PORTLAND, ME – January 28, 2023 – After being shutout by the Norfolk Admirals on Friday night, the Mariners responded with a 6-2 win on Saturday, scoring four goals in the second period to seize momentum. Alex Kile led the offense with three points, while Michael DiPietro won his eighth consecutive start.
The only goal of the opening frame came at 8:42 when defenseman Nate Kallen drove to the doorstep of the crease and tipped home a feed from Pat Shea, giving the Mariners their first goal of the weekend.
Norfolk quickly tied the game within the first minute of the second, when Stepan Timofeyev beat Michael DiPietro with a wrister in the slot. From there, the Mariners scored four unanswered goals to open a 5-1 lead. Alex-Olivier Voyer restored the Mariners advantage at 4:30, wristing one home from the high slot after Jacob Wilson got a puck on net from the left wall. A wild sequence took place a little under two minutes later, with Michael DiPietro making a sprawling save in one end and Pat Shea one-timing home a pass from Keltie Jeri-Leon in the other, putting Maine up two. It remained 3-1 Mariners until late in the frame. Mathew Santos and Grant Gabriele scored back-to-back just 40 seconds apart at 17:05 and 17:45 to open a four goal Mariners lead. Norfolk got one back at 18:40 of the period when Tanner Schachle buried a pass from below the goal line and cut the deficit back to three.
Leading 5-2 in the third, the Mariners added one more for good measure. At 14:20 with the Admirals on the power play, Alex Kile took a puck away from veteran defenseman Ian White and took it to the net, backhanding home a shorthanded goal to bring the game to a 6-2 final. Kile finished the game with a goal and two assists. Shea and Kallen also posted multi-point performances.
DiPietro was stellar, making several high quality saves, and going 32/34 in the game. He improved to 9-1-0 on the season, winning his 8th consecutive start. Cale Morris made 28 saves to suffer the loss after posting a shutout on Friday. Another massive crowd witnessed the Mariners victory, with 4,666 in attendance.
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