ST. JOHN’S, NL – February 11, 2022 – For the second straight game, the Mariners fell by a five-goal margin to the Newfoundland Growlers at the Mary Brown’s Centre. On Friday night, the Growlers skated to a 6-1 victory, carried by third-year forwards Marcus Power and Zach O’Brien, who had four assists each.
O’Brien fueled the Growlers offense in the opening period, assisting on three goals as the home team built a 3-0 lead. A pair of Jeremy McKenna power play goals surrounded Owen Centazzo’s team-leading 14th. McKenna struck at 4:54 and 16:13, first with a wrist shot in the slot off a zone entry and then on a redirect from a point shot by Ben Finkelstein. In between, O’Brien set up Centazzo on the back door with an impressive pass out of the right-wing corner. With 30 seconds remaining in the period, Maine’s Keltie Jeri-Leon capitalized on a Growler turnover right behind the Newfoundland net and stuffed home his 7th goal of the season to put the Mariners on the board.
The Mariners had several chances to close the gap to one in the second, including a pair of power plays, but Growlers goaltender Keith Petruzzelli continued his strong play, making 11 saves in the middle frame. At 10:18 of the period, Centazzo scored his second goal of the night, just after a Mariners penalty expired, O’Brien assisting yet again to make it 4-1. At the tail end of the frame, Mariners defenseman Connor Doherty appeared to suffer an injury which enabled the Growlers to skate in 2-on-0 but the horn went before Centazzo could complete his hat trick.
Newfoundland struck twice quickly in the 3rd with goals 20 seconds apart at 5:24 and 5:44 to blow it open. Ryan Chyzowski capitalized on 4-on-1 rush, and then Noel Hoefenmayer ripped a shot from the point that deflected past Mariners goaltender Jeremy Brodeur, who lost for just the second time in his last ten starts.
Brodeur made 33 saves in the loss, while Petruzzelli stopped 25 of 26, winning for the second straight game.
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