JACKSONVILLE, FLA – The Maine Mariners suffered a 4-3 overtime loss to the Jacksonville Icemen on Friday night, but gained a valuable point in the standings and took five of six on the week. Ben Hawerchuk scored the game-winner at 6:20 of OT to give the Icemen the victory.
As has been the case in each game this week, Jacksonville jumped out to the 1-0 lead. For the second game in a row, it was former Mariners defenseman Jeff Taylor opening the scoring. Taylor crashed the net and cashed a rebound off the pad of Jeremy Brodeur, produced by a Derek Lodermeier shot at 14:43. The Mariners instantly got even, scoring at 15:14 to tie it up. Nate Kallen took a shot from the point that hit a leg and caromed right to Mathew Santos who had an open net to score his third goal of the season. Less than a minute later, defenseman J.D. Greenway led a 3-on-2 rush that would put the Mariners in front. Greenway tipped the puck down to Kelti Jeri-Leon, who made a nifty pass to the back door for Cam Askew to slam past Tyler Wall and give Maine the 2-1 lead.
Each team’s power play converted early in the second period. At 3:05, Pascal Laberge ripped a shot from the left-wing circle off the post and past Wall to extend the Mariners lead to 3-1. Just 57 seconds later, however, Jacksonville’s James Sanchez found a rebound off of Brodeur to make it a one-goal game again. The Mariners carried the 3-2 lead into the third.
It appeared that Brendan Robbins had put the game away midway through the third when he ripped a shot from beyond the circles past Wall, but upon review, Askew was deemed to have interfered with Wall and the goal was disallowed. Not long after, the Mariners took a penalty, and Jacksonville forward Joey Sides tied the game, beating Brodeur’s stick side with a wrist shot from the left circle. Brodeur made two spectacular saves in overtime to keep the Mariners alive.
With less than a minute left in the 3-on-3 OT session, Hawerchuk took the puck to the goal on his backhand and forced it through Brodeur to end the game.
The Mariners (5-3-2-0) travel to Orlando to play the final game of their road trip against the Solar Bears on Saturday night. They return home for a pair of games around Thanksgiving on November 24th and 26th. They host the Worcester Railers on Wednesday the 24th at 7 p.m. as the VIP Rivalry Cup continues. The Newfoundland Growlers come to town on the 26th for a 7:15 p.m. faceoff and Marvel Super Hero™ Night, which will feature Black Panther specialty jerseys and a Marvel poster giveaway to the first 1,000 fans.
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