On Saturday night (Oct. 26) the Maine Mariners welcomed the Norfolk Admirals to Cross Insurance Arena for game two of the weekend series. The Admirals took game one of the weekend set by a 6-3 final and were able to come away with the weekend sweep as they beat the Mariners 3-1. The penalty kill units for both teams were perfect as the Admirals went 3-for-3 and the Mariners went 2-for-2.
Though he gave up a goal just 12 seconds into the game on the very first shot of the game, Kristian Stead played well as he came away with a 13-save win.
Nolan Maier was by far the busier goalie of the two as he took the loss in net, but still stopped 30 of the 32 shots he faced.
Three Stars
First Star – Spencer Kennedy (1g,1a)
Second Star – Denis Smirnov (2a)
Third Star – Patrick Guay (1g)
Recap
Looking to come out of the gate hot, the Mariners opened the scoring just 12 seconds into the game. A bad mishandle of the puck by Stead allowed the Maine players to get on the puck fast in the left-wing corner. They forced a turnover by the Admirals that went directly to the stick of Willets on the right-wing side of the blue line. He riffled a shot through a moving screen and as Guay got a piece of it to tip it past the glove hand of Stead to take a very early 1-0 lead. After a few good chances by the Admirals to try and level the game, the first came to an end with the Mariners leading 1-0. Norfolk held a 10-4 shot advantage.
With 1:34 left on Stepan Timofeyev’s minor for High-Sticking from the end of the first period, the Mariners were looking to convert on this chance. Through the first minute of the second, the Mariners were struggling to set up their powerplay unit, and ultimately did not convert on their chance thanks to a great effort by the Admirals’ penalty killing units. After getting the kill, the Admirals had all the momentum and nearly tied the game at 2:22. Kamerin Nault, falling to the ice, was able to move the puck from below the goal line up to Carson Musser who was waiting on the right-wing dot. With a wide open net, Musser threw a shot on net, but Mariners’ defender Matthew Philip came up with a huge shot block to keep their lead in tact.
At 5:28, Stead came up with a big save to keep his teams’ deficit to just one. Philip threw a blind backhand pass to the slot that found Turner Ripplinger streaking down the zone. Ripplinger had a clear lane to the net and ripped a shot high on Stead, but the net minder was able to come up with the biggest save of the game up to this point. With 5:40 to go, the Admirals patience finally paid off as they knotted the game at one. A drive to the net and shot by Musser rebounded off the right pad of Maier. Battling in front with a Mariners’ defender, Kennedy was able to find the rebound and bury it into the back of the net. Keegan Iverson picked up the secondary assist on the goal.
Though the Admirals had all the chances in the second period, they had to settle for a 1-1 tie heading into the second intermission. They held a 14-7 shot advantage for the period. Maine had the only powerplay with the carryover time from the first and were 0 for 1 on the powerplay for the period.
After putting the pressure on Maine to begin the third period, they broke through to take a 2-1 lead at 6:10 of the period. From a board battle won by Spencer Kennedy, the puck found its way on to the stick of Smirnov on the left-wing wall. He found Brady Fleurent all alone in the slot and dished him a pass. Fleurent threw a shot low on Maier, who seemed to be clipped by his own defender as he was falling back, and buried the puck into the back of the net.
With 9:59 to go, the Mariners had a huge opportunity as they were given a five-minute powerplay as Norfolk’s Graham Sward was assessed a five and a Game Misconduct for Cross-Checking. With Sward out for the remainder of the game, the Admirals’ defense were even more slim than they were as they were down to four defensemen for the remainder of the game. Through the first minute and 30 seconds, the Admirals’ penalty kill was spectacular as they were blocking shots and killing off time by playing keep away with the puck. With just 1:07 left on their powerplay, the Mariners were caught with a Too Many Men penalty, killing the remainder of a fantastic kill for the Admirals.
Ryan Chyzowski came up with a huge block with 3:15 to go as the Mariners began to push for the tying goal. With 2:10 to go, they pulled their goalie to go up 6-on-5. It did not payoff, however, as Timofeyev buried one into the empty net. A shot from behind the red line by Darick Louis-Jean missed the net and sat behind the net. Smirnov beat out the icing, wheeled around the net, and found Timofeyev in perfect position to extend the Admirals’ lead at 18:34. The Admirals held on to take a weekend sweep with the 3-1 win.
Both teams went 0 for 1 on the man advantage for the period. Last night, it was the Admirals that had just two shots in the final frame, but tonight was a different story as they held a 9-3 shot total in the third.
The Mariners are back at it tomorrow (Oct. 27) for a 3 p.m. puck drop as they welcome the Worcester Railers to Cross Insurance Arena. It will be their fifth game of their seven-game home stand to begin the season.
The Admirals are back at Norfolk Scope on Wednesday (Oct. 30) at 7:05 p.m. when they welcome the Railers for the first of a three-game set that will continue Friday (Nov. 1) and Saturday (Nov. 2).
