Mariners Hand Wings First Loss

The Deer Lake Red Wings suffered their first loss of the season at the hands of the Port Aux Basques Mariners on Saturday night.

The Mariners jumped out to an early lead on a goal by Scott Francis at the 2:04 mark of the first period. Team mates Darren Dean and Brandon Reid each added goals in the first giving the Mariners a 3-0 lead after the first period.

The second period was filled with scoring as a total of 11 goals were scored during the second frame. Chad Jones of the Mariners popped in a goal at the 2:04 mark, giving Port Aux Basques as 4-0 lead. The Red Wings would then storm back with 4 goals. Lucas McKay scored twice, followed by singles from Joshua Skinner and Alex Tulk to even the score at 4-4. The Mariners would take the lead back as Robert Parsons and Robert Mercer both scored to make it 6-4 Mariners. The Red Wings would then take the league as Lucas McKay completed the hat trick. Wings Joshua Skinner would tie the game at the 18:14 mark before Drew Langon of the Wings would give the Deer Lake squad the lead with just 49 seconds left in the period. The Mariners Darren Dean would score his second of the night, knotting the score at 7-7 heading into the final period.

In the third period, Darren Dean would score his third of the night, lifting the Mariners to 8-7. At the 6:01 mark, Robert Parsons of the Mariners would give his team an insurance goal making it 9-7. Joshua Skinner would pull the Wings to within one at the 11:07 mark. The Mariners hung on through the final minutes to get their first win of the season and handing the Wings their first loss of the season.

For the Wings, Lucas McKay had 3 goals and 2 assists, while teammate Drew Langdon had 1 goal and 4 assists. Joshua Skinner also had a hat trick in the loss. Chad Jones of the Mariners had 4 points (1G/3A) and Darren Dean had the hat trick for the winners.

Bryron Francis picked up the win for Port Aux Basques. Robert Greene & Nicholas Mercer shared duty in the crease for the Deer Lake squad.

Port Aux Basque dominated with 53 total shots while the wings could only muster 26.