BY: Michael Keeley, Maine Mariners
PORTLAND, ME – Dec. 26, 2018 – With the holiday break behind them, the Mariners return to their busy December as they play four games in five days to close out 2018. For the first time all season, they’ve got back to back home games on the 27th and 28th, before playing a pair on the road to finish the month (and year). The Mariners are a season-high four games above .500 at 15-11-0-1 and will try to build on their three-game winning streak coming out of the holiday.
The week that was
Saturday, Dec. 22nd – MNE: 4, MAN: 3
In their only game of the week, the Mariners traveled to Manchester on Saturday night and grabbed an early 2-0 lead on goals by Scott Savage and Ryan Gropp. Both goals came off of Savage shots from the left point, in his return from an upper-body injury. Alex Kile gave the Mariners a 3-1 lead with his team-leading 13th goal of the season in the second period, while Connor LaCouvee made 18 stops in the frame. After allowing two third period goals to force a 3-3 tie, Gropp got the game-winner with just 1:04 to go, following a successful five-minute penalty kill. LaCouvee made a career-high 45 stops. FULL GAME RECAP
Fun Facts
-The Mariners are 4-1-0 against Manchester this season, winning the last three
-The Mariners PK is up to 2nd in the ECHL at 87.4%
-Brandon Halverson has the 5th best SV% in the ECHL (.923)
-The Mariners have the 2nd most goals by a defenseman in the ECHL, with 20 (Tulsa, 22)
Transactions
-F Morgan Adams-Moisan was assigned to Maine from AHL Laval
-The Mariners signed F Louis Rowe
Coming up (all times Eastern)
Thurs, Dec. 27th vs. MAN – 7:00 PM (HOME)
Fri, Dec. 28th vs. WOR – 7:15 PM (HOME)
Sat, Dec. 29th @ WOR – 7:05 PM (AWAY)
Mon, Dec. 31st @ MAN – 6:00 PM (AWAY)
This sequence will finish a string of six straight games against either Manchester or Worcester, two teams who the Mariners play 14 times each in 2017-18. Friday night is “Nickelodeon Takeover” night, featuring specialty Double Dare jerseys, that will be auctioned in-game via a silent auction in the concourse. It’s also First Responders Night and a “1-2-3 Friday”: $1 hot dogs, $2 popcorn, and $ Bud Lights through the start of the 2nd period.
