BRAMPTON, ONTARIO – Dan Leavens had a hat trick and David Vallornai scored in overtime as the Brampton Beast knocked off the Maine Mariners 7-6 on Friday night.
The Brampton Beast returned home for the first time in the 2020 calendar year to face off against the Maine Mariners. The two clubs had met only once prior this season, with Maine skating away with the victory.
The Mariners started off on the right foot with a two quick goals from Eddie Matsushima and John Fergele to jump out to a 2-0 right off the hop.
The Beast got some life in their legs after a wicked goal from Jackson Leef. The Fort Wayne native walked down the half wing boards and wired a shot into the top corner to cut the lead to 2-1 at 10:43.
The Mariners fired back with a goal from Morgan Adams-Moisan. The forward capitalized off the Beast turnover and beat goaltender Alex Dubeau up high for a 3-1 Maine lead at 16:20.
The Beast would convert again, this time off the stick of Dan Leavens. He took the pass from David Pacan and fired it over the shoulder of Connor LaCouvee to cut the lead to one at 17:59. Brampton was down 3-2 after the first but would lead in shots 16-15.
The second period would see the Beast spring first and score a goal from Francois Beauchemin. Erik Bradford turned and fired and Beauchemin was there to tap home the rebound to tie the game 3-3 less than a minute in.
Beauchemin kept coming and wristed home a beauty of a goal on the power play for a 4-3 Beast lead at 11:34. He took the puck, walked down the middle of the ice and fired it upstairs into twine for his second of the contest.
With less than a minute to go, Terrance Wallin got a pass from Alex Kile and sent it upstairs over Dubeau to tie the game up 4-4. As the horn sounded, the Beast headed to their dressing room tied 4-4 and ahead in shots by a 29-24 count.
The third period was a frantic frame for both sides. The Mariners scored two goals in quick succession to take a 6-4 lead at 3:16 mark. Jeff Taylor and the aforementioned Matsushima got the tallies.
Brampton needed a spark and got in the form of Leavens. The forward walked into the zone and found twine to pull the Beast within one at 11:49.
Leavens found twine again with the Beast needing a late tying goal. With Dubeau pulled, the forward took the pass from David Vallorani and wired it into the net for a tie game with 1:14 left on the clock.
The game went into overtime and it wasn’t long before Brampton struck again, Vallorani gained the blueline and beat LaCouvee through the padding to win the game for Brampton in overtime to the tune of 7-6.
Notes: Molson Three Stars 3) Vallorani (BRA) 2) Beauchemin (BRA) 1) Leavens (BRA) The Beast finished the game one-for-three on the man advantage. Maine ended the game scoreless in four attempts. Brampton and Maine will be back at it tomorrow night at the CAA Centre. It’s Star Wars night and the puck drops at 7:15.