Pirates Shut out IceCaps in Portland Opener, 3-0

Published on November 2, 2012 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Portland Pirates News Release


Portland, Maine- The Pirates opened the season in Portland with a 3-0 win over the St. John's Ice Caps before a sellout crowd at the Cumberland County Civic Center Friday night. Goaltender Chad Johnson stopped all 31 shots he saw as Portland shutout the Ice Caps for the second consecutive meeting between the two teams, and second shutout of the season for Johnson.

The Pirates would capitalize on a trio of IceCaps penalties for their first strike of the night. Chris Brown took advantage of the third powerplay of the period, with defenseman Michael Stone setting up the shot. Brown slipped the puck under the left pad of IceCaps' goaltender Eddie Pasquale for the goal, his second of the season and of his Pirates career

St. John's would be on the advantage only 3:56 into the second period, with Alex Bolduc and Stone committing penalties for Portland. Chad Johnson would come up big, robbing Ice Caps forward Aaron Gagnon on an initial chance and then a rebound in front of the net. The Pirates would use the momentum of the penalty kill to add to their lead, with Brett Hextall taking a feed from Chris Summers and snapping a shot from the right wing past Pasquale. The goal, Hextall's 3rd of the season, would come at the 12:26 mark, and Portland hit the second intermission with a 2-0 lead.

Brendan Shinnimin put an exclamation point on his first career multi-point game with a goal at 4:13 of the third. Shinnimin tipped home a Michael Stone wrist shot for his second goal of the year, and the Pirates would send the fans home happy with a 3-0 victory.

Saint John's drops to 4-5-0 on the season while the Pirates improved to 4-3-1. Pasquale falls to 2-5-0 for the IceCaps, stopping 22 of the 25 shots he faced, while Johnson's second shutout of the season improved his record to 3-3-1.

The Pirates return to action next weekend with a 3 game road trip to Worcester, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and Hershey. Portland will play at the DCU Center in Worcester on Friday, with the puck dropping at 7:30 pm. The game can be heard on 95.5 and 95.9 WPEI in the Portland area, 92.7FM and 100.7 FM WOXO FM in the Lewiston/Auburn area, and online on the WLOB radio player and AHL Live.

The Pirates will return to the Androscoggin Bank Colisée on Wednesday, November 14th, when they face the Worcester Sharks! Tickets are still available at www.thecolisee.com or by calling 783-2009 x 208.

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