The Road is their Middle Name

November 17, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Portland Pirates News Release


PORTLAND, ME - The Portland Pirates embark on their longest road trip of the season this week, a five-game sojourn that will take them from Virginia's Tidewater region to the City of Brotherly Love and the hills of northeastern Pennsylvania before finishing in America's Ocean State.

During that time, the Pirates will have ample opportunities to solve their problems on the road; they are just 1-6-0-0 away from the Cumberland County Civic Center. Last week, the Pirates dropped a heartbreaker in Providence before rebounding for a shutout of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at home. They begin the week tied for sixth place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 7-9-0-0, good for 14 points.

LAST WEEK:

Friday, November 14: Providence 4, Pirates 3

The Providence Bruins scored two goals in 32 seconds late in the third period to beat the Pirates 4-3 on Friday night at the Dunkin' Donuts Center. The Pirates penalty killers shone in the early going, killing off three straight Bruins' powerplays. Those kills set the stage for the Pirates' beleaguered powerplay which came into the game ranked last in the AHL. Trent Whitfield hit Colin Forbes who was stationed at the Bruins' blueline. He redirected the puck to Graham Mink who broke down the slot and beat rookie goalie Hannu Toivonen for his third goal of the season. The Pirates were outshot by Providence 8-4 but held the 1-0 lead after one. The Pirates carried the play in the second period, but the Bruins tied the game during a powerplay. Maxime Ouellet went behind his net to play a dump in but it took a crazy carom into the slot and Andre Savage tossed it into an empty net for his second goal of the season. The Pirates retook the lead just three minutes later. Forbes brought the puck down the left wing and dropped the puck to Whitfield who wired shot under the crossbar for his team-leading sixth goal of the season. The Pirates battled for breathing room in the third period and finally got it when Ivan Ciernik scored his second of the season on a turnover at center ice. It came with less than half of the period remaining. The game turned from there. First, former Pirate Matt Herr scored on a powerplay at 13:25 to trim the Pirates' lead to 3-2. Then, Ivan Huml scored at 18:28 on a broken play to tie the game at three. While the public address announcer was still announcing his goal, Ted Donato broke through the defense and set up Pat Leahy for the go-ahead goal with just one minute remaining in the game. The Pirates had a late powerplay but could not get another shot on Toivonen who finished with 25 saves.

Saturday, November 15: Pirates 4, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 0

The Pirates used strong penalty killing to beat the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 4-0 on Saturday night at the Cumberland County Civic Center. The Penguins controlled the first half of the first period, but the Pirates weathered the storm and struck back in the late going of the period. Colin Forbes stole the puck from defenseman David Koci and got off a hard shot on goal. The puck trickled through goalie Jean-Sebastien Aubin and lay unattended in the crease until Graham Mink swooped in to knock home his fourth goal of the year. To begin the second period, the Penguins were awarded four consecutive powerplays which put the Pirates shorthanded for nearly nine and a half minutes. The Pirates killed off each penalty and used the resulting momentum to tally again. First, Andrej Podkonicky stole the puck from defenseman Darcy Robinson in the left wing corner and centered it to Ciernik who tapped home his third goal of the year. It came just 33 seconds after the Pirates had killed off the final penalty. Later, the Pirates had a five-on-three powerplay and Trent Whitfield was able to redirect a feed from Ciernik past Aubin for his team-leading seventh goal of the season. The Pirates played staunch defense in the third period, protecting their 3-0 lead. Forbes finished the scoring with a blast from the left wing that slipped under Aubin with just 19 seconds to go in the game. Maxime Ouellet picked up his third shutout of the season with 31 saves. He is tied with Cincinnati's Ilja Bryzgalov for the AHL lead in shutouts.

PIRATES NOMINATE WHITFIELD AS SHER-WOOD/AHL PLAYER OF THE WEEK

The Portland Pirates nominated center Trent Whitfield as the Sher-Wood/AHL Player of the Week for the week ending November 16, 2003. In just two games last week, Whitfield scored two goals and added two assist for four points. On Friday at Providence, Whitfield had a goal and an assist in a 4-3 loss to the Bruins. The next night, the Pirates' captain had another goal and an assist in a 4-0 win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Whitfield has now scored goals in four straight games, a team season high for consecutive games with both a goal and a point.

* Friday & Saturday, November 21, 22 at Norfolk Admirals, 7:30 PM

The Pirates will play their second of five consecutive games against the Eastern Conference's East Division when they begin their road trip in Norfolk. The Pirates swept a pair of games from the Admirals on October 30th and November 1st in Portland. The Pirates prevailed 2-1 in the first meeting and blanked the Admirals 3-0 in the encore. In the process, the Pirates snapped a seven-game (0-4-3) winless streak against the Admirals dating back to the 2000-2001 season. All time, the Pirates are 3-4-3 against the Chicago Blackhawks' top prospects including a record of 1-2-1 at Norfolk Scope. That win came in the first ever meeting, a 5-1 victory on October 27, 2000. The Admirals begin the week in sixth place in the East Division with a record of 5-11-2-2, good for 14 points. Norfolk is winless in its last five games and is 1-7-1-1 in its last ten. With 20 games played, the Admirals have been the busiest AHL team to date. Defenseman Marty Wilford leads the team in scoring with 14 points, including a team-leading 12 assists. Craig Anderson and Steve Passmore have split the duties in net with each man playing in ten games. Anderson is currently on recall to the Blackhawks.

* Sunday, November 23 at Philadelphia Phantoms, 6:05 PM

The Pirates make their only appearance of the season in Philadelphia in the finale of the three-in-three weekend on Sunday. The two teams play each other just twice this season. The rematch will come March 14th in Portland. Last year, the Pirates swept two games from the Phantoms, winning 1-0 in Portland in the first meeting on December 31st. The Pirates earned their first ever win in Philadelphia in the final game of the series, a 5-2 victory at the then-First Union Spectrum on February 19th. All-time, the Pirates are 4-5-1 against the Philadelphia Flyers' top prospects including a record of 1-4-0 in the City of Brotherly Love. The Phantoms begin the week in fifth place in the East Division with a record of 6-8-2-1, good for 15 points. Right wing Kirby Law leads the Phantoms in scoring with 5 goals and a team-high ten assists for 15 points. Patrick Sharp ranks second with 14 points including a team-best six goals. The Phantoms feature former Pirates Mark Murphy, Mike Peluso, Mike Siklenka and John Slaney. Neil Little and Antero Niitymaki split time in the nets. The Phantoms host the Lowell Lock Monsters on Friday and visit the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Saturday before hosting the Pirates.

SHIP'S LOG:

* Goaltender Maxime Ouellet remained tied for first in the AHL with his third shutout of the season. He made 31 saves in a 4-0 win over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Ouellet has played his best hockey at home, posting a 4-2-0 record with all three shutouts coming at the Cumberland County Civic Center. His goals-against average at home is 0.50 and his save percentage is 0.981.

* The Pirates have allowed just nine goals at home over their first nine games. They have allowed just two goals in their last four home contests.

* The Pirates have scored the first goal in six of their last seven games and are 4-2-0-0 in those games.

* Rookie right wing Owen Fussey earned his first recall to the Washington Capitals on November 15th. However, he did not play in the Capitals' 2-1 win at Carolina and was returned the following day.

TRANSACTIONS:

11/15/03 DELETE Owen Fussey (RW), recalled from loan by Washington (NHL)
11/16/03 ADD Owen Fussey (RW), returned on loan from Washington (NHL)

IN THE COMMUNITY:

Even though it's a short week, the Pirates will be in the community on Tuesday, November 18th. Defenseman Matt Libby will be appearing at a businesspersons' breakfast at the Double Tree Hotel in Portland at 7:30 a.m. Several members of the Pirates will be visiting patients at the Barbara Bush Children's Hospital at 2:00 p.m. that afternoon. Head coach Tim Army will also appear on WJAB's "Morning JAB" program at 8:00 a.m. Pirates' broadcaster Dave Ahlers will be a guest of the "Morning JAB" on Thursday, November 20th at 8:00 a.m.

ON THE AIR:

Once again this season, all the action of the Portland Pirates' hockey may be heard on Flagship Station WJAB, AM-1440 and FM-95.5 in Portland and on network affiliates WKTQ AM-1450, South Paris; WTME AM-790 Rumford and 1220 AM, ESPN Radio in Sanford. All games may also be heard on the Pirates' web site, www.portlandpirates.com.



American Hockey League Stories from November 17, 2003


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