PORTLAND, ME – April 10, 2024 – Trailing 3-0 late into the second period, the Maine Mariners made a valiant comeback effort but fell just short, and dropped a 5-2 final score to the Adirondack Thunder on Wednesday night. The Mariners fell into fourth place in the North Division playoff race, but remain in a playoff position.
Adirondack scored a pair of quick goals in an 18 second span around the six minute mark of the opening period to jump to a 2-0 lead. Thunder scoring leader Tristan Ashbrook whipped home a quick one-timer at 5:45 for the first goal and Ryan Wheeler followed moments later, finishing a loose puck that had trickled behind Brad Arvanitis. Badly outshot for most of the first period, the Mariners leaned on Arvanitis, who stopped 14 in the opening period.
A power play goal by Adirondack’s Yushiroh Hirano put the Thunder up 3-0 just 1:29 into the third, but the Mariners began to wake up as the period went along. At 15:24 of the period, Xander Lamppa led a 3-on-1 rush up ice, and Bennett Stockdale finished at the far post to put Maine on the board. A great shift by Lamppa, Stockdale, and Sebastian Vidmar produced a Gabriel Chicoine goal at 18:05 of the frame to bring Maine back within one.
Despite a push from the Mariners in the third, Thunder netminder Isaac Poulter helped keep Adirondack up by one, and a pair of empty net goals by Ashbrook and Ryan Smith put the game away. The Mariners fell to .500 on the season, dropping behind the Worcester Railers and into a fourth place tie with the Trois-Rivieres Lions. Those two teams will play each other this weekend in Quebec.
The Mariners (31-31-7-0) and Thunder play three more times this week to wrap up the regular season, beginning Friday with the regular season home finale. It’s Switch Appreciation Night, Fan Appreciation Night, and “Let’s Talk About it” presented by News Center Maine. Single game tickets for Friday’s game, plus the tentative first round of the Kelly Cup Playoffs are on sale at MarinersOfMaine.com or at the Hammond Lumber Company Box Office inside the Cross Insurance Arena. More information on ticket packages and group discounts can be found by calling 833-GO-MAINE or by visiting the Mariners front office at 94 Free St. in Portland.
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