Monday, January 22, 2007
COMING UP
FRIDAY: Providence Bruins at Pirates, 7:05 p.m.
SATURDAY: Pirates at Lowell Devils, 7:05 p.m.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - At least they're on to a new week.
The Portland Pirates completed a brutal stretch of games on Sunday -- four in five days -- with nothing to show for it. Portland lost its fourth straight game, this time 3-2 to the Providence Bruins before 5,298 at the Dunkin' Donuts Center.
Portland managed to keep the Bruins in their sights, pulling to within a goal twice. But they couldn't close the gap completely.
"You can find every excuse if you want to find excuses," said assistant captain Zenon Konopka. "But the bottom line is that we didn't get any points, and we haven't gotten any for a while now. There's no one else to blame."
Portland fell behind 2-0 in a highly contentious opening period, then cut the margin to one on a second-period goal by Drew Miller.
Tempers flared just four seconds into the game, when Konopka got involved in a sweater pull with Bruins center Nate Thompson.
The bad blood spilled over less than five minutes later when a melee broke out involving all 10 skaters. It began when Ryan Carter slammed former Pirate Dwayne Zinger into the boards (and drew a five-minute major penalty). The two squared off, and during the confrontation Pirate defenseman Aaron Rome cross-checked Zinger, receiving a game misconduct.
Providence took the 2-0 lead on goals by Kris Versteeg at 2:33 and Nate DiCasmirro at 6:17.
By the end of the period, the teams -- who combined for a whopping 273 penalty minutes on Nov. 25 -- had hooked up for 95, 45 by Portland.
But in the second period, Miller made it 2-1 on a power play when he rebounded Matt Keith's shot, then stuffed the puck inside the right post past goalie Philippe Sauve.
"When you're going through adversity," said Pirates Coach Kevin Dineen, "you look for certain character traits to pop out. If there's one thing I won't critique about these guys, it's the effort. It's there. We had our moments."
The teams traded goals in the third, with Curtis Glencross, playing his first game since returning from Anaheim closing the scoring at 12:26.
Portland has a chance to regroup before another game against Providence on Friday.
"We'll find a way," said Konopka. "Sooner than later. That's the bottom line."
NOTES: The Providence defense, which has been depleted by callups and injuries, was bolstered by the signing of former Pirate Kenny Smith. Smith, who was with Portland for most of last season, had been with Charlotte of the ECHL. He became the 35th man to play for both the Pirates and Bruins. At one point late in the first period, six Bruins were stuffed into the penalty box.
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We just need to find something to rally behind. Past Pirates teams that had troublesome moments found a player or two to rally behind and surge forward. With Curtis back, Kent on the way, and the eventual return of Sebastein Caron hopefully we can regroup and make a renewed run.report abuse
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