MARINERS WIN THRILLER IN TOLEDO

TOLEDO, OH – February 24, 2024 – Alex Kile set a new Maine Mariners single season goals record with his 27^th and 28^th of the season in a 6-4 come-from-behind victory on Saturday night in Toledo. Trailing 4-2 late in the 2^nd period, the Mariners scored four unanswered goals to rally back.

Mariners forward Jimmy Lambert continued his strong road trip with the game’s first goal at 2:52 of the opening period. Kile fed a pass from below the goal line to Lambert in the slot, who wristed home his 8^th goal of the season, and fifth point of the trip. The Walleye got a power play goal from Trenton Bliss at 15:56 to tie the game at one, but it was answered by Kile less than a minute later. Set up nicely by Tyler Drevitch and Wyllum Deveaux, Kile one-timed home a piece of Mariners history, giving him his 27^th goal of the season – a new franchise single-season record. The previous record was held by Mathew Santos in the 2021-22 season.

Trailing 2-1 to start the 2^nd, the Walleye rattled off three consecutive second period goals to flip the score in their favor. Orrin Centazzo tied it up at 2:50 of the middle frame, when he squeezed a seemingly impossible short-side shot through Brad Arvanitis. Riley Sawchuk put the Walleye in the lead with an airborne redirect of a Mitchell Lewandowski shot at 13:27. Alexandre Doucet made it 4-2 Walleye when he capitalized on an ill-advised Mariners line change at 17:54. Less than a minute late, Adam Mechura brought the Mariners back to within a goal, with a top shelf shot in the slot, allowing Maine to enter the third period down by one.

The Mariners turned the tables with two goals in the first 1:08 of the third. Kile netted his second of the game through traffic just 33 seconds in, and Drevitch followed with a slap shot from the top of the right circle 35 seconds later to put the Mariners into the 5-4 lead. Drevitch’s goal marked the end of the night for Walleye starting goaltender Jan Bednar. The Mariners leaned on Arvanitis to preserve the lead until Fedor Gordeev’s long range empty net goal put the game away with 18 seconds remaining.

Arvanitis made 41 stops, earning his 12^th win of the season. For Toledo, Bednar stopped 12 of 17, and John Lethemon made two saves in relief.

The Mariners (21-23-6-0) travel to Cincinnati to wrap up the weekend with the Cyclones at 3 PM on Sunday. The game can be seen and heard on the Maine Mariners Broadcast Network, powered by Mixlr and FloHockey, with pregame coverage beginning at 2:45 PM. The Mariners return home for a 10:30 AM “School Day” game on Tuesday, March 5^th vs. Worcester. Single game tickets for all regular season home games are on sale at MarinersOfMaine.com or at the Ware-Butler Box Office inside the Cross Insurance Arena. More information on ticket packages and group discounts can be found by calling 833-GO-MAINE or visiting the Mariners front office at 94 Free St. in Portland. The 2023-2024 season is presented by Hannaford to Go.