BY: Michael Keeley, Maine Mariners
PORTLAND, ME: Nov. 6, 2018 – Nearly 4400 people witnessed a highly entertaining game this past Friday at the Cross Insurance Arena, in what was the only game of the week for the Maine Mariners. The Mariners suffered a 4-3 shootout loss to the Reading Royals on home ice, but tied the game in the final minute with the goalie pulled to force overtime. Despite a 2-5-0-1 overall record, the Mariners carry a three-game home point streak. They begin this week hoping to figure things out on the road, before finishing back on home ice Saturday night.
This past weekend
Fri, Nov. 2nd – REA: 4, MNE: 3/SO
With 4,385 fans looking on, the Mariners grabbed a 1-0 first-period lead just over five minutes into the game when defenseman John Furgele scored his first professional goal, a blue line shot through traffic on the power play. New Mariners forwards Michael McNicholas (University of New Hampshire) and Shawn St-Amant both picked up assists in their team debut. Reading got a pair of late goals to carry a 2-1 lead into the first intermission, but Dawson Leedahl took a breakaway flip-pass from Zach Tolkinen less than two minutes into the second period and skated in to tie the game at two. With 1:41 remaining, Reading’s Michael Huntebrinker beat Brandon Halverson with a sharp angle net drive, setting the stage for Terrence Wallin’s heroics. In a 6-on-5 situation with Halverson on the bench, Wallin won an offensive zone faceoff and went to the front of the net. The third newcomer on the night, Hayden Verbeek, tipped the puck back to Tolkinen at the blue line. Tolkinen’s shot landed on Wallin’s stick in front of Reading goaltender Brandon Komm, and Wallin slid it around Komm’s pad to send the crowd into a frenzy. After a scoreless 3-on-3 overtime, the Mariners would ultimately lose the shootout, 2-1. Huntebrinker and McNicholas traded goals in the first round, while Reading’s Adam Schmidt scored the game-winner in round three. FULL GAME RECAP
Coming up
Weds, Nov. 7th @ REA – 7:00 PM
Fri, Nov. 9th @ WOR – 7:05 PM
Sat, Nov. 10th vs. WOR – 6:00 PM
The Mariners will complete their home-and-home with Reading at Santander Arena in PA on Wednesday night at 7:00. The Royals played on Saturday at Manchester, and picked up a 4-2 win, giving them a four-game streak. Another home and home series begins on Friday in Worcester with a 7:05 faceoff against the Railers. The back end is on Saturday night at the Cross Insurance Arena at 6:00 PM. It’s Marvel Superhero™ night and Military Appreciation presented by Martin’s Point Healthcare. The Mariners will be sporting Captain America jerseys which will be later auctioned off online. The first 2,000 fans in attendance will receive a Mariners camo drawstring bag courtesy of Martin’s Point.
Fun facts
-The Mariners now have 3 former UNH players on their roster (Furgele, Salvaggio, McNicholas). All three played together on the 2014- and 2015-16 teams.
-Defenseman Zach Tolkinen has registered back-to-back multi-point games for the first time in his career (272 ECHL games)… he had only one multi-point game in the previous two seasons combined.
-The Mariners are riding a three game point streak at home (2-0-0-1)
