GLENS FALLS, NY – April 7, 2023 – The Adirondack Thunder scored four unanswered goals after the Mariners got the first one, and collected a 4-1 victory on Friday night at Cool Insuring Arena. It was a key victory for Adirondack, who moved past the Worcester Railers and into a playoff position. The Mariners have now completed their regular season road schedule.
For the first time in eight games, the Mariners got the first goal. Tim and Connor Doherty set up Mitch Fossier’s 17th goal of the season at 6:06 of the opening period, as Fossier deflected Connor Doherty’s wrister from the blue line. Adirondack got even at 13:29 of the first on a rather fluky goal. Sebastian Vidmar threw a puck from the left wall that hit off the leg of Connor Doherty and dribbled through Francois Brassard to tie the game at one.
Vidmar got his second of the game at 2:17 of the third to give the Thunder their first lead, when he cashed in a pass from Grant Jozefek behind the Mariners net. A little over three minutes later, Thunder d-man Matt Slick beat a scrambling Brassard from the point for his first professional goal to make it 3-1. The second period saw a low shot total of just 6-5 in favor of Adirondack, who carried the two goal lead into the third.
The only goal of the third period came a 17:16 when Patrick Grasso outskated Gabriel Chicoine to a loose puck and then capitalized on a missed poke check by Brassard, tapping it into an open goal to complete the scoring. The Mariners outshot the Thunder 28-20 in the loss, as Isaac Poulter turned aside 27. The Mariners finished the road portion of the regular season schedule with a 23-11-2-0 record, among the best marks in the ECHL.
The Newfoundland Growlers defeated the Trois-Rivieres Lions, clinching the North Division regular season title and cementing the Mariners first-round playoff opponent as the Reading Royals for the second consecutive postseason. Home ice advantage is still to be determined, with Reading currently holding a three point edge.
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