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Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Pirates edged in OT, 5-4
Copyright © 2006 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. | ||||||
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Also on this page: AHL PLAYOFFS - GAME 5 | |||||
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Nathan Robinson scored his second goal of the game 3:51 into overtime and the Providence Bruins avoided elimination from the Calder Cup playoffs with a 5-4 win against the Portland Pirates before 2,873 fans at the Dunkin' Donuts Center on Tuesday night. Robinson scored the winner on a rebound after Pirates goalie Jani Hurme stopped a shot by Sean Curry. Robinson had a five-point game - two goals, three assists. Game 5 in the best-of-seven Atlantic Division semifinal series is Thursday night at the Cumberland County Civic Center, with Portland holding a 3-1 lead. "We didn't play well enough defensively," Portland center Zenon Konopka said. "We're a pretty good defensive hockey club, and when you give up five goals it's tough to win games." The Pirates came from behind to pull out victories in the previous two games, but they never took the lead in Game 4. "The way we look at it, we could be up 3-1 instead of being down 1-3," Providence Coach Scott Gordon said. "I think we are a confident group. It's one win, and we've got three more to go." But after scoring eight power-play goals in the first three games, the Pirates went 0 for 11 on the power play in Game 4. "We had our chances, we just couldn't put the puck in the net tonight," Konopka said. "No excuses. We (have) to play better to win." The Pirates played much of the game without defenseman Maxim Kondratiev, who left early in the second period following a hard hit by Yan Stastny. "He'll be evaluated the next couple of days, and we'll see where we're at," Portland Coach Kevin Dineen said. "He got hit pretty good." Kondratiev, who had four goals and four assists in the first three games to lead the Pirates in scoring, had his right arm in a sling after the game. For the third consecutive game, Providence held a one-goal lead at the end of the first period. Portland's Geoff Peters opened the scoring 2:30 into the game, set up by a cross-ice pass from J.B. Bittner. Peters broke in on the left side and slid a backhander inside the right post for his first goal of the playoffs. At 9:34, Providence's Jonathan Sigalet tipped in defenseman Ryan Gaucher's low shot from the point on the Bruins' first power play of the game. The Bruins then took the lead with 1:48 left in the period on Robinson's fourth playoff goal, as he finished a rush by putting in a shot from the middle of the left circle. Konopka tied it at 3:16 of the second period, converting a centering pass from Dustin Penner, who won a battle for the puck with Gaucher behind the net. But Providence regained the lead at 11:45 when Pascal Pelletier whirled and put in a one-timer from the slot for his first playoff goal. The Pirates again pulled into a tie 2:12 into the third period on the second playoff goal by Penner, who tipped in defenseman Kenny Smith's shot from the right point. At 13:13, Gaucher scored a power-play goal from the left point to make it 4-3. Simon Ferguson forced overtime, however, when he jammed a rebound into the right side of the net for his second playoff goal with 2:47 left in regulation. Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 725-8795 or at:
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