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The Newfoundland Growlers win playoff-style series with the Maine Mariners over the weekend

NICHOLAS MERCER THE TELEGRAM nicholas.mercer @thetelegram.com

The Newfoundland Growlers continued their strong play against the Maine Mariners over the weekend at the Mary Brown’s Centre in St. John’s.

The Growlers (32-11-1) took two of three from the Mariners (25-14-1-1) in a weekend series that ended with a 5-3 win Sunday afternoon, Feb. 5. That series win pushes the season series between the two teams to 7-2 in Newfoundland’s favour.

In nine games this season, the Growlers have outscored their Maine opponents 37-24.

“Since Christmas time, Maine have been the best team in the league … we knew that and we knew that this was going to be a playoff-like series,” Growlers forward Zach Solow told reporters after Sunday’s game. “That’s kind of what we got this weekend.”

That might be an understatement from Solow. The two teams combined for 44 penalties in three games, including a trio of misconduct penalties, a game misconduct and a fighting major.

With the regular season series between the Growlers and the Mariners concluded, they likely won’t meet again unless they see each other in the playoffs.

After picking up two wins in the series, the Growlers now have 65 points and have increased their lead over the Reading Royals (26-13-2) in the ECHL’S North division to 11.

Newfoundland also has an eight-point lead over the Florida Everblades as the top team in the league’s Eastern Conference.

Here’s a look at how the Growlers-mariners series played out:

GAME 1. FEB. 3

• Result — Growlers win 3-1

• Shots — 29-25 Newfoundland

• Top scorers — Zach O’brien (2G, 1A), Jack Badini (1G)

• Between the pipes — Dryden Mckay (24 saves)

GAME 2, FEB. 4

• Result — Mariners win 5-2

• Shots — 34-25 Maine

• Top scorers — Isaac Johson (1G, 1A) and Pavel Gogolev (1G, 1A)

• Between the pipers — Luke Cavallin (29 saves)

• Of note — Zach O’brien picked up his 60th point of the season

GAME 3, FEB. 5

• Result — Growlers win 5-3

• Shots — 36-32 Newfoundland

• Top scorers — Nolan Walker(1g, 1A), Zach Solow (1G, 1A), Brett Budgell (2A)

• Between the pipes — Dryden Mckay (29 saves)

• Of note – Dryden Mckay registered his sixth straight win

WHO IS NEXT?

• The Adirondack Thunder (15-20-5-1) come to town for a three-game series starting on Feb. 8 and finishes up Feb. 10-11.

• The Thunder are 3-2 versus the Growlers this season and have outscored Newfoundland 20-15.

• Game 1 is scheduled to start 7 p.m. at the Mary Brown’s Centre in St. John’s.

SPORTS

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2023-02-07T08:00:00.0000000Z

2023-02-07T08:00:00.0000000Z

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