PORTLAND, ME – – On the back of a dominant first period, the Maine Mariners defeated the Worcester Railers 5-2 on Wednesday night at the Cross Insurance Arena. Evan Vierling and Jimmy Lambert led the Maine offense with three points each.
Bruins prospect Drew Bavaro netted his first professional goal on the power play to open the scoring at 6:30 of the opening period. As the Mariners moved the puck around the umbrella, Bavaro ripped one past Railers netminder Henrik Tikkanen from the center point. At 9:02, the Mariners doubled their lead when Jimmy Lambert and Patrick Guay created a 2-on-1 in the neutral zone and Lambert fed Guay for his team-leading fifth goal of the season. Bennett Stockdale netted his first goal just over a minute later to make it 3-0, cashing a rebound near the left circle from a Christian Berger shot. At 16:23, Maine added a fourth goal when Evan Vierling threw a puck to the net that was deflected twice – first by Christian Sarlo, and then Wyllum Deveaux. The Mariners’ four-goal first period matched their entire season output for the first period over the first 12 games. They outshot Worcester 21-1 in the period.
The Railers got on the board early in the 2nd period, as Lincoln Hatten potted a rebound at 3:35 of the middle frame. Worcester tilted the ice back a bit with a 16-6 shot advantage in the second, but Maine maintained a three-goal lead.
Still leading 4-1 with under five minutes to play, the Mariners went to the power play after a high sticking double minor against Matthew Kopperud. Evan Vierling ripped a short-side side past Tikkanen at 16:40 of the third to extend the lead to 5-1. Worcester’s Cole Donhauser added a shorthanded goal in the final minute to bring the game to its 5-2 final.
Ryan Bischel turned aside 27 Worcester shots to earn his fourth win of the season. Tikkanen made 33 saves in the losing effort.
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