Injuries, Schedule Test Pirates

December 30, 2002 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Portland Pirates News Release


PORTLAND, ME - The Portland Pirates face their toughest stretch of the season without the services of several key players. With four players recalled to the Washington Capitals and five more on the sidelines, the Pirates find themselves in a stretch of eight games in eleven nights with few bodies to spare. Joining Nolan Yonkman on the injured list this weekend: Matt Libby, Nate Forster, Mark Murphy and Roman Tvrdon. The Pirates will be bolstered by the return of center Trent Whitfield who was reassigned by Washington today. Tonight's game at Lowell marks the team's fourth in five nights and the start of their second three-in-three stretch in just seven days. The Pirates begin the week in fourth place in the American Hockey League's North Division with a record of 14-13-3-4.

LAST WEEK:

Thursday, December 26, 2002: Pirates 3, Saint John 2

The Pirates powerplay unit led the way with a pair of goals as the Pirates won a penalty-filled affair over the visiting Saint John Flames. The fireworks started early with Portland whistled off for a total of 44 minutes and the Flames for 30. Matt Pettinger scored a pair and Graham Mink picked up his team-leading 13th goal of the season in the third period to earn the win. The 3,291 hardy fans who braved the area's first major snowstorm witnessed a scary moment as defenseman Matt Libby was leveled by an elbow to the head from Saint John's Darcy Verot and lay motionless for several minutes before being removed from the game on a stretcher.

Friday, December 27, 2002: Pirates 3, Saint John 2

In a carbon copy of the previous night's game, the Pirates picked up a hard-fought 3-2 win at Saint John with the game-winning goal against coming on a third-period powerplay. In fact, all three of Portland's goals came on the powerplay as the unit went 5-for-13 during the two games versus the Flames. Colin Forbes, Jakub Cutta and Peter Ferraro all scored in the game as Rastislav Stana picked up the win with 40 saves. The two teams will meet a total of ten times this season, including five within a two and a half week stretch this month.

Saturday, December 28, 2002: Bruins 4, Pirates 3

In front of a raucous sellout crowd of 6,936, the Pirates were done in by a Martin Samuelsson hat trick and ill-timed penalties as the visiting Bruins took advantage of a weary Pirates squad. The loss snapped Portland's four-game home winning streak. Matt Pettinger, Colin Forbes and Peter Ferraro all scored in the contest, but a five-minute major to Portland's Stephen Peat for hitting from behind left the Pirates at the mercy of Samuelsson's hot hand as he picked up the powerplay tally at 12:31. Peter Ferraro rang the post in the late going, but the Bruins held on for the win, their third in five games with the Pirates this season.

PIRATES CONTINUE STRETCH OF SIX GAMES IN SEVEN DAYS, EIGHT IN ELEVEN

Monday, December 30 at Lowell, 7:00 pm

The Pirates start their second three-in-three stretch in seven days with a visit to the Lock Monsters. After losing the opening game of the season series on Oct. 25, Portland has dominated, picking up four straight wins over Lowell, including three shutouts. Special teams have been the key for the Pirates as they have gone 6-for-18 (33.3%) with the man-advantage while holding Lowell to 2-for-24 (8.3%). Lowell begins the week in last place in the North Division with a record of 8-24-3-0, trailing the 4th place Pirates by 16 points. Despite Portland's 2002-03 success, Lowell holds the slight edge in the all-time series 20-21-6.

Tuesday, December 31 vs. Philadelphia, 6:05 pm

The Pirates will ring in the New Year by hosting the Phantoms in their first meeting of two this season. They will close out the season series at the Spectrum on Feb. 19. The Phantoms enter the week mired in last place in the Western Conference's South Division with a record of 13-15-1-2 and have struggled to put the puck in the net this season with a league-low 77 goals scored. The Phantoms will be well-rested heading into the contest, having last played on Saturday, Dec. 28. They hold the upper hand in the all-time series with a record of 5-2-1.

Wednesday, Jan. 1 at Saint John, 6:00 pm

The Pirates will meet the Flames for the third time in six games in their final game of a three-in-three stretch. The two teams will meet a total of 10 times this season, including five in a two and a half week stretch. Saint John enters the week with a record of 10-18-2-1. They trail the St. John's Maple Leafs by just two points in the Canadian Division. The Flames will be well rested when they host the Pirates, having been idle since a grueling three-in-three set this past weekend which ended with a 1-0 win at Manchester on Saturday. That win snapped a five-game losing streak. Portland leads the all-time series 31-25-12.

Saturday, Jan. 4 vs. Hershey, 7:05 pm

After a short breather, the Pirates return to their grueling schedule, hosting Hershey in the first home game of 2003. The game will be the first of two games versus the venerable Bears this season. Hershey enters the week in second place in the South Division with a record of 16-10-6-1. They will travel to Wilkes-Barre on New Year's Eve and Bridgeport on Friday, Jan. 3 before traveling to Portland for the second game of a three-in-three set that ends Sunday in Manchester. Hershey is the longest-running AHL team at 65 years. The Pirates hold the lead in the all-time series at 15-9-0.

Sunday, Jan. 5 vs. Worcester, 4:05 pm

Portland's war of attrition comes to an end with their eighth game in eleven nights. The Pirates have struggled this season versus Worcester and enter the contest with a 0-3-0-0 record against the IceCats. Portland begins the week trailing Worcester in the standings by six points. The two teams will meet a total of eight times this season. The IceCats will face a pair of games in Saint John on Friday and Saturday before making the five and a half hour bus ride to Portland for Sunday's game. Despite their struggles with Worcester this season, Portland holds the all-time lead in the series at 37-34-8.

PIRATES NOMINATE PETER FERRARO AS SHER-WOOD/AHL PLAYER OF THE WEEK

The Portland Pirates nominate right wing Peter Ferraro as the Sher-Wood/AHL Player of the Week for the week ending December 29, 2002.

In three games last week, Ferraro had two goals and three assists to lead the Pirates to two wins. On Thursday, December 26th, Ferraro had two assists in the Pirates' 3-2 win over the Saint John Flames. The next night, he had the game-winning goal on the powerplay plus an assist in another 3-2 win over the Flames. On Saturday, December 28th, the native of Port Jefferson, New York had another powerplay goal in a 4-3 loss to Providence.

SHIP'S LOG:

· The Pirates extended their season-high home winning streak to four games with Thursday's win over Saint John. That streak was snapped two nights later with a 4-3 loss to Providence.

· The Pirates 3-2 win at Saint John on December 27th was just their second win on a Friday this season. Their only other Friday victory came on November 1st against Manitoba, 5-2.

· Colin Forbes and Jakub Cutta scored goals 54 seconds apart in the Pirates 3-2 win over Saint John on December 27th. They are the fastest back-to-back goals scored by the Pirates this season.

· Rastislav Stana snapped a personal three-game winless streak with 40 saves in Friday's win at Saint John.

TRANSACTIONS:

12/26/02 DELETE J-F Fortin (D), recalled from conditioning loan by Washington (NHL)

12/27/02 ADD Andreas Salomonsson (LW), received on loan from Washington (NHL)

12/27/02 ADD Stephen Peat (RW), received on loan from Washington (NHL)

12/30/02 ADD Trent Whitfield (C), received on loan from Washington (NHL)

ON THE AIR:

All Pirates' games can be heard live on the Pirates Radio Network. Sports Radio, WJAB, am-1440 and fm-95.5 serve as the flagship stations. Games may also be heard on WKTQ am-1450, South Paris; WTME am-790 Rumford and 1220 AM, ESPN Radio in Sanford.



American Hockey League Stories from December 30, 2002


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