Bears had.
Late in the opening frame, after South Carolina had chances, the Stingrays opened the scoring. Nolan Krenzen let a shot go from the blue line that snuck through traffic in front of the net and found the top corner over the glove of Orlando goaltender Jon Gillies, giving South Carolina the 1-0 advantage. With Bjorklund steady in net, the Stingrays took the one-goal lead to the 2nd period.
Orlando searched for a response in the middle frame but could not figure out Bjorklund. The Grand Prairie, Alberta native saved all 13 shots he saw in the 2nd period, including opportunities on the power play for the Solar Bears. Bjorklund saved 24 shots through the first two periods and kept the Stingrays ahead by one going to the 3rd period.
Bjorklund was again tested with a barrage of shots, and with less than four minutes remaining in regulation, the Solar Bears finally broke through. Tyler Bird punched home a rebound opportunity with 3:37 left in the 3rd period, tying the game at one. Neither team found a game-winning goal in regulation, sending the two sides to overtime.
The Stingrays, who only had 10 shots over the final 40 minutes of regulation, found a spark in the extra frame. South Carolina had multiple chances early but Gillies made saves to extend the game. With under two minutes left in overtime, Bjorklund robbed Solar Bears forward Andrew Bruder of a game-winning goal in the low slot. The puck then found Stingrays defenseman Connor Moore who delivered a pass to Simon Pinard behind the Orlando defense. Pinard buried a breakaway goal 5:34 into overtime to secure the two points on the evening for the Stingrays, beating the Solar Bears, 2-1.
Pinard’s goal marked his third straight game-winner of the season, and Bjorklund made 38 saves on 39 shots for his fourth win. The Stingrays’ five-game winning streak ties their season-long record.