Halverson stops 45 while Kile nets shootout winner
BY: Michael Keeley, Maine Mariners
WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS – December 15, 2018 – Despite being heavily outshot and out-chanced, particularly in the third period, the Mariners skated out of DCU Center with two points in a 2-1 shootout win over the Railers on Saturday night. Brandon Halverson stopped 45 of 46 through overtime before Michael McNicholas and Alex Kile scored in the shootout to clinch the win.
On Teddy Bear Toss night in Worcester, Nick Sorkin scored the stuffed animal-summoning goal at 15:03 of the opening frame, deflecting Mike Cornell’s power-play point shot past Halverson. That would be the only goal of the opening 20 minutes, with the Mariners failing on two power-play chances and mustering just five shots.
The Mariners woke up late in the second period when Tyler Barnes took four minutes in penalties at 18:21 and Maine immediately capitalized on the power play to tie it up. Ryan Ferrill got a piece of Sean Day’s shot just 20 seconds into the power play to make it 1-1. Alex Kile got a secondary assist on the goal and the game went into the third all even.
Worcester pelted Halverson with 19 shots in the third but the Mariners netminder wouldn’t break, forcing the game into OT. Each team had chances in the three on three, but Halverson made the best save on Matty Gaudreau, extending his glove early in the session. In the shootout, Ivan Kosorenkov and Ryan Gropp were each denied in round one. Halverson stopped Barry Almeida and Michael McNicholas slid one under the pad of Railers goaltender Evan Buitenhuis to give Maine the advantage. Sorkin dangled Halverson to tie it up but Alex Kile beat Buitenhuis with a glove-side wrist shot to win the game.
The Mariners finished their five-game week with a 3-2-0-0 record and snapped a four-game road losing streak. They’ll get a week off before playing the final game before Christmas next Saturday night in Manchester at 6:00 PM. They return home after the holidays against Manchester on Thursday, December 27th at 7:00 PM. They also host Worcester on Friday, December 28th at 7:15 PM for a 1-2-3 Friday, Nickelodeon Takeover Night, and First Responders Night. Tickets can be purchased at MarinersOfMaine.com or by calling 207-775-3478.
