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Pirates face busiest week of season

February 16, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Portland Pirates News Release


PORTLAND, ME – The Portland Pirates have not had much success on the road this season, but they turned that record upside down last week, winning two games and tying a third in a road trip that took them to Albany, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Hershey. By earning five of a possible six points, the Pirates took over sole possession of fifth place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 21-17-8-6, good for 56 points. They are 5-1-2-2 in their last ten games. The Pirates step further into the maelstrom this week with five games, their heaviest workload this season. Four of those games are against teams from the Atlantic Division. The Pirates will host the Lowell Lock Monsters on Monday, visit the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Wednesday, return home to host the Springfield Falcons on Friday and the Manchester Monarchs on Saturday before finishing the week at Lowell on Sunday.

LAST WEEK:

Wednesday, February 11, 2004: Pirates 2, Albany 2 OT

The Pirates battled back from a two-goal deficit to forge a 2-2 tie with the Albany River Rats at Pepsi Arena. The River Rats broke the scoreless deadlock at 7:38 of the second period. Craig Darby dumped the puck in wide of Yeats. Steve Kariya got to the puck first, swirled behind the net and banked a shot off a diving Yeats for his sixth goal of the year. That lead doubled less than five minutes later. Darby brought the puck down the left wing and dropped a pass through his legs to Greg Crozier who stepped around a defender and slipped a shot through Yeats' pads. The River Rats led 2-0 by the end of the period in spite of being outshot 14-4 in the frame. The Pirates started their comeback early in the third. Mike Pudlick kept the puck in at the right wing wall, turned and fired a shot past Ahonen to make it 2-1. Less than five minutes later, Jason Ulmer won the face-off in the left corner and fed Dwayne Zinger. He beat Ahonen with a slap shot from the point for his fifth goal of the year. The game stayed tied at two through overtime largely because of the work of Yeats who robbed Darby on a shot from the slot with less than two minutes remaining in the frame.

Friday, February 13, 2004: Pirates 1, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 0 OT

For the second straight game, the Pirates worked overtime and got a goal from Graham Mink in the late stages to beat the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 1-0 at Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza. The two teams played an entertaining first period. Mike Pudlick rang a shot of the crossbar during the Pirates' only powerplay of the period, and Mink hit the right post with a wrist shot. The Penguins best chance came late in the period when leading goal scorer Michel Ouellet got free for a shot from the hash marks that was turned aside by Scott Stirling who was making his first appearance with the team. The tough defense continued in the second period. Stirling continued his sterling play, stopping Matt Murley on a two-on-one break midway through the stanza. Stirling again shone in the third period. He stopped a ricochet off the skate of defenseman Chris Hajt with just 17.5 seconds remaining. That set the stage for overtime. The Penguins had the Pirates pinned into their zone, but Dwayne Zinger was finally able to lug the puck out to center ice. While his team changed behind him, he dumped the puck into the right wing corner. Mink, fresh of the bench, out muscled big defenseman David Koci and beat goalie Andy Chiodo from a tight angle.

Saturday, February 14, 2004: Pirates 4, Hershey 2

The Pirates finished off a three-game road trip in style, stopping the Hershey Bears 4-2 at the Giant Center. The Pirates came into the game without a powerplay goal in their last 21 powerplays but broke that streak during their third powerplay of the night. Graham Mink skated across the goal line and slipped the puck under goaltender Peter Budaj for his team-leading 16th goal of the year. The Pirates doubled that lead less than six minutes later. Boyd Gordon sent Colin Forbes away down the right wing wall. Forbes pulled up and blew a slap shot past Budaj from the top of the face-off circle to make it 2-0 Pirates. The Bears struck back in the final minute of the period. The AHL's second leading scorer, Eric Perrin, brought the puck across the blue line and fed Steve Brule who beat Yeats with a slap shot to get the Bears back to within one. The Pirates got the goal back midway through the second period. Mike Vigilante dumped the puck around the wall. Ivan Ciernik caught up to it and whipped a blind pass to the slot the Vigilante snapped home for his fourth goal of the season. The Bears drew back to within one early in the third period when David Masse knocked in a loose puck off his own scoring chance. But once again, the Pirates had the answer. Jason Ulmer deflected a pass from Roman Tvrdon into the slot where Mike Pudlick rammed it home for his ninth goal of the year. From there, the Bears got little more than a sniff at the Pirates' net. Matt Yeats earned his first win as a Pirate with 24 saves.

PIRATES LOOK TO CLIMB ATLANTIC DIVISION LADDER

- Monday, February 16, 2004 vs. Lowell, 7:05 PM; Sunday, February 22, 2004 at Lowell, 4:00 PM

The Pirates will bookend the week with games against the Lowell Lock Monsters. So far this season, the Pirates are 3-2-0-1 against the Lock Monsters including a mark of 1-1-0-0 at the Cumberland County Civic Center. They are 2-1-0-1 at Tsongas Arena. These are games seven and eight of the 12-game season series. All time, the Pirates trail the Lock Monsters 24-27-7. They are 12-15-1 all-time against the Lock Monsters at home and 12-12-6 all-time at Lowell. The Pirates won the last meeting 2-0 in Portland on January 30th. The Lock Monsters begin the week in sixth place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 22-22-4-3, good for 51 points. They have lost their last three games and are 4-5-1-0 in their last ten. Mike Zigomanis leads the team in scoring with 11 goals and 32 assists for 43 points. His assist total is also a team high. Pavel Brendl remains the team leader in goals with 17, but he is still on recall to the Carolina Hurricanes. Goaltender Patrick DesRochers has a team high 15 wins in 33 appearances this season.

- Wednesday, February 18, 2004 at Bridgeport, 7:05 PM

The Pirates wrap up their two-game season series with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Wednesday. The Sound Tigers earned the lead in the season series with a 3-2 overtime win over the Pirates on January 31st. It was the first time in the all-time series that the visiting team had won. The Sound Tigers lead the string 4-3-0 and they are a perfect 3-0-0 all-time against the Pirates at the Arena at Harbor Yard. The Sound Tigers begin the week in first place in the East Division with a record of 28-13-8-3, good for 67 points. They are 4-3-3-0 in their last ten games. Jeff Hamilton leads the Sound Tigers in scoring with 28 goals and 18 assists for 46 points. His goal total is not only a team high but is also second overall in the AHL. Eric Manlow is second in team scoring with 31 points, but he remains on recall to the New York Islanders. The Sound Tigers feature the AHL's best one-two combination in goal with Wade Dubielewicz and Dieter Kochan. They rank one and three respectively in goals-against average. Bridgeport hosts Worcester on Tuesday before welcoming the Pirates.

- Friday, February 20, 2004 vs. Springfield, 7:05 PM

The Pirates and Springfield Falcons get reacquainted after a nearly two-month lull in their season series. The Pirates lead the ten game season series 3-1-1-0 and have posted a mark of 2-0-1-0 against the Falcons in Portland. All time, the Falcons still have a healthy lead in head-to-head play, going 41-29-7. The Pirates are 19-16-4 all time against the Falcons in Portland. Springfield starts the week in seventh place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 17-28-5-2, good for 42 points. The birds have lost their last two games, and they are 1-5-3-1 in their last ten. Erik Westrum lead the Falcons in scoring with a team-high 14 goals and 15 assists for 29 points. Former Pirates Peter and Chris Ferraro rank two-three in scoring with 26 and 24 points respectively. AHL All-Star David LeNeveu and Jean-Marc Pelletier have split the time in the Falcons' goal. LeNeveu has a team best 10 wins in 25 appearances. The Falcons host Hartford on Wednesday before coming to Portland.

- Saturday, February 21, 2004 vs. Manchester, 7:05 PM

The Pirates play their last home game of the month against the Manchester Monarchs. The Pirates have gone 2-3-0-1 against the Monarchs so far this year including a record of 2-0-0-1 at home. New Hampshire's favorite adopted sons lead the all-time series with the Pirates 13-9-4. The Pirates are 6-6-1 against the Los Angeles Kings' top development team at home. The Pirates have their sights set on Manchester this week. The Monarchs are just one point ahead of the Pirates in the Atlantic Division standings with a record of 25-21-4-3, good for 57 points and fourth place. Manchester is 4-4-2-0 in its last ten games. PlanetUSA All-Star Pavel Rosa leads the Monarchs with 22 goals and 34 assists for 56 points. That places him third overall in the AHL. He is currently on recall to the Kings. Canadian AHL All-Star Steve Kelly is second in scoring with 13 goals and a team high 35 assists for 48 points. Adam Hauser has played a lion's share of the action in the Monarchs' goal, posting a record of 11-11-4 and a 2.21 goals-against average. The Monarchs visit Lowell on Wednesday and Providence on Friday before visiting the Pirates.

SHIP'S LOG:

· With the win in Hershey on Saturday, the Pirates won consecutive road games for the first time this season.

· The Pirates have killed off 15 straight penalties and 35 of the last 36 of their opponents' man advantages.

· The Pirates scored a powerplay goal in Hershey on Saturday. It was their first man-advantage goal in 23 chances, snapping a string that extended back to January 25th.

· In Saturday's win over Hershey, the Pirates scored four goals in a game for the first time since December 31st, a 4-0 win over Worcester.

· Goaltender Matt Yeats earned his first win as a Pirate with 25 saves against Hershey on Saturday.

· In addition to their five-game unbeaten streak, the Pirates have now earned points in eight straight games (5-0-1-2).

TRANSACTIONS:

2/9/04 DELETE Josef Boumedienne (D), recalled from loan by Washington (NHL)

2/10/04 DELETE Maxime Ouellet (G), recalled from loan by Washington (NHL)

2/10/04 ADD Scott Stirling (G), received on loan from Bridgeport (AHL)

IN THE COMMUNITY:

On Tuesday, head coach Tim Army will appear on WJAB's "Morning JAB" program at 8:00 a.m. On Friday, Pirates' broadcaster Dave Ahlers is a guest of WJAB's "Morning JAB" program at 8:00 a.m. For a complete list of past and upcoming community appearances, check out the "In The Community" section of the Pirates' web site, portlandpirates.com.

ON THE AIR:

Once again this season, all the action of 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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