IceCaps Defeat Pirates in OT

January 18, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Portland Pirates News Release


St John's, N.L. - The Portland Pirates (22-16-3-0) faced off against the St. John's IceCaps (17-19-5-1) the third and final time this week in the Eimskip Port-to-Port Challenge at the Mile One Centre in St. John's, Newfoundland. It was tied at one game apiece at the start of the game with the IceCaps taking an overtime win on Wednesday night and the Pirates tying it up Friday with a shutout by Mike McKenna.

Consecutive penalties were called throughout the first period as the IceCaps' Chase Balisy was called for goaltender interference at 6:01, followed by Ben Walker at 7:07 for hooking. After killing off two penalties the IceCaps gained momentum and netted their first goal at 9:33. It was former Maine Black Bear Will O'Neil who scored the IceCaps first goal with Nicolas Blanchard and Blair Riley on the assists. The Pirates tallied up penalties later in the period with Corey Trivino called for holding at 14:38 and Tyler Gaudet called for hooking at 16:12. Tempers began to flare as matching penalties were called on Eric Selleck and Blair Riley at 19:13 for roughing.

The IceCaps took full advantage of their power play advantage and scored at 1:41 in the second period. Chase Balisy netted the goal with Carl Klingberg and Will O'Neil on the assists. The Pirates went on their third and fourth power plays of the game when Kris Fredheim got called for slashing at 5:21, followed by Will O'Neil getting called for interference at 7:45. Pirates failed to convert and fell to 0-4 on power play conversions. The Pirates stayed alive thanks to Dylan Reese's goal at 18:12 in the second period with Justin Hodgman on the assist.

The third frame started off slow as the first penalty came against Portland's Joel Hanley at 12:17 for holding. That was soon followed up by a penalty called on IceCap's Keaton Ellerby at 16:57 for delay of game. The Pirates continued to pressure the net towards the end of the period as Hellebuyck thrived in goal saving multiple attempts. There was 6.7 seconds remaining in regulation as Jordan Szwarz found the back of the net, scoring a stellar goal which sent the game into overtime. Brendan Shinnimin was on the assist. Unfortunately, with 36 seconds into overtime, it was St Johns' Carl Klinberg who sent the Pirates home with a loss.

Louis Domingue (6-2-1) looked great in net, coming up with some huge defensive plays for the Pirates. He returned to action for the first time last week after being sidelined with an injury for two full months. Dominigue saved 30 out of 33 shots on net tonight. Connor Hellebuyck (17-11-2) starred in net tonight for the St John'ss IceCaps as he made some spectacular saves and saved 36 out of 38 shots on goal.

The Pirates will return home for a game against the Worcester Sharks at 7:00 on Wednesday, January 21 and will host the Bridgeport Sound Tigers Friday night, January 23rd at 7:00. For tickets and more information, call 207-PIRATES.



American Hockey League Stories from January 18, 2015


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