Pirates Rally, Come up Short in Game 5 Loss

May 2, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Portland Pirates News Release


Manchester, NH - The Portland Pirates (2-3) rallied in the second period with three goals but ultimately came up short, losing 5-3 to the Manchester Monarchs (3-2) in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals on Saturday night. The Pirates, who won games 3 and 4 at home to force Game 5, ended their season and their hopes at making the second round of the Calder Cup Playoffs.

Just like the first two games of the series, the Monarchs scored early on in the first period. Michael Mersch scored just 1:42 in, assisted by Sean Backman and Jeff Schultz. Ryan Horvat added to the Monarchs lead at 16:34, assisted by Andrew Crescenzi and Josh Gratton.

The second period opened up with another early goal from the Monarchs. Jordan Weal was able to convert on a power play while the Pirates' Henrik Samuelsson was serving a five-minute major for charging. Weal's goal came at 3:34 and was assisted by Mersch and Brian O'Neill.

The second period had a rough start for the Pirates, who didn't have a shot on goal for the first half of the period. Their luck turned in the second half of the frame, though, when Samuelsson scored at 12:33 on a power play goal, assisted by Brandon Gormley and Brendan Shinnimin. Tyler Gaudet nabbed a second power play goal at 16:13, assisted by Jordan Szwarz and Gormley. The real magic happened when Shinnimin scored the game-tying goal with just 0.5 seconds remaining in the second period. Shinnimin was fresh out of the penalty box after serving a high-sticking minor and scored the goal ten seconds after coming out of the box. Shinnimin was assisted by Gaudet and Dylan Reese.

Despite the second period rally, the Pirates were unable to fend off attacks by the Monarchs and a pair of goals in the first two minutes of the third sealed the victory for Manchester. Mersch scored his second of the night at 1:16, assisted by Backman and Nick Shore. Adrian Kempe made it 5-3 twenty seconds later at 1:36, assisted by Zach O'Brien and Nic Dowd.

Louis Domingue (2-2) manned the net for Portland, blocking 33 of 38 shots from the Monarchs. Jean-Francois Berube (3-2) recorded the win and saved 24 of 27 Pirates shots.

Game 5 marked the last time that Portland and Manchester would play each other, as the Monarchs will be moving to Ontario, California, for the 2015-2016 season. The Pirates would like to thank their closest division rival not only for a thrilling series and season, but for the last decade-plus of a great rivalry. We will miss you. The Pirates would also like to thank our NHL affiliate, the Arizona Coyotes, for four great years. Working with the Coyotes organization has been a pleasure, and we wish them luck as they move on to Springfield next season. Finally, the Pirates would like to thank all of the fans that supported us over the 2014-2015 season. We could not have made it to the playoffs without your support. Thank you!



American Hockey League Stories from May 2, 2015


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