PORTLAND, ME – The Maine Mariners, proud affiliates of the NHL’s Boston Bruins and AHL’s Providence Bruins were defeated by the Reading Royals 4-0 in their home opener on Sunday afternoon at the Cross Insurance Arena. A sellout crowd of 5,571 turned out for the first home game of the Mariners’ seventh ECHL season.
As was the case on Saturday night in Worcester, the Mariners battled through a scoreless opening period, despite a 13-8 shot advantage. They came up empty on a 5-on-3 power play, foreshadowing an eventual 0/6 on the afternoon.
The defensive battle continued through the middle frame, as neither team could find the net under the final minute. With just 25 seconds left in the period, Carson Golder fended off Loke Johansson and slid one across to Artem Kulakov to tap past Luke Cavallin on the backdoor for a 1-0 Royals lead.
Reading struck again early in the third period for insurance, when Jordan Frasca beat Cavallin’s glove hand just 1:24 into the stanza. Nick Capone’s first professional goal at 15:03 made it a three-goal spread, and Connor McMenamin’s empty netter with 1:33 to go sealed the 4-0 final.
Royals netminder Keith Petruzzelli collected his 6th career shutout, stopping all 32 Mariners shots. Cavallin turned aside 35/38 as he started for the second day in a row.
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