PORTLAND, ME – Gabriel Chicoine scored both Maine goals in a 5-2 loss to the Reading Royals on Friday night at the Cross Insurance Arena. It was the first of a three-game weekend series in Portland after the teams played three times in Reading last weekend.
A first period penalty to Reading defenseman Kenny Johnson ended up producing two goals, one for each team. The Royals netted their first shorthanded goal of the season at 10:24, as Yvan Mongo skated in on a breakaway and backhanded one around a sprawling Kyle Keyser. Just 1:04 later, during the same power play, Billy Constantinou moved off the left wall and zipped a pass across to Gabriel Chicoine at the right circle, who one-timed home the tying goal. With exactly four minutes left in the period, the Royals jumped back ahead, as Tag Bertuzzi finished a 3-on-2 rush at the back post.
Leading 2-1 in the middle frame, the Royals were all over the Mariners, outshooting them, 9-2. The only goal of the 2nd came on the power play at 13:35, as Joseph Nardi shoveled one by the pad of Kesyer to stretch the Reading lead to 3-1.
Royals forward Devon Paliani, a former Mariner, made it a 4-1 game with a nice move around a Maine defenseman at 5:54 of the third. It was Paliani’s third goal in the last four games vs. the Mariners. Under a minute later, Chicoine brought the deficit back to two with a blue line drive that knuckled past Parker Gahagen. On a 2-on-0 break, Reading’s Matt Brown put the game away with a goal at 15:44, making it 5-2.
With nine goals on the season, Chicoine now leads all ECHL defenseman. He represented the Mariners at the ECHL All-Star Classic on Monday in Savannah, GA.
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