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Records Fall as IceCaps Bust Out

February 18, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
St. John's IceCaps News Release


In a wild game that saw the teams combine for 12 goals, 78 shots and 96 penalty minutes, the St. John's IceCaps outlasted the Portland Pirates 7-5 Tuesday night at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston, ME.

St. John's exploded for a franchise record six second period goals and fired a new club-best 49 shots overall at the Portland net to snap a three-game losing streak. Andrew Gordon led the way with two goals and two assists while John Albert scored twice - including a shorthanded marker - and added an assist. Kyle MacKinnon notched a goal and an assist and Jason Jaffray chipped in with a pair of helpers.

Portland struck first at the nine minute mark of the opening frame. After some sustained puck possession in the IceCaps zone, Rostislav Klesla took a feed from Brandon MacMillan at the left point and fired a bullet past Michael Hutchinson to make it 1-0.

St. John's tied the score several minutes later on a rebound in front of the net. Blair Riley's initial drive was stopped, but the puck bounced up in the air and MacKinnon was there to stuff in the loose disc to tie things at one apiece heading into the first intermission.

Just 23 seconds into the second frame, the IceCaps went ahead 2-1 on Gordon's 17th. Albert fed Zach Redmond with a perfect pass at the point and the blueliner wired a shot that was deflected by Gordon past Visentin to put St. John's on top.

A minute later, another IceCaps defender beat the Pirates netminder. Kichton received a pass from Jaffray while pinching in from the point and ripped a wrister over Visentin's glove, making it 3-1.

The offensive fireworks continued just over a minute after as the Pirates got one back. On the power play, Andy Miele made no mistake in depositing a loose puck past a down-and-out Hutchinson to close the gap to 3-2.

The IceCaps regained their two-goal lead at the 8:37 mark on O'Dell's first tally since returning from Winnipeg. O'Dell received a nice feed from behind the net from Kael Mouillierat and outwaited Visentin before sliding it underneath the sprawled netminder, giving St. John's a 4-2 advantage.

The scoring did not let up as Gordon converted his second of the game. Jaffray, behind the Pirates net, found a wide open Gordon, who one-timed a shot past Visentin to make it 5-2.

However, the Pirates once again cut the lead to two just 20 seconds later. Lucas Lessio gained the zone and snapped a wrist shot past Hutchinson to make it a 5-3 game.

At 16:04, Albert was sprung on a shorthanded breakaway, collecting the ricocheted puck near the Pirates blueline and coasting in on net before beating Visentin on the blocker side.

Albert added his second towards the end of the period, banging in a rebound from the slot for the IceCaps' sixth tally of the period and a 7-3 lead.

Not going away quietly, Lessio scored his second of the game midway through the third on a power play to make it 7-4, beating Hutchinson five-hole.

Portland then narrowed the deficit to two with 5:58 to go in the third. Brett Hextall took a feed cross-crease with the IceCaps outnumbered and he buried the puck into a yawning cage, but that was as close as the Pirates would come.

The IceCaps continue their six-game road trip this weekend with back-to-back tilts in Worcester against the Sharks before returning to Portland Sunday evening. Catch all the action with broadcaster Brian Rogers at www.stjohnsicecaps.com and 930 AM, or watch online at www.ahllive.com. Friday's game gets underway at 9:00 p.m. NT with the pregame show starting at 8:30.

Notes: Not dressed for St. John's: Patrice Cormier, Josh Lunden, Austen Brassard, Eddie Pasquale, Kris Fredheim, Ryan Schnell... Brenden Kichton's power play goal in the second snapped a lengthy 0-for-19 drought with the man advantage. The IceCaps had gone four straight games without a power play goal... Eric O'Dell extended his point streak to seven games, the longest by an IceCaps player this season... John Albert's shorthanded goal was his league-leading fourth of the season and third in the last five games... St. John's tied a franchise best with 23 shots in the second period... Blair Riley's 22 penalty minutes were the most by an IceCap in one game this season... St. John's went 1-for-7 on the power play and 4-for-6 on the penalty kill... Molson Canadian Three Stars: 1. John Albert 2. Andrew Gordon 3. Lucas Lessio... Mary Brown's Hardest Working Player: JC Lipon.

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