ORLANDO, FL – March 22, 2023 – The Mariners opened up a 3-0 lead and never looked back in a 5-1 victory over the Orlando Solar Bears on Wednesday night in their first stop on a four-game southern road trip. Nick Master had two goals and an assist, leading a group of four Mariners with multi-point games.
The only goal of the opening frame came about midway through, off the stick of Mariners defenseman Fedor Gordeev. The blue-liner took a cross-ice feed from Reid Stefanson and from the top of the left circle, wristed one past the stick side of Jack LaFontaine to give Maine a 1-0 lead. A combined 31 shots were unleashed in the first, with 16 of them by the Mariners.
The line of Carter Johnson, Alex-Olivier Voyer and Alex Kile produced a pair of goal in the first six minutes of the 2nd period to extend the Maine lead. At 1:57, Voyer followed Johnson’s rush into the zone and ripped home a shot after the puck tipped off the stick of a Solar Bear defender. The Mariners would increase their lead to three at 5:48 when Johnson caused a turnover and fed Voyer who then went to Kile for a one-timer at the right circle. Kile’s goal was the 200th point of his ECHL career. Orlando finally broke through at 13:13 of the period on a goal from Tristan Langan, but Maine caried a 3-1 lead into the third.
A pair of Nick Master power play goals in the third put the game away, both set up by Mitch Fossier and Tim Doherty. The pair of helpers by Doherty got him to 60 points on the season, setting a new Mariners single-season franchise record. Master, Doherty, Fossier, and Voyer all finished with multi-point performances. In net, Michael DiPietro made 31 saves to earn his 15th win.
The Mariners decreased their “magic number” for clinching a playoff spot to 12 with the victory. It was their 20th road victory of the season and their 34th overall win, surpassing the 2021-22 total.
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