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PORTLAND — The Maine Mariners were coming off a season in which they fell short of the playoffs, and the early indications were that this season wasn’t going to be much different.

On Jan. 3, the Mariners were 11-10-4-1, with more losses than wins when factoring in overtime games. They had dropped six in a row. From the outside, it was looking like another listless season.

From the inside, though, there was a feeling that a turnaround was coming.

“Even through rough patches, we knew that this team had what it took to be, frankly, a great hockey team,” forward Liam Gorman said. “We’ve got the right pieces, we’ve got the right guys.”

Just over two months later, the Mariners are proving it. Maine has won 11 games in a row, putting itself comfortably in the ECHL playoff race. On Feb. 13, when the streak began, Maine was in the fourth and final playoff spot in the North Division, only two points ahead of Worcester in fifth.

Now the Mariners are in second place, 14 points clear of fifth place and in the driver’s seat as they pursue home ice for the opening round of the playoffs after their regular season ends April 18. They’ve won big, with four victories during the streak by two or more goals, and they’ve won close games, four times in overtime or a shootout, including the past two.

“It’s almost a little bit surreal, honestly,” said forward Robert Cronin, the team’s second leading scorer with 42 points on 13 goals and 29 assists. “It’s a crazy, crazy win streak, one of the craziest I’ve been on in my career, but I think it’s awesome.”

The wins have been coming, and the confidence is rising.

“There’s a maturity level in the sense that they’ve grown,” coach Rick Kowalsky said. “They know they’re a good team now and can beat anybody.”

The start to the season was rocky. The Mariners dealt with injuries, a players strike in late December, and then a losing streak in which they scored a total of eight goals over six defeats.

“You want to win. Guys (were) frustrated with themselves, mostly, because they know that they can do more,” forward Jacob Hudson said. “But we dug our way out of it. We came together, we bonded so well.”

The turning point came Feb. 11-14, when Maine headed to Florida for a three-game set with the Everblades, the top team in the ECHL’s Eastern Conference. The Mariners dropped the first game but won the next two, 2-1 in overtime and 1-0 in a shootout.

“(We showed) that team, and the whole league, that we’re not to be taken lightly,” Hudson said.

They haven’t lost since. The offense has clicked, with 37 goals over 11 games, but the biggest improvement has come defensively. After allowing 2.72 goals per game before the winning streak, the Mariners are allowing 1.55 during the streak.

“There’s no question, we’ve kept the puck out of our net,” Kowalsky said.

Goalie Brad Arvanitis has been at the center of that defensive improvement. After posting a 2.97 goals-against average last year, he’s down to 2.08 this season, and his .930 save percentage ranks third in the ECHL among goalies who have played 10 or more games. His save percentage is No. 1 among goalies who have played at least 25 games, and his GAA is second best.

“The goaltending has been outstanding,” Kowalsky said. “There’s just a confidence in there that when we make a mistake, he’s going to make the save.”

Arvanitis, named the ECHL’s Goaltender of the Month for February, credited the team with his improved play.

“It all starts in our zone. Defense, offense have both made my life easy keeping shots wide, not giving up too many chances,” he said. “I think that’s where we struggled early on in the year, but we’ve definitely flipped the page in both ends.”

The result is a team that has started to believe it’s never out of games. On Sunday, Maine was down 3-2 to Adirondack, but Sebastian Vidmar scored with 43 seconds left after Arvanitis was pulled for an extra attacker, and Owen Gallatin scored with 4:36 left in overtime.

On Tuesday, in a rematch with Adirondack, Maine showed its flair for the dramatic again. The Mariners trailed 1-0 in the third, but Gorman sniped a shot from the left circle with 7:44 to go.

In overtime, Max Andreev put a backhander on net from the right side. Adirondack’s Tyler Brennan made the stop, but the puck fell to the ice, and a crashing Nick Anderson knocked it in for another victory.

“We talk about it all the time. It’s driving the cage, I’m obviously looking for it and I see it sitting right there,” Anderson said.

It was the chance the Mariners believed they’d get, the kind of chance they’ve come to expect.

“When we’re down, we know we’re never out,” Anderson said. “We have the most confidence in the world right now on this heater. Great teams find a way to win.”