Pirates Earn Calder Cup Playoff Berth

March 24, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Portland Pirates News Release


PORTLAND, ME - The Portland Pirates will return to the Calder Cup playoffs for the first time since 2001. They clinched their eighth playoff berth in ten years with a 4-4 tie at Lowell on Sunday, March 23.

It was the third of three straight 4-4 deadlocks for the Pirates last week. They also played Norfolk and Albany to the same final score. Still, the Pirates have slipped to eighth place in the Eastern Conference standings with a record of 31-25-12-5, good for 79 points.

The Pirates will visit Lowell for the final time this season on Thursday before returning home to host Worcester on Saturday and Saint John on Sunday.

LAST WEEK:

Thursday, March 20: Pirates 4, Norfolk 4 OT

The Pirates stumbled out of the blocks, giving up a goal 25 seconds into the game and another at 9:27 to trail 2-0. Mark Murphy got one back before the period ended. Murphy tallied again late in the second period to tie the game at two after two. Norfolk retook the lead on a five-on-three powerplay goal by former Pirate Casey Hankinson early in the third, but the Pirates roared right back. Chris Ferraro tied the game with a wraparound at 14:56. Just 47 seconds later, Murphy completed his hat trick to give the Pirates their first lead at 4-3. Marty Wilford scored for Norfolk in the final 15 seconds with the six-on-five attacker advantage to ensure the deadlock. The Pirates finished the season series against the Admirals at 0-2-1-0. It was the only South Division team the Pirates did not beat this season.

Saturday, March 22: Pirates 4, Albany 4 OT

Again, the Pirates surrendered the first goal but then scored three straight from Chris Ferraro, Trent Whitfield and Josef Boumedienne on the powerplay to lead 3-1 in the second period. However, just before the period ended, Steve Kariya, a former University of Maine Black Bear, scored to narrow the gap to 3-2. That set the stage for heroics by the Rats. Craig Darby scored his second of the night on a powerplay at 2:26 of the third and Mike Rupp followed with a goal just 1:13 later to put Albany back up 4-3. In the final minute, the Pirates had some heroics of their own. Peter Ferraro set up Andreas Salomonsson for the tying goal with four seconds remaining in regulation. The Pirates finished the season series with Albany at 0-1-1-0.

Sunday, March 23: Pirates 4, Lowell 4 OT

The Pirates trailed the last-place Monsters 3-0 after the first period but rallied for goals from Salomonsson and Peter Ferraro to trail 3-2 after two. Chris Hajt and Glen Metropolit then lit the lamp 1:55 apart early in the third period to put the Pirates up 4-3. Again, the Pirates could not hold the lead as Tomas Kurka scored with 1:04 remaining in regulation to tie the game at four. Salomonsson finished the game with a goal and two assists. Rastislav Stana got the tie in net in relief of Maxime Ouellet. The Pirates finished the game with a season-low two penalty minutes.

PIRATES FACE ANOTHER THREE-GAME WEEK

Thursday, March 27 at Lowell, 7:00 PM

The Pirates return to Tsongas Arena for one final meeting. The Pirates lead the season series 5-3-1-0 including four shutout wins. They are 2-1-1-0 at Lowell this year and 10-9-6 there all-time. The Lock Monsters are in fourteenth place in the Eastern Conference with 44 points. They have been eliminated from playoff contention. Still, if last Sunday's game was any indication, the Pirates will be in for another tough battle this week. They are winless in their last three games against the Monsters (0-2-1-0). The game will be the middle game of a five-game home stand for Lowell.

Saturday, March 29 vs. Worcester, 7:05 PM

Playoff position will be at stake when the Pirates host the IceCats in the first of consecutive Saturday home games against their North Division rivals. The Pirates begin the week tied with the IceCats in points at 79. The Pirates won the last meeting 4-1 on February 28 in Worcester. In fact, the Pirates have won the last two meetings but still trail the season series 2-3-1-0. All-time, the Pirates are 39-34-9 against Worcester. The IceCats will visit Manchester on Friday before coming to Portland.

Sunday, March 30 vs. Saint John, 5:05 PM

The Pirates welcome the Flames for the first of consecutive Sundays to finish the season. The Flames are still pushing for a playoff spot and will not doubt provide the Pirates with another stiff challenge. The Pirates are winless in their last three games (0-2-1-0) against the Flames but still lead the season series 4-2-1-1. They are 2-1-0-0 at home and 33-28-13 all-time against the Flames. Saint John begins the week in twelfth place in the Eastern Conference with 63 points. They will host the St. John's Maple Leafs in games on Friday and Saturday before visiting Portland.

SHIP'S LOG:

· The Pirates have played to four consecutive ties, a franchise record. The ties extended their winless streak to six games (0-2-4-0), a season high.

· The Pirates set a new season-high for shots on goal in a game when they registered 60 against Lowell on March 23. That total is just four shots from tying the franchise record set against St. John's on April 8, 2000.

· The Pirates have several players with active point streaks. Captain Todd Rohloff has assists in three straight (0-3-3); Chris Ferraro has points in three (2-2-4); Peter Ferraro has points in four (1-5-6); Trent Whitfield (1-1-2) and Andreas Salomonsson (2-3-5) have points in two and Josef Boumedienne has points in four (1-6-7).

· The Pirates have allowed the first goal of the game in four straight games after scoring first in six out of the previous seven.



American Hockey League Stories from March 24, 2003


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