MARINERS POWER PLAY STRIKES DOWN THUNDER

GLENS FALLS, NY – March 8, 2023 – The Mariners scored three power play goals en route to a 5-1 victory over the Adirondack Thunder on Wednesday night at the Cool Insuring Arena. Pat Shea led the way with a pair, as Maine improved to 7-0-1 against Adirondack this season, and lowered their “magic number” to 20 points.

Power play goal number one opened the scoring at 9:09 of the first period. A cross ice feed from Tim Doherty was finished by fellow University of Maine alumnus Pat Shea from the left circle, his team-leading 24th goal of the season. The Mariners doubled their lead with a “buzzer beater” when Tyler Hinam, playing in his first game since February 4th, whipped a turnaround shot home with under a second to play in the period. The Mariners led 2-0 through 20 minutes.

The Mariners played a strong second frame, but the only goal was a power play tally from Adirondack. At 13:55, Sebastian Vidmar backhanded a rebound around the reach of Michael DiPietro to get the Thunder on the board, and cut the Maine lead to 2-1.

In the third, Grant Gabriele added insurance with his power play tally off the rush, finishing a give and go with Fedor Gordeev at 7:50. The Thunder then flipped the puck over the glass for a delay of game infraction and Shea buried his second of the night to make it 4-1. Adirondack pulled their goaltender early when they received a power play with a little over six minutes left and Gordeev hit a long empty netter to finish the 5-1 win.

Michael DiPietro earned his 13th win with 27 stops. The Mariners jumped back into sole possession of second place in the North Division and now just need a combination of 20 points gained and points lost by Adirondack to clinch a playoff spot for the second consecutive season.