The Newfoundland Growlers’ first road trip of 2019-20 began with a roaring start, but Newfoundland’s engine quickly stalled Friday night in Portland, Me.
The Growlers scored two goals in the first 72 seconds of the contest and chased the Maine Mariners’ starting netminder from the net, but that was it offensively for the defending ECHL champs, who would go on lo lose 5-2.
Scott Pooley and Riley Woods delivered the early tallies for Newfoundland (3-3-0), just 28 and 72 seconds after the opening faceoff, respectively.
That spelled the end of the night for Maine goalie Thomas McCollum, the former Detroit Red Wings’ first-round draft pick, who gave up the two goals on just three shots. But the Mariners settled down behind replacement Connor Lacouvee, who would go on to post sort of an unofficial shutout, stopping all 26 shots he would face in the remaining 58 minutes and 48 seconds of the contest.
Still the Growlers held a lead until the last minute of the second period, before Maine’s Ryan Culkin scored on a power-play with 12 seconds left in the frame, tying the score at 2-2.
That gave the home side momentum coming out of the dressing room to start the third and that turned into what would stand as the winning goal by Terrence Wallin, 1:23 into the period.
Dillon Fox had two goals for Maine (2-3-1), while Taylor Cammarata had the other.
Maksim Zhukov went the distance in the Growlers’ goal, stopping 20 of 25 shots.
The Mariners, the ECHL affiliate of the New York Rangers, went two-for-six on the power-play. The Growlers couldn’t convert on any of their five man-advantage opportunities.
Newfoundland gets another shot at a win in Portland in a rematch tonight (8:30 p.m.NT).
Dog Bites
The Growlers played without forward Zach O’Brien, who was recalled to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies for the second time in eight days … Defenceman Tommy Panico made his pro debut on the Newfoundland blueline Friday. Panico was one of four rookie rearguards in the Growlers’ lineup Friday, joining Mac Hollowell, Joseph Duszak and Sergei Sapego.
