PORTLAND, ME – January 28, 2026 – The Maine Mariners, proud affiliates of the NHL's Boston Bruins and AHL's Providence Bruins, defeated the Wheeling Nailers, 3-2 in a shootout on Wednesday night at the Cross Insurance Arena. Sebastian Vidmar scored the game-winner in the fifth round as Luke Cavallin, in his return from Providence, stopped all five Nailers shooters.
After a scoreless opening 20, the Mariners broke through with the first goal of the game at 11:10 of the middle frame. Max Andreev, skating in on his second breakaway of the period, fired wide, but the carom off the end boards came right to Antonio Venuto, who slapped his ninth goal of the season past the glove of Taylor Gauthier. Maine carried the 1-0 lead into the third.
Just 13 seconds into the third, the Nailers tied the game on Connor Lockhart's doorstop deflection, redirecting David Breazeale shot's past Cavallin. Maine would go back ahead at 12:41 when Robert Cronin tipped home Andrew Nielsen's power play point shot. The Nailers mounted a final push with their goalie pulled, and found the equalizer with 24 seconds to play, when a puck popped up behind Cavallin and landed behind him. The goal was reviewed and upheld.
After a scoreless overtime that included an unsuccessful Mariners power play, Cavallin and Gauthier dueled in the shootout. The first nine combined shooters were denied by the netminders, until Vidmar flipped one over Gauthier's glove to end the game.
Cavallin stopped 30 of 32 to earn his 12th win of the season. Gauthier stopped 31 of 33 in defeat. The Mariners now have points in 10 of their last 11 games (8-1-2) dating back to January 4th and took over second place in the North Division with Wednesday's win.
The Mariners (19-11-5-2) spend the weekend on the road in Glens Falls, NY, visiting the Adirondack Thunder Friday through Sunday. They return home on Friday, February 6th and Saturday, February 7th to take on the Orlando Solar Bears for "Winter Olympics Night" presented by LL Bean and "207 Night" presented by Live + Work in Maine. Single game tickets for all home games are available at MarinersOfMaine.com or at the Hammond Lumber Company Box Office inside the Cross Insurance Arena. Ticket packages including the 207 Club, half-season and 12-game plans, 12-ticket flex plans, and group discounts are also available by calling 833-GO-MAINE, filling out an inquiry form at MarinersOfMaine.com, or visiting the Mariners front office at 94 Free Street in Portland.
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