ECHL Outlook: November 20

There are two games on the schedule in a somewhat quiet night in the ECHL, as Kalamazoo faces off against Orlando while San Francisco and Bakersfield meet up several hours later.

GAME #1: Kalamazoo Wings @ Orlando Solar Bears, 7 p.m. EST

This is the third consecutive game between the two teams in Orlando. They met on Saturday and Sunday, both in Orlando and both wins for the Solar Bears.

Saturday’s game was a 4-2 win for Orlando. Olivier Fortier scored twice with Sisca and Mignardi adding goals as goaltender John Curry stopped 25 of 27 shots faced for the win. Kalamazoo was 1 for 3 on the power play, while Orlando capitalized on 2 of 7 opportunities. Ftorek and Clarke had the goals for the Wings, with Joel Martin in net (4 goals allowed on 42 shots.)

Fortier’s three-point performance (2-1) gave him first star honors for the game, with Chris Lawrence (3 assists) earning second star. Rounding things off was Bears forward Rob Mignardi, who had a goal and an assist.

Teams returned to action at the Amway Center again on Sunday afternoon. In a similar move to Saturday’s game, Olivier Fortier once again scored twice as Orlando won, this time in a 2-1 decision backed by goaltender Hannu Toivonen. Dan Cloutier scored the lone goal for Kalamazoo, who failed to take advantage of six power play opportunities.

• Kalamazoo Wings: 7-7-0-0, 14 points (14 GP); 43 GF, 40 GA — 4th in North Division, 11th in Eastern Conference — Center Brett Lysawk leads the team with seven goals and 16 points in 14 games played. His plus-8 and 1.14 points-per-game average are also best on the team. Defenseman Sam Ftorek leads the team with 12 assists.
• Orlando Solar Bears: 8-5-2-1, 19 points (16 GP); 51 GF, 48 GA — 3rd in South Division, 5th in Eastern Conference — Left winger Nick Peterson leads the team with 19 points. His 11 assists are tied with Mathew Sisca and Ryan Ginand for the team lead, while Peterson’s eight goals ties with Olivier Fortier for the lead in that category. Peterson has a 1.36 points-per-game average to lead the Solar Bears, while Fortier’s five power play goals are tied for most in the league.

GAME #2: San Francisco Bulls @ Bakersfield Condors, 7 p.m. PST

Tonight’s game is San Francisco’s fourth game in five nights, as they played a string of games Friday-Saturday-Sunday against the Steelheads and Grizzlies. San Francisco won the first game against the Steelheads, 4-2, before dropping a 5-3 loss to the Grizzlies the next night. The team completed the stretch with a 4-3 shootout win over the Grizzlies on Saturday.

Bakersfield also played a three-in-three, from Thursday through Saturday. They had consecutive match-ups against the Wranglers before meeting the Ontario Reign on Saturday evening. The Condors’ unbeaten streak continued with a Field Trip Day win over Las Vegas 2-1 on Thursday afternoon before the team dropped a 5-2 decision to the Wranglers the next night. They finished off the three-in-three with a 4-3 shootout loss to the Reign.

The teams have met four times already this season, with two games in San Francisco on October 12 and 13 and a pair of games in Bakersfield October 19 and 20. Each team has won two of the four games in the season series – one home and one on the road.

Center Dean Ouellet has four goals in the season series for the Condors, while center Levi Nelson has three goals for Bakersfield. Teams have also split goaltending duties, with Stewart and Heemskerk facing off October 12 and 19, swapping out for Greenham and Nelson for both the second games of the back-to-backs.

• San Francisco Bulls: 5-10-0-2, 12 points (17 GP), 44 GF, 73 GA — 4th in Pacific Division, 8th in Western Conference — Center Justin Bowers leads the team with five goals, 11 assists and 16 points in 17 games played. Rookie Dean Ouellet also has five goals on the season. Defenseman Sacha Guimond’s three power-play goals lead the team, while defenseman Scott Langdon’s plus-five is best on the team.
• Bakersfield Condors: 5-8-1-2, 13 points (16 GP), 43 GF, 60 GA — 3rd in Pacific Division, 7th in Western Conference — Center Levi Nelson leads the team with five goals, eight assists and 13 points. Forward Tyler Brenner is also tied for the team lead in five goals, while defenseman Olivier Dame-Malka’s three-power play goals is best on the Condors. (He’s also the only player on the team to have more than one PPG).