The Maine Mariners started their stint on the road in Norfolk on January 11th at the Scope Arena. Seven Mariners had multi-point nights, extending the team point streak to seven games with their third win in a row, according to the Mariners website. They ended up beating the Norfolk Admirals 7-2 that evening.
Forward Alex Kile scored the first goal of that game. He’s been hitting many milestones recently and achieved his 100th career point when he got the puck to slide around the Admirals goaltender. Alex Kile became the first player to hit the century mark. He’s been playing for the Mariners in some capacity since their inaugural season in 2018-19. In the 2nd period, the Mariners scored four more goals, and 32 seconds into the third, the Mariners scored one more goal and brought them up to their seventh goal of the night. The Admirals scored two goals to finally get on the board against Michael DiPietro.
Their next game against Norfolk happened on the 13th, bringing even more excitement. Keltie Jeri-Leon scored two goals for the second game in a row, and Mathew Santos scored his 100th ECHL point. They defeated the Admirals 3-2 that night and set a new Franchise point streak of eight games. This was Maine’s fourth straight win overall, another season-best streak.
Their last game against Norfolk had Mariners defenseman, Fedor Gordeev, skating in his 100th ECHL game. According to the Mariners, he ‘celebrated in style,’ putting up two goals to help the Mariners bring home another win, sweeping the Norfolk Admirals.
The opening period was scoreless, but the teams went back and forth in the second. Mitch Fossier deflected a power play shot from Pat Shea, bringing it to 1-0 Maine at 1:15. However, 32 seconds later, Stepan Timofeyev of the Admirals scored the tying goal. A few minutes later, at 5:17. Brett Ouderkirk sent a pass that was just able to get past Mariners Goaltender Francois Brassard. This brought the Admirals their first lead of the series.
Gordeev scored his two goals at 6:43 and 17:44 to bring the Mariners back into the lead. The Mariners got another power play goal at 18:20 when Tim Doherty slid the puck into the net, bringing Maine into a 4-2 lead. Eight seconds into the third, Nick Master was set up by Mathew Santos, scoring and bringing the Mariners into a 5-2 lead. One last goal was made by Gabriel Chicoine at 8:53, which ended the scoring.
Goaltender Francois Brassard got his 8th win of the season with 16 stops. Forwards Gordeev and Tim Doherty led the Mariners offense with three points each. With their Northern Division Rivals, the Worcester Railers loss against Newfoundland, this game allowed the Mariners to jump over them into third place in the division. At that time, they were three points behind the Royals for second place. In their game against the Royals on the 16th, the Mariners won the game 4-2, which brings them to only two behind Reading.
The Mariners finish their journey on the road at their division rivals, the Worcester Railers, on January 21st, 2023. After that, they return home to the Cross Insurance Arena to start another three game series against the Norfolk Admirals on Friday, January 27th.
