By: Jake Ferraro | Follow me on Twitter/X @18Jxxx18
The Maine Mariners had lost three of their last four games against the Trois-Rivieres Lions, with the past three games played being a back-to-back-to-back in Quebec this past weekend. The Mariners returned home for their 15th and final meeting of the season against the Adirondack Thunder. In the first of the team’s final five home games of this season, the Mariners showed incredible heart, but fell in the end.
The Thunder defeated the Mariners 6-5 in a shootout at Cross Insurance Arena. The loss dropped the Mariners to 39-19-6-3 overall this season. The Thunder won 11 of the 15 meetings this season against the Mariners. Things appeared to be a Thunder rout in the beginning, but the Mariners forced a shootout in one of the craziest games of the season.
First Period
The Thunder jumped out to an early two-goal lead against the Mariners just 3:42 into the game. Alex Campbell scored the first goal for the Thunder 2:25 into the period against Mariners goaltender Brad Arvanitis, then Jeremy Hanzel scored 1:17 later to extend the lead to 2-0. Less than seven minutes later, it got worse for the Mariners.
After Mariners forward Mitch Deelstra was called for a tripping penalty, Kevin O’Neil scored on the power play to extend the Thunder’s lead to 3-0 just 10:05 into the game. After O’Neil’s goal, Arvanitis was pulled for Luke Cavallin. Just 2:29 after the goaltending change, Patrick Grasso scored against Cavallin to extend the Thunder’s lead to 4-0.
The Mariners had a chance to get back in the game when Adirondack took two penalties 14 seconds apart. The Mariners had a 5-on-3 power play for 1:46, but failed to score at the end of the period, and trailed 4-0 heading into the first intermission.
Second Period
The Mariners began the second period by failing to convert on their final ten seconds of power play time that carried over from the first period. After failing to convert on the power play, Grasso scored his second goal of the game 2:35 into the period to extend the Thunder’s lead to 5-0.
A huge scrum would then break out just over 6.5 minutes into the period, resulting in the Mariners earning another power play opportunity. This time, the Mariners converted when Brooklyn Kalmikov scored his 20th goal of the season, cutting the deficit to 5-1. Kalmikov’s goal was the last goal of the period, as the Thunder led 5-1 heading into the second intermission, but Conner Hutchison was called for a hooking penalty with five seconds remaining in the period to give the Mariners another power play opportunity.
Third Period
The Mariners had 1:55 of power play time to begin the third period. Sebastian Vidmar scored the Mariners’ second power play goal of the game 1:27 into the period to cut the deficit to 5-2. It was Vidmar’s eighth goal of the season. Exactly two minutes later, Antonio Venuto scored his 17th goal of the season to cut the deficit to 5-3.
Another two-goal span by the Mariners led to the unthinkable later in the period. Robert Cronin scored a power play goal to record his 17th goal of the season to cut the deficit to 5-4 with 11:04 remaining in regulation. Then, just 1:02 later, Zach Jordan scored on a deflection for his 14th goal of the season to tie the game at five for the Mariners. From trailing 5-0 early in the second period, to then tying the game in the third period with scoring five unanswered goals seemed highly unlikely for the Mariners, but it happened. The four-goal third period from the Mariners forced a seven-minute overtime period to determine a winner.
OT/SO
At 1:37 into the overtime period, Kalmikov was called for a tripping penalty to give the Thunder a golden chance to win the game. However, the Mariners successfully killed off the penalty. After the Mariners killed off Kalmikov’s penalty, neither team scored in overtime, leading to a shootout.
Each team scored one goal in the first two rounds of the shootout. O’Neil scored for the Thunder to begin the third round to put pressure on Cronin to score and even the shootout for the Mariners. However, Cronin hit the post, giving the Thunder the shootout win.
Even with losing in the shootout, the Mariners showed huge heart and fight to earn one point after trailing 5-0 in the second period. Cavallin made 26 saves in relief of Arvanitis, but Thunder goaltender Tyler Brennan made 28 saves to earn the win.
Another Busy Weekend Ahead
The Mariners will have four more home games before closing out the season on the road back in Quebec against the Lions on April 18, but the team will play another back-to-back-to-back this weekend. This time, the Mariners will play the Norfolk Admirals for the next three games.
Puck drop for Friday’s game is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. ET. Puck drop for Saturday’s game is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET, and puck drop for Sunday’s game is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET. The Mariners won 3-2 in their last game against the Admirals in overtime on March 14 at home, thanks to Jacob Hudson scoring the overtime winner.
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