The Adirondack Thunder and Maine Mariners played their 11th straight game on Tuesday Night. Adirondack had a chance to clinch a second-round date with the Norfolk Admirals; on the other side of the ice, the fourth-seeded Mariners were looking to force a Game 7 in Adirondack, the same place where they clinched their Kelly Cup Playoff berth. The Thunder would get the first Grade A chance of the night, as Connor Blake hit the post on a two-on-one, and the game stayed scoreless. Special teams have played a huge factor in this series, and it would be Ethan Richie, who would score on the Mariner’s first PP of the night at the 16:53 mark of the opening frame, and after 20 minutes of play, it would be 1-0 Maine. As the series has continued, there has been no love lost between these teams as there were a lot of scrums after whistles, as you’d expect, with two teams that have played each other 10 straight times.
In the second, Isaac Poulter would keep the Thunder in it with a huge save early in the period and then make two HUGE saves to keep Adirondack within striking distance of the Mariners. Adirondack would finally be able to tie the game as Ryan Conroy made a great play and was able to throw the puck in front, where Tristan Ashbrook would tip it past Brad Arvanitis. The Thunder would get an opportunity on the PP as Xavier Lamppa would head off for hooking just nine seconds after Ashbrook’s goal, but the Mariners would be able to kill it off, and we would head to the third period tied up at one. Once again, it would be the special teams that would hurt the Thunder as Alex Kile would get a short-handed opportunity on the breakaway and would miss the net, but less than a minute later, it would be Owen Pederson who got a breakaway chance of his own to give the Mariners a 2-1 lead and that would be a lead they wouldn’t look back on as Brad Arvanitis made 27 saves and the Mariners would force a Game 7 on Wednesday Night in Glens Falls as the winner will get a date with the Norfolk Admirals in the North Division Finals.
“It was huge, we said it after the second period, that’s an absoultley massive kill to get the momentum back in our favor, we could have easily crumbled there, we didn’t, we got the kill and finished the period we came back in, we calmed down, we reset and I think we were good in the third”
Maine Mariner’s Head Coach Terrance Wallin on the Mariners Penalty Kill following the Adirondack Goal
When talking about Game 7 with both teams, Head Coach Pete MacArthur mentioned that the team needs to have more heart in Game 7 than they did in Game 6, for the Mariners, a team that clinched on the final weekend of the series. Mariner’s Head Coach, Terrance Wallin, mentioned that the team is appreciative to be in this position and that it’s been a lot of fun to watch and coach this series.
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