GLENS FALLS, NY – November 27, 2021 – The Mariners got 3/4 of the way back from a 4-0 deficit but came up just short on Saturday night at the Cool Insuring Arena in a 5-3 loss to the Adirondack Thunder. Keltie Jeri-Leon, Andrew Peski, and Nate Kallen all scored their first Mariners goals.
The Thunder got their “Teddy Bear Toss” goal early, and in shorthanded fashion. Forward Tyler Irvine lifted a short-side backhander past Mariners netminder Zach Bouthillier just 2:42 into the game to give Adirondack the 1-0 lead. It was the seventh straight game in which the Mariners allowed the first goal. The Thunder doubled their lead at 10:56 of the first when Irvine sent Patrick Grasso in on Bouthillier alone and Grasso slipped the puck between Bouthillier’s pads.
Just 41 seconds into the 2nd period, Adirondack struck again, when Grasso netted his second goal of the game, chasing Bouthiller. The Thunder made it 4-0 at 11:34, immediately capitalizing on a Mariners “too many men on the ice” penalty on a shot by defenseman Ivan Chukarov. After hitting a pair of posts, the Mariners finally broke through with just over two minutes to play in the period. Jason Horvath skated coast-to-coast and slipped a pass out to Pascal Laberge, who found Kelti Jeri-Leon in front for the first goal of his professional career. Glorious scoring changes in the final minute of the period by Brycen Martin and Nate Kallen went in vain as the Mariners remained down by three goals heading to the third.
As the game passed the halfway point of the third, the Mariners made things very interesting when they got a pair of goals from defensemen less than a minute apart. First, Andrew Peski ripped a shot off the crossbar and past Mareks Mitens at 10:35, then Nate Kallen drove into the zone and fired one home at 11:26. The Mariners got a power play chance to get even, but couldn’t tie it up and surrendered a Grasso empty net goal to complete his hat trick. The Mariners pelted Mitens with 17 shots in the 3rd period and 40 in the game.
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