You could say the Newfoundland Growlers looked like a shadow of their former selves Tuesday night at Mile One Centre, where they dropped a 2-1 decision to the Maine Mariners.
It was the Growlers’ second straight loss to the Mariners, who had ended Newfoundland’s ECHL record 19-game home-ice winning streak with a 3-1 decision Saturday at Mile One.
Tuesday’s result gives the North-Division Growlers (36-13-1)n back-to-back losses at home for the first time this season, and for only the third time overall during the campaign.
They’ll get a chance to get back to their winning ways tonight when they finish off an unusual four-game mid-season series against the Mariners (29-21-3).
Parker Gahagen, Aaron Luchuk and John Snowden talk about what the Growlers have to do to rebound tomorrow night when they take on the Mariners once again at Mile One Centre.#StandOnGuard pic.twitter.com/B5A6HEuvrq
— Newfoundland Growlers (@NLGrowlers) February 19, 2020
It was the 26th home game of the 2019-20 campaign for the Growlers, but even those who have seen every one of Newfoundland’s games at Mile One this season might have needed a program to follow the home side.
Of the 16 players dressed for the Growlers, six had been brought in from Southern Professional Hockey League teams since late November, including three who were making their Newfoundland debuts.
The Growlers are now dealing with a roster shakeup that is extraordinary, even in the ECHL, where player movement is the norm.
Newfoundland has seven players on recall to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, leading goal-scorer Marcus Power is injured and captain and defenceman James Melindy did not dress Tuesday in expectation of a league-imposed suspension.
Few photographs. pic.twitter.com/qR22PUXGZH
— Newfoundland Growlers (@NLGrowlers) February 19, 2020
There were no details on Melindy’s transgression other than it occurred in Saturday’s game (when he picked up a single minor) and that the suspension would be at least one game in length, hence the Growlers’ decision to keep him out of Tuesday’s contest.
It all meant forwards Alec Baer and Anthony McVeigh and blueliner Derian Hamilton, players signed in the last six days, all dressed for their first games as Growlers on Tuesday.
They join forward Dylan Vander Esch, defenceman Kyle Froese and goaltender Parker Gahagen as players brought in from the SPHL.
Gahagen got the start Tuesday and was solid, with 22 saves, but it was Maine netminder Francois Brassard who was the first star, making 34 stops and allowing only a late first-period by third star Aaron Luchuk.
Greg Chase and Terrence Wallin, with the game-winner midway through the third-period, scored for Maine, while Mariners defenceman Sean Day, who was the second star, had two assists.
The Growlers entered the game with the league’s best power play, but were zero-for-four with the man advantage Tuesday.
The absences of Power and leading scorer Giorgio Estephan (one of those with the Marlies) didn’t help in that regard, but the most obvious shortfall was on defence, where the team is missing Joseph Duszak, Mac Hollowell and Michael Kapla, three power-play fixtures who are also with the Marlies.
The situation was such that at times the Newfoundland power play featured five forwards on Tuesday.
Twitter: @telybrendan