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Pirates Have One Week before Playoffs

March 31, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Portland Pirates News Release


PORTLAND, ME - The final week of the American Hockey League regular season begins with playoff spots up for grabs. The Portland Pirates are one team with its playoff position still undecided. The Pirates begin the week tied with the Manitoba Moose for eighth in the Eastern Conference after a loss in Lowell, a win over Worcester and an overtime loss to Saint John at home. The Pirates and Moose are just one point behind Worcester and Hartford who are tied for sixth. The Pirates finish the 2002-2003 regular season with games in Manchester on Wednesday and Providence on Friday before hosting Worcester on Saturday and Saint John on Sunday. The Pirates are 32-26-12-6, good for 82 points.

LAST WEEK:

Thursday, March 27: Lowell 4, Pirates 2

The Lock Monsters have relished their role as spoiler, at least as far as the Pirates are concerned. The Lock Monsters have the worst record in the AHL, but they turned back the Pirates 4-2 to keep the Pirates from moving into sixth place in the Eastern Conference. Lowell built a 2-0 lead in the first period before Glen Metropolit cut the lead in half with a late goal. The Lock Monsters regained the two-goal lead in the second on a tally by Daniel Goneau. With Maxime Ouellet pulled in favor of the extra attacker, Colin Forbes converted on a 6-on-4 advantage to pull the Pirates back within one early in the third. With Ouellet again pulled in the final minute of the third period, Chris Ferraro clanged one off the cross bar, and Lowell's Igor Knyasev steered the rebound to a wide-open Harold Druken who scored his second goal of the game into an empty net for the 4-2 win.

Saturday, March 29: Pirates 3, Worcester 0

Rastislav Stana led the Pirates to their league-record 9th home shutout with his 28-save effort. The Pirates snapped a season-high seven-game winless streak in the process. Stellar netminding from Worcester's Reinhard Divis kept the Pirates off the board until they finally broke through in the second with a powerplay tally from Chris Ferraro. The Pirates extended their lead 11 seconds into the third period as Mike Farrell beat Divis top shelf to give Portland the 2-0 lead. Matt Pettinger's backhand shot between Divis' pads put the Pirates up 3-0 later in the period. Despite three IceCats' powerplays in the third period and eight overall, Stana held Worcester at bay to preserve the shutout, his 2nd of the season.

Sunday, March 30: Saint John 2, Pirates 1 OT

The Flames continued their late season mastery over the Pirates, stretching their unbeaten streak to four (3-0-1-0) games. After a scoreless first period, Chuck Kobasew put the Flames up 1-0 early in the second. The Pirates rallied to tie the game late in the third on a goal by Peter Ferraro. In the overtime, the Pirates outshot the Flames 4-3, but the third shot was the charm for Saint John. Kobasew rammed in his second goal of the game to give the Flames the 2-1 win, their second overtime triumph over the Pirates this season. Stana made his second straight start for the first time this season, stopping 30 shots.

Wednesday, April 2 at Manchester, 7:05 PM

The Pirates will face the Monarchs for the last time during the 2002-03 regular season. Portland is 3-2-2-2 against the Eastern Conference's fourth place team and has a record of 1-1-2-0 in Manchester this season. The Pirates will be looking to rebound from a 5-3 loss to Manchester in the last meeting on March 5. That loss began a tepid stretch in which the Pirates went 1-5-4-0, including a season-high seven-game winless streak. The Monarchs are coming off a 7-6 overtime loss at Worcester on Sunday, a game they led 6-1 after the second period. All-time, the Monarchs have the advantage at 8-7-4.

Friday, April 4 at Providence, 7:05 PM

The Pirates have fared well against the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference and lead the season series with Providence 5-3-0-1, including a 2-1-0-1 mark at the Dunkin' Donuts Center. The Pirates downed the Baby B's 3-1 in their last trip to Providence on March 9. Providence will visit Hartford on April 2 before facing the Pirates. The Bruins have clinched the North Division title with 101 points and will begin the Calder Cup Playoffs in the second seed behind powerhouse Hamilton. The Pirates are 47-42-12 all-time against Providence, 19-25-6 all-time in Providence.

Saturday, April 5 vs. Worcester, 7:05 PM

The Pirates and IceCats continue to jockey for playoff position. The Pirates begin the week one point behind the IceCats in the Eastern Conference standings. The IceCats are tied with Hartford. The Pirates and 'Cats have battled hard against each other this season, splitting the season series 3-3-1-0. The Pirates are 1-1-1-0 against Worcester at home. Portland put together its best performance of the month in the last meeting, a 3-0 shutout on March 29. Worcester will host Lowell on Wednesday before traveling to Manchester on Friday.

All-time, the Pirates are 40-34-9 against Worcester. They are 19-16-6 all-time against the 'Cats at home.

Sunday, April 6 vs. Saint John, 5:05 PM

The Pirates will close out the 2002-03 regular season schedule with the final visit of the season from the Saint John Flames. The Flames are 3-0-1-0 against the Pirates in the last four meetings. The Pirates are 4-2-1-2 against the Flames this year. Each team has earned nine points. The Pirates are 2-1-0-1 against the Flames at home.

Saint John is still alive in its quest for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They trail the Springfield Falcons by seven points with four games to play. The Flames will have to win their remaining games and Springfield will have to lose in order for Saint John to avoid missing the playoffs for the second straight year. The Flames will host Springfield on Wednesday and Friday and then welcome Lowell on Saturday before visiting Portland. All-time, the Pirates are 33-29-13 against Saint John, 20-13-4 at home.

SHIP'S LOG:

· The Pirates set an American Hockey League record with their ninth home shutout of the season on Saturday, March 29th. Rastislav Stana made 28 saves to blank the Worcester IceCats 3-0. The old record of eight was set last year by Syracuse.

· The Pirates now have eleven shutouts this season, bettering their franchise record. Prior to this season, the old record was seven.

· Forward Glen Metropolit has scored points in four straight games (2-2-4). He also has points in six of his last seven games.

· The Pirates have not won back-to-back games at home since January 24 & 25.

· On Saturday, March 29th, the Pirates welcomed 6,974 fans to the Cumberland County Civic Center. It was their largest crowd of the season and their fifth standing room only crowd. The Pirates now have had five SRO audiences this season, their largest total since the 1996-97 season.

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