GLENS FALLS, NY – December 13, 2024 – The Maine Mariners defeated the Adirondack Thunder 5-2 in the first meeting of the season between the two teams on Friday night at Cool Insuring Arena. Brooklyn Kalmikov paced the Maine offense with a goal and two assists.
The Mariners struck early, with a goal at 3:43 from Evan Vierling to grab the 1-0 lead. Firing the puck from the left wall, Vierling deflected a shot off an Adirondack player and past netminder Tyler Brennan to give the Mariners the first goal for the fourth game in a row. Ten minutes later, Maine doubled the lead on a left-wing wrister from Brooklyn Kalmikov, his sixth goal of the season. Alex Sheehy and newcomer defenseman Trevor Thurston collected their first points of the season with assists on the goal. At 17:49, Adirondack’s Tag Bertuzzi found the five hole of Ryan Bischel to get the Thunder on the board but just 18 seconds later, Jimmy Lambert buried a power play goal to restore Maine’s two-goal lead.
The score remained 3-1 Mariners through 40 minutes of play. Christian Berger added an insurance tally midway through the third, set up by Kalmikov, who entered the zone on the right side and found the trailing Maine defenseman. A Thunder power play goal from Alex Young at 15:07 got Adirondack within two, but Patrick Guay’s empty netter with 10 seconds to play sealed the 5-2 victory.
Ryan Bischel made 27 stops to earn his sixth win of the season. Tyler Brennan stopped 20 of 24 for Adirondack.
The Mariners (8-11-2) and Thunder meet again on Saturday night at Cool Insuring Arena for another 7 PM puck drop. Pregame coverage begins at 6:45 on the Maine Mariners Broadcast Network, powered by Mixlr and FloHockey. The Mariners return to home ice on Saturday, December 28th for a “Pajama Party” at 6 PM, also against Adirondack. The first 1,000 fans will receive a Mariners pillowcase. Single game tickets 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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