WORCESTER, MA – December 31, 2022 – The Mariners high-flying offense continued to churn out goals as they picked up a 6-2 win on Saturday night in Worcester, finishing December with a 9-2 record and improving to a season-best four games above .500. The Mariners have outscored the Railers 15-5 this week to begin the VIP Rivalry Cup.
The Mariners led for most of the night after Mathew Santos’ early power play goal at 6:43 of the opening period made it 1-0. Pat Shea would set up Cam Askew for a second goal at 14:22 of the first to give Maine an early cushion. Railers captain Bobby Butler got them on the board with only four seconds to play in the period to give Worcester some life heading into the second.
Alex-Olivier Voyer restored Maine’s two goal lead early in the second, scoring a goal in his fourth consecutive game. Linemates Tim Doherty and Mitch Fossier continued their productive weeks to set it up. Doherty finished December with 19 points (8 goals, 11 assists). Butler scored again at 14:51 of the middle frame but the Mariners had the answer just 26 seconds after when Shea beat Henrik Tikkanen on a 2-on-1.
The Mariners opened up their largest lead of the night at 3:34 of the third when Reid Stefanson followed a Santos zone entry and wristed home another insurance tally for a 5-2 Mariners advantage. The Railers pulled the goal with five minutes to play while on a power play, and Marc-Olivier Duquette found his first goal of the season with an empty netter from the defensive zone faceoff circle.
Francois Brassard, starting his sixth consecutive game, picked up his 7th win of the season with a 26 save effort. Tikkanen made 27 saves in the loss – Worcester’s fifth straight defeat. The Mariners have scored 30 goals in their last five games, and are now just six points behind the Railers in the North Division standings.
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