Pirates Head North to Face IceCaps

Published on April 9, 2013 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Portland Pirates News Release


Portland, ME - The Portland Pirates will start their two game road trip to St. John's tonight as they face the IceCaps at the Mile One Centre. Puck drop is set for 6 PM. This is the 7th time the Pirates will meet the IceCaps, and the first of 2 games at the MileOne Centre this week. The Pirates have the season series advantage, leading 4-2. The Pirates currently sit in 6th in the Eastern Conference with 81 points, while the IceCaps are in 14th place with 64 points.

The Pirates are coming off a 4-2 loss at home against Eastern Conference rivals Springfield Falcons, allowing Springfield to clinch the Northeast Division title. Both of the Pirates goals came from forward Andy Miele, who now has 18 on the season. Rookie goaltender Mike Lee made 29 saves on 33 shots, while Falcon goaltender Curtis McElhinney only saw 21 shots, stopping 19. Nick Johnson also tallied an assist in the contest, giving him 7 points in the last 5 games.

The St. John's IceCaps were defeated by the Toronto Marlies in their last game, dropping a 4-2 decision. The IceCaps' leading scorer Eric O'Dell tallied both goals for St. John's, but a 2 goal second saw the Marlies pull ahead to stay. 4 different players had assists for the IceCaps, while IceCaps goaltender Eddie Pasquale saw 33 shots, making 30 saves on the day.

The IceCaps got the better of the Pirates in their last matchup, defeating Portland at home by a 4-1 score on March 23rd. Eric O'Dell netted a goal and tallied an assist in the game, while 3 other IceCaps tallied goals. Portland forward Nick Johnson scored the lone goal for the Pirates, coming just 1:29 into the first period. IceCaps goaltender Mark Dekanich was solid in net, stopping 20 of the 21 shots he faced.

The Pirates need 7 points to clinch a spot in the 2013 Calder Cup Playoffs, trailing the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins by 3 points for the 5th spot in the east, and leading the Connecticut Whale by the same margin for the 6th spot.

Tonight's game can be heard on 96.3 WJAB and online on the WLOB radio player and AHL Live. The pregame show starts at 5:40 with Jeff Mannix.

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