The Yarmouth Mariners continue to roll.
Aaron Maillet and Patrick Daley scored, and Leif Hertz made 27 saves as Yarmouth held on to defeat Amherst 2-1 tonight at Mariners Centre.
The teams were meeting for the second straight night, as the Mariners won 2-1 in overtime Friday.
The Ramblers’ Brady Griffin-Hefford scored late to give Amherst some hope, but the Mariners were able to wind down the clock effectively.
Yarmouth’s penalty kill was huge for them, killing off seven Rambler opportunities.
It’s Yarmouth’s sixth straight win, putting them five points ahead of South Shore and 10 points up on Amherst for first place in the Eastlink South Division.
Mariners Head Coach and GM Laurie Barron says his team played a tidy game.
“That was, from a coach’s standpoint, a defensively sound game from our guys. We missed some great opportunities, we hit some posts and missed a couple of open nets, but we were real good tonight.”
The Mariners have eight games left, and will play their toughest remaining stretch of hockey next weekend with a three game trip through Northern New Brunswick with stops in Campbellton, Miramichi and Edmundston.
Barron says it will be a tough trip with lots of kilometres.
“We’ll be real careful this week to make sure we work on some things but keep the boys fresh. We’re battling for our playoff lives, we want to stay in first place. We’ll be playing three really good teams, and we’re just going to get better because of it.”