PORTLAND, ME – April 8, 2026 – The Maine Mariners, proud affiliates of the NHL's Boston Bruins and AHL's Providence Bruins, rallied from a five-goal deficit against the Adirondack Thunder to earn a point before ultimately falling 6-5 in a shootout on Wednesday night at the Cross Insurance Arena. Maine trailed 5-1 entering the third before making a furious comeback.
The Mariners fell into an early hole when Adirondack potted four goals in a 10-minute span of the first period. Alex Campbell started the scoring at 2:25, when a rebound came off the pads of Brad Arvanitis for Campbell to bury in tight. Jeremy Hanzel's shot from the blue line at 3:42 squeezed through Arvanitis to double the Thunder lead. A power play goal from Kevin O'Neil at 10:05 prompted a Mariners timeout and goaltending change, but couldn't stop a fourth Thunder goal from Patrick Grasso at 12:34. Maine had a chance to get back in the game with a late period 5-on-3, but the Thunder killed it to carry a 4-0 lead into the first intermission.
In the second frame, the teams traded goals. Grasso netted his second in a row with a one-timer in the slot at 2:35 of the middle period to extend the Thunder lead to 5-0. Brooklyn Kalmikov finally got Maine on the board with a power play goal at 7:13, finishing off quick passing from Robert Cronin and Max Andreev. The Thunder led 5-1 after two.
The Mariners comeback got ramped up at 1:27 of the third when Sebastian Vidmar snuck a power play goal under Tyler Brennan after some good work by Andreev down low. Another surprise shot from the wall by Antonio Venuto at 3:27 would close the gap the two. The Maine power play capitalized again at 8:56 of the third when Robert Cronin ripped home a one-timer from out high, cutting the deficit down to one. Just over a minute later, Zach Jordan completed the comeback when he tipped Nick Anderson's shot home from right in front of Brennan. The four goals all came in a span of 8:31.
Maine was forced to kill off a penalty in overtime when Brooklyn Kalmikov was called from tripping, but despite five Thunder shots, the game advanced to a shootout. Kalmikov gave Maine the lead in the first round, but Patrick Grasso and Kevin O'Neil beat Cavallin before Cronin's goal post hit finally ended the game.
The Mariners (39-20-6-3) continue their homestand this weekend, hosting the Norfolk Admirals in a Three Dollar Deweys "Threekend" beginning Friday at 7:15 PM with Lumberjack Night, presented by Hancock Lumber. Saturday is Pride Night at 6 PM, and Sunday is Fan Appreciation Night, presented by Venture Solar, a 3 PM puck drop. 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. Tickets for the first round of the Kelly Cup Playoffs are available at MarinersofMaine.com/playoffs, with dates, time, and opponent still to be determined. 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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