PORTLAND, ME – March 1, 2026 – The Maine Mariners, proud affiliates of the NHL's Boston Bruins and AHL's Providence Bruins, won a franchise record eighth consecutive game on Sunday afternoon, defeating the Trois-Rivieres Lions 3-2 in front of a sellout crowd at the Cross Insurance Arena. Linus Hemstrom scored the dramatic game winning goal with 50 seconds left to break a 2-2 tie.
The Lions got on the board first at the 11:00 mark of the opening period when Mark Estapa beat Billy Girard with a long range wrister from beyond the high slot. Maine had a 10-7 shot edge after one period but trailed by a goal.
A 4-on-4 goal by Lions defenseman Charles Martin gave Trois a 2-0 lead at 2:50 of the second period. Ty Cheveldayoff dropped the gloves with Sean Gulka a few minutes later in an attempt to spark his team. The Mariners got on the board at 9:19 when Zach Jordan stayed with a loose puck in slot and slid home his 11th goal of the season. Just 34 seconds later, Jacob Hudson tied things up, banking one off Lions netminder William Lavalliere from the corner, scoring his team-leading 19th goal of the season and extending his personal goal streak to four games. It was all tied at two through 40 minutes.
The game remained tied up into the final moments of the third period. With under a minute to play, Linus Hemstrom's pass to the slot banked in off a Lions defender to give the Mariners their first lead of the game. Billy Girard made two key saves in the closing seconds and stopped 19 of 21 to improve to 2-0 in his Mariners career.
The Mariners (29-15-5-2) and Lions will meet again on Friday night north of the border at Colisee Videotron for a 7:00 PM faceoff. The Mariners are back home for games on Sunday, March 8th (3:00 PM) and Tuesday, March 10th (10:30 AM) against Adirondack. They play a total of nine home games in March. Single game tickets for all home games are available at MarinersOfMaine.com or at the Hammond Lumber Company Box Office inside the Cross Insurance Arena. For more information on ticket packages and group discounts, fans can call 833-GO-MAINE, go to MarinersOfMaine.com, or visit the Mariners front office at 94 Free Street in Portland.
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