By: Jake Ferraro | Follow me on Twitter/X @18Jxxx18
After the first two games of the North Division Semifinals series between the Maine Mariners and Adirondack Thunder were split in Portland, Maine, the series then moved to Glens Falls, New York. The Mariners had struggled on the road against the Thunder throughout the regular season. Now, the Mariners are one win away from eliminating the Thunder and advancing in the Kelly Cup Playoffs.
The Mariners take on the Thunder in Game 5 tonight at Harding Mazzotti Arena, with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. Tonight is the last game of the series in which the teams will play in Glens Falls. If the Mariners win tonight, they will advance to the North Division Finals.
In Game 3, the Mariners earned a pivotal 5-4 win to take a 2-1 series lead against the Thunder. Last night in Game 4, the Mariners scored five goals for the second consecutive game and won 5-4 against the Thunder to take a 3-1 series lead. Throughout last night, the Mariners never panicked while trailing the Thunder.
The Thunder jumped out to a 2-0 lead just 10:37 into the game. Instead of folding, forwards Shawn Element and Jacob Hudson each scored a goal in a span of 2:01 to tie the game at two. In the final seconds of the first period, Ryan Wheeler scored to give the Thunder the lead back. The Mariners could’ve had Wheeler’s goal be a momentum swinger to begin the second period.
Instead, Element scored his second goal of the game on a power play 4:53 into the second period to tie the game at three. Like the first intermission, the Mariners trailed at the end of the second period when Adrien Beraldo scored nearly six minutes after Element’s second goal. The Mariners would need to show fight again in the third period, and they did.
Forward Wyllum Deveaux scored 2:17 into the third period to tie the game at four for the Mariners. Then, with 7:32 remaining in regulation, forward Jacob Perreault scored a power play goal to give the Mariners a 5-4 lead, and they would hold onto that same score to win the game. In the past two games combined, the Mariners’ offense has been productive, scoring nine goals against Thunder goaltender Jeremy Brodeur. In the first two games of the series, the Mariners scored just four goals against Brodeur.
Mariners goaltender Brad Arvanitis made 28 saves, including 14 saves alone in the first period, to earn his second consecutive playoff win. Element and Perreault each recorded a three-point game, and Deveaux recorded his second consecutive multi-point game.
The Mariners would play the winner of the Wheeling Nailers-Reading Royals series if they clinch the series tonight. Like the Mariners, the Nailers currently have a 3-1 series lead over the Roylas, and Game 5 of their series is tonight at Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania. If the Thunder win tonight, the series will head back to Portland for Game 6 on May 5 at Cross Insurance Arena, with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
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