The Maine Mariners and Wheeling Nailers met for the second time on Oct. 19 to wrap up a two-game weekend series to begin the season. Wheeling took game one of the weekend by a 4-1 final. Looking for a bounce-back win, Maine came out hungry and skated away with a 4-1 win of their own.
Ryan Bischel picked up the first win of the season between the pipes for the Mariners as he stopped 25 of the 26 shots he faced.
On the other side, Jaxon Castor was between the pipes for the second straight game. He moved to 1-1-0 on the season as he stopped 29 of the 32 shots he faced in the loss.
Three Stars
First Star – Jacob Hudson (1g, 2a)
Second Star – Evan Vierling (1g, 2a)
Third Star – Bischel (25 saves)
Recap
Just like last night, the game kicked off with a fight as Matthew Quercia dropped the gloves once again, but this time, it was with Wyllum Deveaux. Just 30 seconds later, Maine received its first powerplay of the game as David Drake was sent off for Interference. Maine struggled to get anything going on the man advantage, and that struggle continued through its first powerplay to begin the game. At 11:22, Bischel came up with two big saves on Jared Westcott to keep the game scoreless. Westcott carried the puck from behind the net to out front and riffled a low shot. The shot rebounded off the pad of Bischel and went right back to Westcott who took another shot that was gloved down by Bischel.
Castor faced his first real test of the contest as a shot right from the slot by Owen Pederson was gloved down by the netminder. With 7:33 to go, Castor came up with two more huge saves to keep the game scoreless. A shot pass from Michael Underwood ramped off the skate of Patrick Guay, who was driving the net. The puck sat right out in front of the crease where Carter Johnson found it. He threw a shot on net and ended up behind the net. He quickly gathered the puck and threw it on net, but somehow the puck stuck to the back of the leg of Castor as he was able to get his glove on it and freeze it for a faceoff. With just 2:13 to go in the first period, the Mariners struck first. Vierling drove the Wheeling’s zone with the puck and dished a pass over to Hudson. Hudson got a shot off that bounced off the post, off the back of Castor’s leg, and crossed the line just enough for the goal to count.
Maine took a 1-0 lead into the locker room as it outshot Wheeling 11-10. Maine had the only powerplay chance but could not capitalize on it.
Down by one, the Nailers came out flying, and it paid off. Just 2:50 into the middle frame, Sam Houde knotted the game at one. A shot originally taken by Houde wound up behind the net. Westcott was there to pick the puck up, circle the net, and feed a pass to Houde, who riffled a shot over the blocker side of Bischel.
Off an icing by the Nailers, the faceoff came all the way back into their own zone, and Maine was able to take advantage of the tired skaters on the ice at 9:48. Johnson was able to win the faceoff back to Justin Bean. Bean put a shot towards the net but was blocked by a Wheeling defender to end up in the corner. Deveaux followed the puck into the corner, picked it up, wheeled all the way to the top of the circles, and riffled a shot over the shoulder of Castor, who had bodies in front of him. On a shorthanded chance, Quercia was able to strip Mason Millman of the puck on the blue line and skate all the way down the ice on a breakaway. He tried going over the glove of Bischel, but Bischel was able to make the save. Unlike in the last meeting, Maine was able to take advantage of their powerplay chance with just five seconds left on it as they took a 3-1 lead at 13:22. A stretch pass from Millman to Vierling that was tapped over to Hudson allowed the Mariners to enter the zone easily. Hudson found Millman trailing the play and dropped off a pass to him. Millman drove the zone further and put a hard shot on net that beat Castor to the blocker side.
The remainder of the period saw both teams get some chances but no change to the score as the Mariners took a 3-1 lead into the second intermission. They held a 16-12 shot advantage for the period and a 27-22 advantage for the game. They went 1 for 1 on the powerplay, while Wheeling had yet to go on the man advantage through two periods of play.
Early in the second period, Wheeling came out strong by putting two shots on quickly. Bischel was up for the challenge as he turned away both shots to keep his team’s lead. At 2:27, Maine had a good 2-on-1 chance, but Castor came up with a big glove save on Sebastian Vidmar as he tried going up high on the netminder. Already down a man as Westcott was sent off for Slashing at 4:13, Wheeling took another penalty as Atley Calvert was sent off for Tripping at 5:17. Looking to extend their lead, the Mariners did a solid job of getting movement going and the Nailers scrambling in their own zone. Despite the great work, Wheeling survived as Maine was unable to convert on their 5-on-3 opportunity.
Wheeling had a few chances to get back to within one, but the Mariners played tremendous defense, which eventually led to the Mariners extending their lead on a Vierling empty-net goal. Maine held on to come away with a 4-1 win to split the weekend series.
The shot total for both teams in the third were low as Maine held a 6-4 shot advantage. Wheeling went 0 for one on their only powerplay for the game, while Maine went 1-for-4.
Maine will welcome the Norfolk Admirals to Cross Insurance Arena for a two-game set on Oct. 25 (7:15 p.m.) and 26 (6 p.m.) as they continue their seven-game home stand to begin the season.
Wheeling will make the trek to Reading, PA as they will take on the Reading Royals on Oct. 26 (7 p.m.) and 27 (3 p.m.) for games three and four of their five-game road trip before returning for their home opener on Nov. 2.
