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The right side of Tim O’Connell’s face was ocean blue, the left forest green. A diehard Maine Mariners fan and season ticket holder since the team’s inaugural season in 2018, O’Connell was ready for playoff hockey on Tuesday night.

“This has been a big season for everyone,” said O’Connell, of Winslow. “Best team they’ve had on the ice since they started.”

Tuesday night at Cross Insurance Arena, the Maine Mariners had a chance to close out their first-round ECHL playoff series against the Adirondack Thunder. Instead, the Thunder took a 2-1 overtime win.

Attendance was 3,430, the smallest crowd of Maine’s three home games in the series. The fans who turned out on a school night were boisterous, though, and dressed in their favorite Mariners jerseys. There were a few Portland Pirates jerseys, the Mariners’ immediate pro hockey predecessor in town, the team that still has championship banners above the ice. Teams go away, fandom does not.

O’Connell wore his autographed Michael DiPietro Mariners jersey, the one the team wore in its salute to the Portland Sea Dogs. He probably won’t wear it for Game 7. He wore his yellow Mariners jersey, the throwback to the team’s AHL namesake that came before the Pirates, and the Mariners lost. So DiPietro goes in the laundry for Game 7.

The anticipation of the Mariners’ first playoff series win hung over the arena like a Christmas morning you hoped could happen, not a guarantee. It built through a scoreless first period. It emerged in a chorus of boos over a non-call.

It exploded at 5:49 of the second when Jacob Hudon’s power-play goal gave the Mariners a 1-0 lead. Cheers. Goal horn. “Kernkraft 400” by Zombie Nation, the same goal celebration song used by the Boston Bruins, the team’s NHL affiliate. The arena was loud and alive.

It was tamped down when the Thunder scored at 18:37 of the third period to tie the game and save their season.

An hour before the puck was dropped, Elise Babcock of North Yarmouth was selling 50/50 tickets at the Maine Mariners Booster Club table on the concourse. This is her third season with season tickets, and Mariners games have become a family affair. Her 2-year old grandson, Grayson, is learning to skate and is used to getting fist bumps from the Mariners when they take the ice.

“These boys, they’re smart and they’re appreciative, and they just have fun,” Babcock said.

The biggest change Babcock has seen in the team this season is leadership. First-year head coach/general manager Rick Kowalsky has instilled a new drive in the Mariners, she said. Captain Wyllum Deveaux has been a leader despite only playing seven regular-season games due to injury, Babcock said.

There’s a stillness that happens at a hockey game, a millisecond of silence when the crowd senses something is about to happen. When that something, usually a goal, doesn’t materialize, that briefest of calms is broken by the mass exhale, the “Ohhhh…” that fills an arena with disappointment.

It happened twice for the Mariners in overtime. The puck is loose in front of Adirondack’s net — maybe? — no. The anticipation is popped when the visiting team scores, especially in overtime to end the game. The silence lasts a little longer then.

The Thunder’s Jeremy Hanzel scored at 12:12 of overtime, giving Adirondack the win in the fifth one-goal game of this even series. The Mariners’ chance to make team history was put on pause.

After the game, Hudson acknowledged the fans. They’ve been great all year, he said. He expects them to be loud Wednesday, and their energy can give the Mariners a lift like an extra skater on the ice.

“Hopefully we can keep it going and get a win for them,” Hudson said.

Mariners fans are still anticipating their team’s first playoff series win. They have another night to dream about it. Game 7 is Wednesday.