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Pirates Face Another Week of Division Foes

December 15, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Portland Pirates News Release


PORTLAND, ME - The Portland Pirates continue their string of 12 straight games against Atlantic Division opponents this week when they sandwich two games against the Springfield Falcons around a contest with the Providence Bruins. The Pirates went 1-1-0-1 in a three-game road trip last week, picking up three of a possible six points in the process. The Pirates earned a win in Lowell, a loss in Springfield and an overtime loss against Hartford last week. They'll host Springfield on Friday and welcome the Providence Bruins on Saturday before visiting the Falcons on Sunday afternoon. The Pirates begin the week in seventh place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 9-14-1-3, good for 22 points.

LAST WEEK:

Friday, December 12: Pirates 3, Lowell 2

The Pirates snapped a seven-game winless streak, beating the Lowell Lock Monsters 3-2 at Tsongas Arena. The two teams played a scoreless first period. The Pirates were the first to break through in the second. Colin Forbes carried the puck down the slot in the Lowell zone and dished off to Jason Ulmer. Ulmer's shot was stopped but the puck popped up in the air, hit Forbes and ricocheted past goalie Dany Sabourin for a powerplay goal to put the Pirates up 1-0. The powerplay helped the Lock Monsters tie the game. Chad Larose threw the puck in front to Brett Lysak who banged home his sixth goal of the year at 15:06. The Pirates jumped back in front just 1:07 into the third period. Brad Parsons broke down the slot and got off a shot. The rebound hopped to Graham Mink who cut in from the left wing and slipped the puck past Sabourin. Just 5:50 later, the Pirates stretched their lead when they caught Lowell in a line change. Francois Methot one-touched the puck to Owen Fussey who cut down the right wing and beat Sabourin with a backhand shot for his third goal of the year. The Lock Monsters responded just 24 seconds later when Chad Larose beat Maxime Ouellet with a spinning wrist shot for his first goal of the year. The Lock Monsters kept up the pressure but Ouellet and the Pirates weathered the storm to nail down the win.

Saturday, December 13: Springfield 4, Pirates 1

The Springfield Falcons broke open a tight game with two third-period goals to beat the Pirates 4-1 at the Springfield Civic Center. The Pirates opened the scoring early in the period. Francois Methot chased down the puck along the end wall but got checked hard on the play. He was still able to poke the puck along to Owen Fussey who stepped out from behind the net and beat goalie Jean-Marc Pelletier with a wrist shot for his fourth goal of the year. The Falcons tied the game at 13:12 of the period. Dustin Wood's shot was knocked down in front of the net. Krys Kolanos pulled the puck free from the scrum and beat Maxime Ouellet with a backhander. The tie lasted until the final minute of the period when former Pirate Chris Ferraro fed the puck up the left wing wall to Nikos Tselios who blasted a shot over the glove hand of Ouellet to make it 2-1 after one. The Falcons got the back-breaking goal midway through the third when Frank Banham steered home the rebound of a shot by Kolanos just as a penalty to the Pirates had expired. Erik Westrum scored shorthanded into an empty net for the final score.

Sunday, December 14: Hartford 3, Pirates 2 OT

The Hartford Wolf Pack remained perfect against the Pirates, winning 3-2 in overtime at home. As in the previous game, the Pirates scored first. Mel Angelstad took a hard check at center ice to dig the puck off the wall to Colin Forbes. That created a two-on-one. Forbes fed Garret Stroshein who beat goalie Phil Osaer through the five hole to make it 1-0. It was Stroshein's first AHL goal. The Wolf Pack tied the game later while shorthanded. Chad Wiseman stole the puck and broke up ice two on one with Corey Larose. Larose would feed Wiseman for the goal that made it 1-1 after one. The Pack took their first lead of the game early in the second period. While on another powerplay, the Pirates lost the puck at the blue line. Paul Healey grabbed it and raced the other way, beating Rastislav Stana for his sixth goal of the year. Stana was playing his first game with the Pirates since November 1st. He had been on recall to the Washington Capitals but was swapped for Maxime Ouellet prior to the game. The Pirates turned the tide late in the second when Colin Forbes and Mike Souza combined to feed Andrej Podkonicky for his second goal of the season that tied the game at two. The Pirates had the edge in shots on goal in the third period but could not beat Osaer again. The only other goal came in overtime. The Pirates coughed the puck up at their own blue line and Larose fed Dominic Moore for a backhander that just fluttered in past Stana.

PIRATES GET FAMILIAR WITH DIVISION RIVALS

* Friday, December 19, 2003 vs. Springfield, 7:05 PM

* Sunday, December 21, 2003 at Springfield, 4:05 PM

The Pirates and the Falcons will meet for the third and fourth times in December in the bookends of the weekend. So far, the two teams have split the first three games of the ten-game season series right down the middle. The Pirates are 1-1-1-0 in head-to-head play including a record of 1-0-1-0 at home. All time, the Falcons lead the series 41-27-7 but the Pirates are 18-16-4 against the Falcons at home. They are just 9-25-3 all-time in Springfield. The Pirates have outshot the Falcons 103-83 in the series but have been outscored 7-5. The Falcons begin the week tied for fifth place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 9-12-4-1, good for 23 points. They are unbeaten in their last four games (2-0-2-0). Jeff Taffe leads the Falcons in scoring with ten goals and 16 points but he remains on recall to the Phoenix Coyotes. Former Pirate Peter Ferraro has been injured for the last eight games but remains in second place in team scoring with 15 points. Brother Chris had two assists on Saturday against the Pirates including his 400th AHL point and is now tied with Peter for second in scoring.

* Saturday, December 20, 2003 vs. Providence, 7:05 PM

The Pirates and the Providence Bruins meet for the third time this season, but it will be the first game played in Portland. The Bruins have won the first two meetings by identical 4-3 scores at the Dunkin' Donut Center. The Pirates still lead the all-time series 48-44-12 and they are 28-17-6 all-time against the Baby Bs at home. Providence begins the week tied for first place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 15-9-5-0, good for 35 points. That ties them with the Hartford Wolf Pack. The Bruins have won two straight and they're 6-3-1-0 in their last ten games. Former Pirate Matt Herr leads the Bs in scoring with eight goals and 16 assists for 24 points. His assist total is a team best. Another former Pirate, Pat Leahy, is second in scoring with a team-leading nine goals and 17 points but he is currently on recall to the Boston Bruins. Veteran goalie Tim Thomas has split the netminding duties with rookie Hannu Toivonen right down the middle. Each man has appeared in 15 games. Toivonen has a team-leading eight wins while Thomas owns the team's best goals-against average at 2.19. The Bruins host Hartford on Friday before venturing to Portland.

SHIP'S LOG:

* Pirates' forward Garret Stroshein earned his first career American Hockey League goal when he tallied against the Hartford Wolf Pack on December 14th. It came in his 42nd AHL contest.

* Goaltender Maxime Ouellet and center Trent Whitfield were both recalled by the Washington Capitals last week. Seven Pirates have now played some time with the Capitals.

* The Pirates snapped a seven-game winless streak with a 3-2 win in Lowell on Friday night. They also stopped a four-game road losing streak in the process.

TRANSACTIONS:

12/8/03 DELETE Andy Fermoyle (D), released from professional tryout by Washington (NHL)
12/10/03 DELETE Dwayne Zinger (D), recalled from loan by Washington (NHL)
12/12/03 DELETE Trent Whitfield (C), recalled from loan by Washington (NHL)
12/12/03 ADD Tim Branham (D), signed to a professional tryout by Washington (NHL)
12/12/03 ADD Mike Souza (LW), signed to a professional tryout by Washington (NHL)
12/12/03 ADD Ivan Ciernik (LW), reassigned on loan from Washington (NHL)
12/14/03 DELETE Maxime Ouellet (G), recalled from loan by Washington (NHL)
12/14/04 ADD Rastislav Stana (G), reassigned on loan from Washington (NHL)

IN THE COMMUNITY:

Head coach Tim Army will appear on WJAB's "Morning JAB" program at 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning. Forward Colin Forbes will appear on the "Morning JAB" on Wednesday at 8:00 a.m. after being selected as the WJAB Player of the Month for November. Pirates' broadcaster Dave Ahlers will join the "Morning JAB" program on Thursday at 8:00 a.m.

ON THE AIR:

Once again this season, all the action of the Portland Pirates' hockey may be heard on Flagship Station WJAB, AM-1440 and FM-95.5 in Portland and on network affiliates WKTQ AM-1450, South Paris; WTME AM-790 Rumford and 1220 AM, ESPN Radio in Sanford. All games may also be heard on the Pirates' web site, www.portlandpirates.com.

GAME HOTLINE:

Members of the media and fans can receive a recap of each Pirates' game, home or away, by calling the Pirates' office at (207) 828-4665 and dialing 3-2-2 when the automated attendant picks up. Recaps will include scoring, goaltenders, shots, powerplays, attendance and any records or notables. Game recaps and other Pirates' news is also available at www.portlandpirates.com. Official AHL box scores are available at the AHL's official web site, www.theahl.com.

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