IceCaps Sink Pirates for Second Straight Game

Published on November 1, 2013 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Portland Pirates News Release


Lewiston, ME -For the second straight game, the Portland Pirates fell to the St. John's IceCaps at home, this time dropping a 4-2 decision Friday night. Pirates forward Brendan Shinnimin scored both Pirates goals in the loss.

The night started with the Pirates honoring assistant coach John Slaney for his pending induction into the AHL Hall of Fame. Alternate captains Brett Hextall, Brandon MacMillan and Chris Summers presented Slaney with an engraved watch after his wife and children surprised him on the Pirates bench.

The Pirates came out with plenty of fight early on, as Kyle Hagel got into his fourth fight of the season, trading blows with Ryan Schnell at 3:19. Three minutes later, after Darian Dziurzynski took a hit that sent him awkwardly into the boards, Phil Lane dropped the mitts with Cody Lampl. But the IceCaps struck the biggest blow in the first when Eric O'Dell scored eight and half minutes in. After the Pirates failed to get the puck into the IceCaps zone, JC Lipon skated the puck through the neutral zone and down the left wing boards. He cut towards the net and fed the puck back as he hit the goal line to the waiting O'Dell who roofed the puck past Mark Visentin to give St. John's the 1-0 lead.

The Pirates fought back, getting great pressure on the IceCaps around the 14:00 mark which eventually led to Travis Ehrhardt taking a hooking penalty to give the Pirates a chance to even the score. But again, the Pirates had a difficult time breaking into the IceCaps zone and again the IceCaps capitalized, as Zach Redmond and Jason Jaffray broke in on a shorthanded two-on-one that saw a blocked shot from Jaffray bounce off a defender and into the back of the Pirates net.

Then, late in the first, Brandon Yip was whistled for a double-minor high sticking penalty which the IceCaps wasted no time taking advantage of. With just seven seconds remaining in the period, Redmond took a one-timer from the top of the left circle that beat Visentin and gave the IceCaps a commanding 3-0 lead in the game.

The Pirates mounted a comeback in the second. With Louis Domingue replacing Visentin in net for the second straight game, the Pirates opened the scoring in the second period with a great 2-on-1 shorthanded goal. With Gilbert Brule in the penalty box for tripping, Pirates forward Brandon MacMillan poked the puck away from the IceCaps defenseman at the blue line where Brendan Shinnimin picked it up to start the break. With Shinnimin coming down the left, MacMillan took the middle. Shinnimin fed the pass over to MacMillan who put himself in a perfect pass or shoot position. He decided on feeding the puck back to his teammate who promptly stuffed it home past Eddie Pasquale.

Later on, it was almost an instant replay as MacMillan drifted into the IceCaps zone holding onto the puck. With extreme patience, he again passed the puck over to Shinnimin on the left side of the net, who roofed it past Pasquale. The Pirates had fought back to within one goal of the IceCaps and now only trailed 3-2.

But the IceCaps extended their lead to two at 17:01 as O'Dell deflected a slapshot from the point. While Domingue was able to make the initial save, the rebound bounced right back to O'Dell who easily put it into the waiting cage.

In the third, the Pirates managed 14 shots on goal, but were unable to get any past Pasquale.

The Pirates fall to 2-5-0-1 on the season and 0-4-0-1 at the Colisée. Their next game is Friday Nov. 8 against the Worcester Sharks. The Pirates will be honoring the U.S. Military with Military Appreciation Night. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. in Lewiston. The game can be heard on the Pirates flagship stations WPEI 95.5/95.9 FM as well as WEZR AM 1240 in the Lewiston/Auburn area and WTME AM 780/1450 in Oxford County. The age can also be heard online at portlandpirates.com by clicking "Listen Live" and can be seen live on AHL Live at alhllive.com. The pregame show starts at 6:40 with Jeff Mannix. Tickets are available for Friday's game by calling the Colisée Box Office at 783-2009 ext. 525 or online at thecolisee.com. Special Military packs, which include a limited edition Military night t-shirt, are available by calling 828-4665 ext. 506.

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American Hockey League Stories from November 1, 2013


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