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Pirates Storm Back to Beat IceCaps 6-4

March 27, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Portland Pirates News Release


Portland, Me. - The Portland Pirates (37-23-5-1) beat the St. John's IceCaps (30-30-7-2) 6-4 in a back- and-forth game that saw rallies by both teams. The IceCaps put up three goals in the last two minutes of the first period but Portland was able to bounce back and score three of their own in the second.

Lucas Lessio started things off early with a power play goal at 1:54 assisted by Patrick McNeill and Henrik Samuelsson. The Pirates lead wouldn't carry through to the end of the period, however. St. John's fired back with a flurry of goals in the final minutes of the frame. Chase Balisy netted the game tying goal at 18:06, assisted by Austen Brassard and Kris Fredheim. They took the lead at 18:16 thanks to a goal from Jason Jaffray, assisted by Kyle MacKinnon and Will O'Niell. The IceCaps got their third of the period at 19:37 when Julien Broullette scored, assisted by MacKinnon and Jaffray.

The Pirates held their ground and were able to fight back in the second. Alex Bolduc cut into the IceCaps lead with a power play goal at 2:51, assisted by Philip Samuelsson and McNeill. It was Bolduc's 300 th career point. Francis Wathier evened the score at 3 goals apiece at 5:18, assisted by Darian Dziurzynski and Dylan Reese. That goal was Wathier's 100 th career goal. The third milestone of the night came when Brendan Shinnimin scored to take the lead at 9:44, his 100 th career point, assisted by Justin Hodgman and Phil Lane.

Deep into the third period, St. John's tied the game at 14:14 on a goal from Jaffray, assisted by MacKinnon. Just 49 seconds later, Bolduc reclaimed the lead for the Pirates at 15:03, assisted by Henrik Samuelsson and McNeill. This was the second-straight game in which McNeill has had three assists. Lane wrapped things up for the Pirates with an empty net goal at 19:22.

Connor Hellebuyck (28-20-5) got the start in net for the IceCaps, blocking 9 out of 13 shots before being taken out of the game after Shinnimin's goal. Peter Budaj (0-9-4) came in on goal at 9:44 in the second frame and was able to block 13 of 14 Pirates shots. Mike McKenna (26-14-4) stopped 24 of 28 shots from the IceCaps on the way to his career-high 26 th win of the season. He tied for third place on the Portland Pirates all- time wins list.

The Pirates are back in action at the Cross Insurance Arena for a 7 p.m. game tomorrow night. It will be an exciting Atlantic Divison matchup with both teams vying for a position in the Calder Cup Playoffs. For tickets and more information call 207- PIRATES.

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