Pirates Look Toward Post All-Star Stretch

Published on February 4, 2003 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Portland Pirates News Release


PORTLAND, ME - With the hosting of the 2003 Dodge AHL All-Star Classic now behind them, the Portland Pirates look ahead to the final 29 games of the 2002-03 season. The Pirates are coming off a tough week in which they won just one of four games. This week, they'll host the Hartford Wolf Pack and the Binghamton Senator at the Cumberland County Civic Center before embarking on a season-high eight-game road trip. The Pirates start the week in third place in the North Division with a record of 24-18-4-5. They are in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, three points behind Binghamton.

LAST WEEK:

Monday, January 27: Lowell 3, Pirates 2

For the second time in as many visits, the Lock Monsters left Portland with a win. Lowell built a 2-0 lead on a first period goal by Brad DeFauw and one early in the second from Jeff Daw. Trent Whitfield narrowed the advantage with a powerplay marker but just 37 seconds later, Lowell's Harold Druken scored on a breakaway to make it 3-1 Lowell after two periods. Mel Angelstad gave the Pirates life with his fifth goal of the year at 8:48 of the third but Lowell goalie Randy Petruk and his teammates held off the late rally for the win, their third against the Pirate this season.

Wednesday, January 29: Pirates 5, Worcester 3

The Pirates traded goals with the IceCats in the first period. Each time Worcester scored, the Pirates had an answer as J-F Fortin and Mike Farrell responded to tallies by Sergei Varlamov and Marc Rycroft. After a scoreless second period, the Pirates got their first lead of the night with another goal by Farrell just 2:16 into the third period. Farrell then set up Brad Parsons for the eventual game-winner. Peter Ferraro scored to make it 5-2 before the 'Cats got a late powerplay goal for the final margin.

Friday, January 31, 2003: Springfield 1, Pirates 0

This goaltenders duel featured great saves by Portland's Maxime Ouellet and Springfield's Jean-Marc Pelletier all night long. Ouellet was the busier of the two, facing 35 shots but Pelletier was also tested late, facing 13 third-period shots. The deciding goal came with the Falcons on a five-minute powerplay. Sheldon Keefe lifted his own rebound over Ouellet with just 2:34 remaining in the game.

Saturday, February 1, 2003: Manchester 5, Pirates 2

The Pirates finished the weekend with a quick turnaround, playing the game at 1:05 p.m. after driving from Springfield the night before. After falling into an early 1-0 hole, the Pirates got goals from Graham Mink and Chris Hajt on the powerplay to lead 2-1 after one. The Monarchs jumped ahead in the second period with goals from tough guy Ryan Flinn and rookie Dan Welch. The Monarchs scored two more goals in the third period, including one into an empty net. In the game, the Monarchs ended a scoreless streak of 127:22 against the Pirates.

TWO HOME GAMES ON TAP THIS WEEK

Saturday, February 8 vs. Hartford, 7:05 pm

The Pirates play their first of two games against the Hartford Wolf Pack. All-time, the Pirates are 7-13-4 against the top affiliate of the New York Rangers, including a mark of 3-7-2 at home. Last year, the Pirates went 0-1-1-0 against the Pack. Hartford begins the week in third place in the East Division, seventh in the Eastern Conference with a record of 22-20-6-3. The Pack is 4-5-0-1 in its last ten games, finishing that stretch with a 4-1 loss at Saint John last Saturday. Hartford is at Bridgeport on Friday before visiting Portland.

Sunday, February 9 vs. Binghamton, 4:05 pm

It's the second of two meetings between the two teams. The Senators earned a 4-1 win in Binghamton back on December 21st. Brad Smyth had two goals for the Sens while Mark Murphy had the only Pirates' tally. The Pirates are just 2-5-0-0 against East Division teams this year, 1-1-0-0, at home. The Senators begin the week in first place in the East with a record of 26-15-7-1, good also for fourth place in the Eastern Conference. The Senators host Springfield on Wednesday and visit Lowell on Saturday before facing the Pirates on Sunday.

SHIP'S LOG:

· The Pirates suffered just their second shutout loss last week, 1-0 to Springfield on January 31st. They dropped a 2-0 decision to Hamilton on November 30th.

· The Pirates earned their first win over the Worcester IceCats on January 29th after going 0-3-1-0 in the first half of the season series.

· After playing 10 home games in January, the Pirates will play ten road games in February. Nine of the Pirates' next twelve games are away from the Cumberland County Civic Center, including a stretch of eight straight.

· Graham Mink snapped a personal nine-game goal-scoring drought with his goal on February 1 at Manchester. He now leads the team with 18 goals.

TRANSACTIONS:

1/30/03 DELETE J-F Fortin (D), recalled from conditioning loan by Washington (NHL)
1/30/03 ADD Stephen Peat (RW), reassigned on loan from Washington (NHL)
1/31/03 DELETE Chris Corrinet (RW), released
1/31/03 DELETE Brad Parsons (C), released from PTO
1/31/03 ADD Brad Parsons (C), signed to a SPC

ON THE AIR:

All Pirates' games can be heard live on the Pirates Radio Network. Sports Radio, WJAB, am-1440 and fm-95.5 serve as the flagship stations. Games may also be heard on WKTQ am-1450, South Paris; WTME am-790 Rumford and 1220 AM, ESPN Radio in Sanford.



American Hockey League Stories from February 4, 2003


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