NORFOLK, VA – January 14, 2023 – Saturday was the 100th ECHL game for Mariners defenseman Fedor Gordeev and he celebrated in style with a two-goal game to help the Mariners get a 6-3 win and a road sweep over the Norfolk Admirals. The Mariners improved to 8-0-1 in the calendar year of 2023 and jumped over the Worcester Railers into 3rd place in the North Division.
After a scoreless opening period, there were an abundance of goals in the second. It began early when Mitch Fossier deflected a power play shot from Pat Shea to make it 1-0 Maine at 1:15. The lead was short-lived however, as Norfolk’s Stepan Timofeyev banked a shot in off of Mariners defenseman Connor Doherty for the tying goal just 32 seconds later. Norfolk took its first lead of the series at 5:17 of the period during a delayed Mariners penalty. Brett Ouderkirk one-timed a pass in the slot past Maine netminder Francois Brassard making it 2-1 Admirals.
Gordeev proceeded to score consecutive goals at 6:43 and 17:44 to flip the game back into Maine’s favor. The second goal came on a breakaway during 4-on-4 hockey, when Nate Kallen sprung him in alone on Logan Flodell, debuting for the Admirals. Capping the scoring, the Mariners got another power play goal at 18:20 of the period when Tim Doherty slid home a rebound from an Alex Kile one-timer, giving Maine a 4-2 lead after a wild second period.
Just eight seconds into the third, Nick Master was set up in the slot by Mathew Santos to give the Mariners a 5-2 lead. Timofeyev quickly responded for Norfolk to close the gap back to two at 1:42. The Mariners came up with a key 5-on-3 penalty kill after consecutive penalties to Mitch Fossier and Reid Stefanson, and scored soon after when Gabriel Chicoine ripped a short side shot past Flodell at 8:53, completing the scoring.
Francois Brassard earned his 8th win of the season with 16 stops while Flodell turned aside 26 of 32. Gordeev and Tim Doherty led the Mariners offense with three points each. Coupled with Worcester’s loss to Newfoundland, the Mariners have jumped over the Railers in the standings and into third place in the North Division. They are three points behind the Reading Royals for 2nd, whom they visit on Monday.
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