Pirates Face Providence on Purple Night

March 28, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Portland Pirates News Release


Lewiston, ME - The Portland Pirates will host the Providence Bruins for the final time this regular season at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston tonight. Puck drops at 7 for the 2nd annual Purple Night presented by Central Maine Medical Center. The Pirates and Bruins have played 6 times this season, with Portland holding a 4-1-0-1 advantage in the season series.

As part of the second annual Purple Night, The Pirates will donate all proceeds from their 50/50 raffle tonight to the Central Maine Comprehensive Cancer Center to support the center's work in providing care for the region's cancer patients. In addition, a Pirates practice jersey signed by movie and television star Patrick Dempsey will be raffled off, with all proceeds benefitting the Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing's Maine Fund for Cancer Patients, which helps fund the immediate needs of patients experiencing hardships while undergoing cancer treatment. The Pirates' special purple jerseys will be auctioned off on eBay at a later date, with 75% of the proceeds going to Central Maine Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Pirates forward Brendan Shinnimin has pledged to donate $10 for every Pirates shot and $25 for every Pirates goal to Central Maine Comprehensive Center Cancer, with Pirates ownership, Shamrock Sports and Entertainment, and On Target Utility Services to make a matching donation. The Pirates encourage their corporate partners and local businesses to match Shinnimin's donation, with a total to be announced after Friday's game. For more information on Shinnimin's donation, visit portlandpirates.com.

The Pirates dropped a 5-3 decision to the Worcester Sharks on Wednesday. Lucas Lessio, Andy Miele, and James Melindy were the goal scorers for Portland, while Louis Domingue and Chris Rawlings combined for 35 saves. Lessio's goal extended his scoring streak to 4 games, while Miele's tally gave the Pirates a 4 game streak with a power play goal.

Providence has won their last two games, each by a 2-1 score, with their last game coming Wednesday against the Wilkes-Bare/Scranton Penguins. Craig Cunningham and Ryan Spooner scored for the Bruins, while Malcolm Subban made 31 saves for the win. Providence sits in 7th place in the Eastern Conference with 79 points, with a magic number of 16 to clinch a Calder Cup Playoff spot.

This is the first meeting between the Bruins and Pirates since December 21st, 2013 at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee. Mark Visentin made 45 saves in the victory while James Melindy and Andy Miele scored in regulation and Brandon Yip score the game winner in the shootout to lead Portland to a 3-2 victory. Brandon McMillan and Daine Todd also scored in the shootout, while Visentin made 3 saves on 5 shootout attempts.

KeyBank Key to the Game

Fire Away: The Pirates have had success outshooting their opponents this season, but today's game makes getting shots on goal ever more important. Not only will a high shot total give the Pirates an advantage with scoring, but it will increase the donation amount from Brendan Shinnimin and his matching donors. Look for the Pirates offense to press hard to clear shooting lanes in order to get the maximum number of shots on goal.

Tonight's game can be heard on the Pirates flagship stations WPEI 95.5/95.9 FM as well as WEZR FM 105.5/AM 1240 in the Lewiston/Auburn area and WTME AM 780/1450 in Oxford County. The game can also be heard online at portlandpirates.com by clicking "Listen Live " and can be seen live on AHL Live at ahllive.com. The pregame show starts at 6:40 with Jeff Mannix.

Tickets for tonight's game are available by calling the Androscoggin Bank Colisee box office at (207) 783-2009 ext. 525 or online at thecolisee.com.

Follow all the action on the Pirates official Facebook page and Twitter account ( @PortlandPirates ) with the special hashtag #PiratesGoPurple

The Pirates have announced eight guaranteed dates for the 2014-15 season as the Pirates return to the Cumberland County Civic Center! Group tickets are available for all eight of the announced dates and flex and season tickets for the 2014-15 season are now on sale! For more information on the guaranteed dates, click here and call 207-828-4665 for ticket plans and information.



American Hockey League Stories from March 28, 2014


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