TOLEDO, OH – February 23, 2024 – Trailing 3-0 entering the third period, the Maine Mariners rallied to make a game of it, but the Toledo Walleye hung for a 5-3 victory on Friday night at Huntington Center. Jimmy Lambert collected two goals and an assist in the third period comeback attempt.
Toledo got a pair of goals in the opening period to take a 2-0 lead. At 4:45, defenseman Thomas Farrell wristed home a shot from the top of the right circle to get the scoring started, just his second goal of the season. With only 1:37 left in the period, Alexandre Doucet batted a puck in out of the air with what looked to be a high-stick, but the goal was allowed to stand.
Walleye forward Brandon Hawkins, the league’s leading scorer netted his 30th goal of the season at 17:12 of the second period to stretch the lead to 3-0. The Mariners had a pair of power play chances in the 2nd, but couldn’t get on the board.
The Mariners comeback bid began midway though the third when Jimmy Lambert was credit with the goal that deflected around in front of the Walleye net and dribbled across the goal line. Just over a minute later, Lambert got another one shorthanded, after springing in Alex Kile and following his backhander with his second straight goal. At 11:36, Riley Sawchuk’s insurance goal put the Walleye back up by a pair. The Mariners pulled Keyser and got it back with Tyler Drevitch’s rebound with 1:56 left. Hawkins found the empty net to finally put the Mariners away.
John Lethemon was the winning goaltender, stopping 29 of 32 Maine shots. Kyle Keyser took the loss, making 30 saves.
The Mariners (20-23-6-0) will take on the Walleye again on Saturday night once again at 7:15 PM, before heading to Cincinnati to conclude the weekend against the Cyclones on Sunday at 3 PM. The games can be seen and heard on the Maine Mariners Broadcast Network, powered by Mixlr and FloHockey, with pregame coverage beginning 15 minutes prior to faceoff. The Mariners return home for a 10:30 AM “School Day” game on Tuesday, March 5th 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.
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