Railers put an end to Mariners home point streak with a 4-2 win
BY: Michael Keeley, Maine Mariners
PORTLAND, ME – November 30, 2018 – In a “rivalry night” that was true to its name, the gloves were dropped just ten seconds in between Morgan Adams-Moisan and Worcester’s Yanick Turcotte. Despite the early energy from the crowd, the Mariners never held a lead and ultimately fell 4-2 to the Railers on Friday night at the Cross Insurance Arena. The loss snapped the Mariners’ seven-game home point streak.
Worcester scored first at 14:28 when Dylan Willick cruised through the slot and deflected Mike Cornell’s shot from the right wall past Brandon Halverson. The Mariners answered immediately when Morgan Adams-Moisan added to his “Gordie Howe hat trick” (fight, goal, assists) bid 45 seconds later by banking a puck off Railers goaltender Mitch Gillum from below the goal line. The game was tied at one through 20 minutes.
The Railers wasted little time regaining the lead in the 2nd when Tommy Panico’s long blast beat Halverson just 1:09 into the frame. Worcester went up 3-1 at the 8:06 mark after a Mariner’s icing left tired players on the ice and Barry Almeida finished Tyler Barnes’ feed. The second fight of the night then took place between Ryan Ferrill and Connor Dougherty. Michael McNicholas was awarded the first penalty shot in Mariners history at 9:21 of the period but hit the goal post. At 13:53, Maine got back to within a goal with a Sean Day left-point shot, screened by Adams-Moisan. Worcester carried a 3-2 lead into the third.
The Mariners made a push and had a power play chance (each team had only one in the game), but couldn’t find the equalizer. At 16:46, Josh Holmstrom tipped Nick Sorkin’s net drive past Halverson to make it 4-2. Maine pulled the goalie but couldn’t mount much in the final minutes. Halverson lost for the first time this month in regulation, stopping 30 of 34 shots. Gillum made 29 saves on 31 shots to earn the win.
Before a Sunday afternoon rematch with Worcester at the DCU Center, the Mariners will travel to Manchester tomorrow night for a 6:00 PM faceoff. Pregame coverage will begin at 5:45 on the Mariners broadcast network. After wrapping up the three-game road trip in Glens Falls on Wednesday, Maine returns home to take on Adirondack next Friday, December 7th at 7:15 PM. Tickets can be purchased at MarinersOfMaine.com or by calling 207-775-3458.
