By: Cristiano Simonetta, Catherine Morrison
SAVANNAH, GA – The Savannah Ghost Pirates (26-32-6-1) cruised past the Orlando Solar Bears (34-24-6-2) on Friday night with a final score of 5-0 on Friday night at Enmarket Arena.
Michael Bullion recorded his third shutout of the season, stopping all 18 shots he faced.
Simon Pinard opened the scoring with his team-leading 23rd goal of the season. At 15:12, his wrist shot from the right face-off circle beat Solar Bears goaltender Brandon Halverson. Pinard has scored a goal in each of his last three games.
Savannah’s penalty kill shined in the first period as the unit successfully extinguished four Orlando power plays.
Ross Armour added an insurance goal for the Ghost Pirates 17:18 into the second period. The rookie forward finished off a one-timer after a pass from Joe Fleming across the offensive zone. Armour’s tenth of the season gave Savannah a 2-0 lead heading into the third period.
At 1:32 of the third period, Brent Pedersen scored a power-play goal, strengthening Savannah’s lead to 3-0. Alex Gilmour added to the offensive onslaught 51 seconds later, beating Halverson for his 12th goal of the season. Halverson was pulled from the game as Evan Fitzpatrick took over in net for Orlando.
Matt Boudens rounded out the night with his fourth goal of the year at 12:12. The Ghost Pirates captain has scored three goals in his last five games.
Bullion became the first goaltender in Ghost Pirates history to record three shutouts in a single season. The 26-year-old is 3-0 in his last three starts with a goals-against average of 1.33 and a save percentage of .958.
The Ghost Pirates went 1-for-7 on the power play and were flawless on the penalty kill, going 6-for-6 for the second game in a row.
Savannah will face the Solar Bears again at their next game on Tuesday, April 2, at 7 p.m. in Orlando. Coverage will be on FloSports and Mixlr.
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