KEELEY: (SUN) MORE MURPHY SHOOTOUT MAGIC AS MARINERS END INAUGURAL SEASON WITH WIN 

Murphy beats Growlers in a shootout for the 2^nd time in three weeks

BY: Michael Keeley, Maine Mariners      

PORTLAND, ME – April 7, 2019 – The Maine Mariners concluded their inaugural season on a high note with a 4-3 shootout win on Sunday afternoon against the Newfoundland Growlers at the Cross Insurance Arena. For the second time in three weeks, it was Wade Murphy scoring the shootout winner against the Growlers.

The Mariners took a 2-0 lead before the game was barely two minutes old. At the 1:35 mark, Wade Murphy caused a turnover just outside the Newfoundland blue line and Terrence Wallin spotted Ty Ronning alone in front of Growlers goaltender Michael Garteig. Ronning slid the puck around Garteig’s pad to open the scoring. At 2:01, Taylor Cammarata kept his hot stick going with a short side wrister set up by linemates Greg Chase and Michael McNicholas. It was Cammarata’s seventh goal in the span of seven days. At 17:19, Ronning got his second goal of the game, a power play feed to the back door by Nick Master that was also touched by Dwyer Tschantz. The Mariners took a 3-0 lead into the first intermission.

The Growlers dominated the 2^nd period, outshooting Maine 14-4. The 3-0 score held up until the 12:54 mark when Scott Pooley one-timed a cross-ice pass from Zach O’Brien home for a power play goal to get Newfoundland on the board. Less than two minutes later, O’Brien got a goal of his own to make it 3-2, cutting the deficit to one at the end of 40 minutes.

In the third, the Growlers got even at 7:23 when Evan Neugold came down the slot, took a pass from O’Brien and beat Nell’s glove to tie the game. Nell ended up making 39 saves through regulation as the game advanced to overtime. It was an entertaining 3-on-3 period with each shot getting three shots on goal, but the goaltenders stood strong to force a shootout.

Greg Chase beat Garteig top shelf to start the shootout, while Nell turned aside Zach O’Brien. Taylor Cammarata and Scott Pooley were each denied, setting the stage for shootout specialist Wade Murphy. Murphy, who had scored two shootout goals in the 18-round marathon three weeks prior, beat Garteig’s stick side to clinch the win.

The Mariners finished their inaugural season with a record of 37-32-2-1 and in 6^th place in the North Division. They finished 22-12-1-1 on home ice. In the North Division playoffs, #1 Newfoundland will host #4 Brampton while #2 Adirondack will host #3 Manchester.