PORTLAND, ME – March 29, 2026 – The Maine Mariners, proud affiliates of the NHL's Boston Bruins and AHL's Providence Bruins, used a five-goal second period to complete a weekend sweep of the Greensboro Gargoyles on Sunday afternoon at the Cross Insurance Arena. Combined with the Trois-Rivieres Lions loss to Wichita, the Mariners officially clinched a spot in the Kelly Cup Playoffs.
Both goaltenders had to be sharp in an eventful opening period, as Luke Cavallin and Ruslan Khazheyev kept the game scoreless through 20 minutes despite quality scoring chances for both teams.
The Mariners broke the game open with five goals in the second period. It started just 1:05 in when Robert Cronin finished a 2-on-1 with a nifty wraparound goal - Ben Allison collecting his first assist as a Mainer on the play. Jacob Hudson scored the first of three Mariners power play goals in the period at 5:11, ripping a shot from the right circle for his team leading 22nd goal of the season. With a 5-on-3 advantage, defenseman Ryan Orgel walked to the net out of the left wing corner and stuffed in his first goal of the season at 15:37. From there, it was back-to-back goals from Xander Lamppa at 17:09 and 19:58, the latter on the power play, to complete the second period onslaught.
Allison tacked on his first goal as a Mariner at 7:07 of the third, Maine's fourth power play goal of the day. Linus Hemstrom (four assists) and Orgel (one goal, three assists) topped the scoresheet with four points each. Cavallin stopped all 16 Greensboro shots for his second consecutive shutout.
With Trois-Rivieres' 3-2 overtime loss at Wichita, the Mariners have clinched a spot in the Kelly Cup Playoffs for the fourth time in the last five seasons. They will continue to battle for the division title and first round home ice advantage over the final 10 regular season games.
The Mariners (38-16-6-2) play their next four games are against the Lions, starting Wednesday at home with a 7 PM faceoff. 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. For more information on ticket packages and group discounts, fans can call 833-GO-MAINE, go to MarinersOfMaine.com, or visit the Mariners front office at 94 Free Street in Portland.
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