Pirates Steal Point from Whale

March 18, 2012 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Portland Pirates News Release


Hartford, Connecticut - Ethan Werek scored twice in the third period to lead a third period comeback from the Portland Pirates, but it was not to be as Jonathan Audy-Marchessault scored his second goal of the game to tie it with just 2:05 left in the third period as the Connecticut Whale (33-21-5-5, 76 points, 3rd Eastern Conference) downed the Portland Pirates 5-4 in a shootout in front of 3,457 fans at the XL Center. Connecticut's Tommy Grant tallied the Whale's other two goals, and assisted on both of Audy-Marchessault's goals to give him a four-point game. Ryan Duncan racked up two more assists for Portland.

The Pirates scored the only goal of the game's opening period as Andy Miele took a Mathieu Beaudoin feed and roofed a forehand shot from the side of the net over Connecticut goalie Cam Talbot. The goal, Miele's 13th on the season, was his second in as many days and extended his point streak to three games.

But, the Whale scored twice in the first 1:56 of the second period to take their first lead of the night. Grant fired the opening salvo when he slammed home a Kelsey Tessier pass 58 seconds into the period to tie the score in a four-on-four situation.

Connecticut took the lead just 58 seconds later when Audy-Marchessault came out of the penalty box and accepted a drop pass from Grant, beating Portland netminder Peter Mannino upstairs for his 21st goal of the season.

Grant made it 3-1 when he rifled a shot high to the glove side on Mannino after Tessier won an offensive zone faceoff at 14:59 of the second. The goal was Grant's tenth of the season.

Werek began Portland's third period rally after he tapped in the rebound of a Alexandre Bolduc shot at 5:13. Ryan Duncan also picked up an assist on Werek's sixth goal of the season.

The Pirates tied the game when Ashton Rome ripped a wrist shot from the top of the right circle past Talbot. Tyler Eckford and Nick Ross picked up assists on the power play goal at 7:40.

Werek gave Portland the lead when he scored on the rebound of a Duncan shot with just 5:54 to go in regulation. It was Werek's seventh goal of the season and his third in the last two games.

But, Audy-Marchessault tied the game when he knocked the rebound of a Grant shot that rang off the post by Mannino. Brendan Bell also had an assist on Audy-Marchessault's goal, his 22nd on the season.

After a scoreless overtime, Bell and Casey Wellman scored for Connecticut on their first two shootout attempts and Talbot stopped all four of Portland's shooters to give the Whale the full two points. Portland picks up one point for the shootout defeat.

Talbot picked up the win in goal after stopping 36 shots on the game to improve to 12-12-0 on the season. Mannino made 37 saves in the defeat, which drops his record to 6-7-1. Portland was 1-for-3 on the power play, while the Whale went 0-for-4.

The Fairway Mortgage Three Stars of the Game were: 1. Grant CT; 2. Audy-Marchessault CT; 3. Werek POR.

The Portland Pirates will meet the Connecticut Whale again in a rematch at the XL Center as the Pirates continue on a four-game road trip Friday, March 23 at 7:00 p.m. Join the Voice of the Portland Pirates Jeff Mannix for all of the play-by-play action, beginning with the Pirates Pregame Show at 6:45 p.m.

Portland Pirates 20th Anniversary Season Tickets are now on sale! You can secure your seats for as low as $50! Season tickets include plenty of great perks! To find out more, call the Pirates Tickets Office at 828-4665, EXT 350 today!



American Hockey League Stories from March 18, 2012


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