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Monday, April 3, 2006
It's a triumphant return
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The Portland Pirates moved within one victory of clinching their their first AHL Atlantic Division title Sunday afternoon. Returning home after a two-week absence, the Pirates skated to a 4-1 victory against Albany before 6,037 fans at the Cumberland County Civic Center to register their second lopsided victory over the River Rats in less than 24 hours. The Pirates won 8-1 Saturday night at Albany. Sunday's victory was marred by an injury to defenseman Kenny Smith, who suffered a severe face laceration when he was cut by a skate blade after a collision just outside his blue line with less than 3 minutes left in the game, leaving a large pool of blood on the ice. "It's not one of those injuries that could be prevented by facial protection," Portland Coach Kevin Dineen said, "The skate gets caught up (in the helmet) and it does a lot of damage. It's like a knife." Dineen said Smith, a Harvard graduate on loan from the Edmonton Oilers, was cut on the left side of his face and ear. "We're very fortunate we have a world-class medical facility less than a mile away and top-notch medical doctors on our staff," Dineen said. Less than an hour after the game, Smith was in the Portland locker room, "He took a lot of stitches," Dineen said, "but it's not life-threatening or career-threaten- ing." Portland defenseman Jordan Smith suffered a career-ending injury Feb. 24 when he was struck in the left eye by a puck during a game against Manchester at the Civic Center. Sunday's victory enabled the Pirates to tie the franchise record for most points in a season with 104 and left them two points shy of clinching the first division title in franchise history. The Pirates opened the scoring 7:15 into the game when Dustin Penner scored his team-high 36th goal on a breakaway. After stealing the puck just outside his blue line, Penner outraced three defenders to the other end and swept the puck under the pads of goalie Frank Doyle with his right hand while fending off a defender with his left. Penner and Doyle were former teammates at the University of Maine. Albany's Nicklaus Bergflors scored his team-high 17th goal on a breakaway to tie the score with 2:51 left in the first. Aaron Rome snapped the tie 2:21 into the second period when he became the fourth Portland defenseman to score a goal in the weekend series against Albany. Rome stuck the rebound of Pierre Parenteau's shot from the right side inside the left post for his fifth goal. "(Dineen) tells (the defenseman) to try to get involved in the play as much as possible without taking too many chances," Rome said. "We're trying to get involved and it's been working." J.B. Bittner, in his 10th game with the Pirates since he was called up for the third time this season from the ECHL's Johnson Chiefs, scored two goals less than six minutes apart to complete the scoring in the second period. At 12:26, He put in a right-handed wrist shot from the middle of the left circle at 12:26. With 2 minutes left, he finished off a two-on-one break with Alex Kim by scoring his fifth goal on a shot from the left circle. NOTES: Tickets for the Calder Cup playoffs will go on sale at 10 a.m. today at the Civic Center box office and Ticketmaster outlets. The Pirates have clinched home-ice advantage for the first round. Their first two playoff games will be April 20 and 22. . . . Portland defenseman Maxim Kondratiev skated three shifts at left wing during the second period. He teamed with right wing Simon Ferguson and Kim. Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 725-8795 or at:
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