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Pirates Look to Gain Ground in VIP Cup Matchup with Manchester

April 5, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Portland Pirates News Release


Manchester, NH - The Portland Pirates begin a 2 game road trip this afternoon when they face the Manchester Monarchs in Manchester. Puck drop is 3 PM for the 10th game of the VIP Cup Series, presented by VIP Tires & Service. Manchester leads the season series 6-3. For more information, visit www.vip-cup.com.

The Pirates were defeated by the Hershey Bears 3-2 on Wednesday at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston. Tobias Rieder and Andy Miele each scored their 27th goal of the year, but the Pirates couldn't hold the lead. Louis Domingue made 22 saves for the Pirates in his second straight start.

The Monarchs were shut out by the Hartford Wolf Pack last night, 2-0. David LeNeveu stopped all 37 shots he faced for Hartford, while J.F. Berube made 14 saves for Manchester. Despite the loss, the Monarchs remain the top team in the Eastern Conference with a 43-19-2-6 record.

The Pirates last met the Monarchs on March 29, winning by a 7-5 score. Chris Rawlings made his first AHL start and got the victory, while both Greg Carey and Joel Hanley registered assists, their first professional points. Tim Kennedy and Jordan Martinook both scored twice, with Andy Miele, Randy Jones, and Brandon Yip each adding tallies.

This afternoon's game features two of the top college players in the country from this season in the Pirates' Greg Carey and Manchester's Nic Dowd. Both Carey and Dowd have been named to the Hobey Hat Trick as finalists for the Hobey Baker Award, the nation's top collegiate honor for hockey.

KeyBank Key to the Game

Pass the Puck: The Pirates have had a decent passing game all season, but need to make sure their passing is perfect against a fast Manchester team. The Pirates need to target their faster forwards with direct passes in order to get breakaway opportunities.

This afternoon'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 2:40 with Jeff Mannix.

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

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.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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