Growlers put up eight on Mariners

ST. JOHN’S, NFL – The Newfound Growlers extended their winning streak to two games doubling up over the Maine Mariners 8-4 Tuesday night at Mile One Centre.

Jason Salvaggio opening the scoring just 3:49 into the game after capitalizing on a turnover in the Growlers end giving the Mariners an early 1-0 lead.

Josh Kestner got the Growlers on the board with 7:19 left in the first period after cleaning up a scrum in front of the Mariners net and sliding it past Hannu Toivonen tying the game at 1-1. Derian Plouffe roofed the puck over Toivonen’s shoulder with 40 seconds left in the first period giving the Growlers a 2-1 lead after the opening 20 minutes of play.

Terrence Wallin tied the game at 4:05 of the second period on a picture-perfect shot off the crossbar and in the net making it a 2-2 game, in what ended up as a second period with a combined seven goals. The tie didn’t last long however as just 2:05 later Adam Pardy showed off some nice hands stickhandling it past Toivenen for a 3-2 Growlers lead. Pardy added his second of the night at 10:33 of the middle frame doubling the lead to 4-2.

Marcus Power continued the second period outburst at 14:20 netting his 11th of the season, and Alex Gudbranson added another just 19 seconds later for a 6-2 Growlers lead. Ty Ronning converted on a 2-on-0 opportunity at 15:39 getting the Mariners on the board making it a 6-3 game.

The Mariners showed no quit cutting the Growlers lead to two with 0.3 seconds left on the clock in the second period when Drew Melanson’s re-direction got past Eric Levine giving the Growlers a 6-4 lead after 40 minutes.

Scott Pooley hit the empty net with 2:33 left in the game and Brady Ferguson fired home a power play goal with 1:10 left for an 8-4 final.

Quick Hits: All three of Adam Pardy’s goals this season have come against the Mariners… John’s native A.J. Whiffen served as Maine’s emergency backup goaltender… The three stars were 3 – J. Melindy (NFL), 2 – J. Kestner (NFL) and 1 – A. Pardy (NFL)

What’s Next: The Newfoundland Growlers continue their six-game January homestand with a rematch tomorrow night against the Maine Mariners. Puck drop is 7 p.m. NST.

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