Friday night marked the start of a 3-game homestand for the Mariners against the Newfoundland Growlers. Starting this night, Mariners players wore stickers on their helmets in honor of Raymond “Switchboard” Dudley, a long-time fan who has passed away.
The Mariners were able to beat Newfoundland and get the win, for Switch. The first period of the game had no penalties, but it did have two Mariners goals, both from #9 Brooklyn Kalmikov. In the second period, Newfoundland player #36 Tyler Weiss was able to get one by Mariners’ goalie Brad Arvanitits while the Growlers were on a power play. The reason for the power play was the call against Mariners’ Nathan Noel at 3:24 for interference. Other penalties in the second include a slashing call against Mariners’ Gabriel Chicoine for slashing and matching penalties for Maine’s Jason Horvath and Newfoundland’s Noal Dillingham for roughing. The third period saw the most goals and most penalties of the game. Maine scored the first two against Growlers’ goalie Vyacheslav Peksa, one from #12 Xander Lamppa at 5:21 and one from #7 Owen Pederson at 9:16. Trailing 4-1, the Growlers scored twice more, once at 10:33 by #12 Mathieu Gosselin and again at 19:09 by #7 Jackson Berezowski, leaving the final score of the game at 4-3. At 10:44 in the third, Newfoundland’s Serron Noel was called for slashing. At 16:45, 4 penalties were dished out. Two players had two matching penalties, Mariners’ Nathan Noel and Growlers’ Nolan Dillingham. They both received a 4 minute double minor roughing and a 10 minute misconduct for continuing altercation. Mariners’ Ethan Ritchie was also called at 17:58 for tripping.
The beginning of Saturday night’s game was a bit rough for the Mariners, even as they hit the ice in their specialty racing theme night jerseys. Newfoundland started the game quickly with a goal at 0:21 in the first from Growlers’ #6 Brock Caufield, getting the puck past Mariners’ goalie #35 Kyle Keyser. No more goals were scored in the first, but there were four penalties called against the Mariners. At 9:58, Fedor Gordeev was called for tripping. Soon after, at 12:35, Tyler Drevitch was called for interference. At 15:56, Jason Horvath was called for an illegal check to the head, and exactly 3 minutes later, Zach Malatesta was called for cross-checking. Despite this, early on in the second period at 1:08, Mariners’ #19 Cam Askew got one behind Growlers’ goalie Dryden McKay. Very soon after this, Growlers’ Brock Caufield was called for tripping at 1:17. The next two goals were from the Growlers, one at 6:16 by #27 Keenan Suthers, and one at 14:06 by #22 Neil Shea, brother of former Mariners’ player Pat Shea. Shea’s goal was scored exactly two minutes after Growlers player Brennan Kapcheck was called for hooking. Growlers’ Joe Getenby was called less than a minute later at 13:01 for tripping. Mariners’ Cam Askew responded to Shea’s goal very soon after with his second of the night at 14:41. Unfortunately, this would be the Mariners’ last goal of the night. The Growlers’ had two more penalties this period, one at 14:41 by Jonny Tychonick for slashing, and the other at 17:08 by Joey Gatenby for tripping, his second penalty within a little over four minutes. Newfoundland rounded out the period at 19:39 with a goal by #27 Keenan Suthers, his second of the night. The only action in the third period was from the Growlers. Joe Gatenby had this third penalty of the night at 7:17 for roughing, the only period in the third. Two more goals were scored by the Growlers in the third, one by #10 Zach O’Brien and the other at 17:18 by #15 Todd Skirving, leaving the game with a 6-2 final in favor of the Growlers.
Sunday afternoon, Brad Arvantities was back in net for the Mariners, and Dryden McKay remained for the Growlers. Starting out the first period, Mariners’ Cameron Askew scored at 5:05 while the Mariners were on a power play due to Growlers’ Jackson Berezowski serving a slashing penalty. The Growlers tied it up at 9:49 with a goal from #27 Keenan Suthers. The second period was quite a good one for the Mariners as they scored three goals. One at 7:34 from #7 Owen Pederson, another shortly after at 8:55 from #3 Gabriel Chicoine, and a second from Pederson at 13:12. Mariners’ goalie Brad Arvanitis was called for tripping at 15:08, and the penalty was served by #18 Bennett Stockdale. The third started out with a scuffle between Mariners’ Nathan Noel and Growlers’ Brennan Kapcheck at 0:24, resulting in matching double minors for roughing. Eight seconds later, Mariners’ Tyler Drevitch was called for high-sticking, which the Growlers capitalized on with a goal from #10 Zach O’Brien at 1:57. Mariners’ Cam Askew received a 10-minute misconduct at 1:57, seemingly from words exchanged between him and the officials. At 11:47, Mariners’ Owen Pederson scored his third of the night. There wasn’t much of a hat trick celebration though, as the goal was originally credited to Mariners’ #21 Ethan Ritchie. The Growlers squeezed one more in at 12:25 from #23 Isaac Johnson, but the Mariners still came out on top with a 5-3 final.
The Mariners play again on Friday, March 29th, where they’ll face the Trois-Rivières Lions on the road.
