The Maine Mariners are on the road again, this time at Glen Falls, NY, to play the Adirondack Thunder at Cool Insuring Arena. Maine trails the Thunder significantly in the North. Adirondack holds a five-point lead in the standings race over Maine. The Thunder are sitting in 10th place in the eastern conference, while the Mariners are in last place.
The Mariners hosted the Lions this past weekend. Trois-Rivières beat Maine 4-2 right after Maine split a series with the Railers. Maine lost in overtime in game one and then beat Worcester by three in game two.
The Adirondack Thunder had a memorable set of games last weekend. On Friday, they had a rough 6-1 loss against the Norfolk Admirals. On Saturday, they had a 3-2 OT win against the Reading Royals. This win was assisted by David Fessenden, who had his professional debut. He stopped 40 shots in his game at Santander Arena.
The last time the two faced off was during the Kelly Cup playoffs last year, which the Thunder would end up taking. The two known rivals had an intense seven-game series in the North Division Semifinals. This series was neck and neck, with the winner for four of the seven games decided by a single goal (excluding empty-netters). Both teams traded blows throughout the series, creating a memorable rivalry that captivated fans.
Ultimately, the Adirondack Thunder emerged victorious, clinching a hard-fought Game 7 victory that Maine forced, but with the advantage of being on home ice. This win propelled them to the North Division Finals.
The Thunder also come into this series with many fresh faces. In the past two weeks, Adirondack has added four players to its roster: forward Grant Loven, defenseman Stephen Calisti, forward Mitch Walinski, and forward Sam Ruffin. Adirondack also traded Keanan Stewart to Iowa.
This is quite the difference than the moves Maine has been moving. Maine recently put Jason Horvath on waivers. Some of the lack of change may be part of the reason they are struggling this season versus changing teams.
Maine has not made many big roster changes during the season. But, they are not the same team that faced the Thunder in April. They made a lot of changes during the summer but made a few at the beginning of the season.
They released goaltenders Dante Giannuzzi and Austin Master. The Bruins, Providence, and Mariners are in a solid place with goaltending, so that’s not where their roster add-ons would likely be. As for Master, he was the only PTO coming into Training Camp for the Mariners. In the past month, Maine has picked up some players who have impacted their team. Recently, they added Drew Bavaro, Chase Zieky, Jimmy Lamberts, and Michael Underwood.
The last time the two faced off was during the Kelly Cup playoffs last year. This would conclude with the Thunder moving to the next round. The two known rivals had an intense seven-game series in the North Division Semifinals. This series was neck-and-neck, with the winner for four of the seven games decided by a single goal. Both teams traded blows throughout the series, creating a memorable rivalry that captivated fans.
The series is nearly evenly matched, with Adirondack having a little leverage over Maine. Game one will be Friday night at 7 p.m., and game two is set for Saturday night at the same time.
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