Saturday, February 3, 2007
TODAY'S GAME
WHO: Bridgeport Sound Tigers at Pirates
WHEN: 7:05 p.m.
TELEVISION: Time Warner cable Channel 22
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The Portland Pirates' frustration on the road continued on Friday night against one of the hottest teams in the American Hockey League.
Winning for the 10th time in 11 games, the Providence Bruins skated to a 6-1 victory to hand the Pirates a franchise-record 10th consecutive loss on the road before a crowd of 8,740 at the Dunkin' Donuts Center.
It was the seventh straight loss for Portland, which has dropped from first to fifth place in the Atlantic Division during its monthlong swoon.
"We're a fragile bunch right now, and we're not responding to adversity very well," Portland Coach Kevin Dineen said.
For much of the game, the Pirates, who have lost four games to the Bruins in the past two weeks, looked out of sync.
"Hockey is a game where you simplify as much as possible, but there is a system in place," Dineen said. "When you're out of your groove, nobody is where you expect them to be and you don't react to pressure well."
The Bruins held a 3-1 lead at the end of the first period.
At 10:03, left wing T.J. Trevelyan opened the scoring by putting in a hard shot from the top of the right circle for his 15th goal after intercepting a clearing pass out of the left corner.
Less than a minute later, Kris Versteeg deflected defenseman Matt Lashoff's blast from the right point for his 22nd goal.
At 13:41, with the Pirates a second away from killing off a two-man disadvantage, Lashoff scored his seventh goal on a shot from the slot.
"Providence is opportunistic and they prey on mistakes," said Dineen. "Our timing was not great to play against a team that is playing so well."
In the first period, the closest Portland came to scoring was Bjorn Melin's wrist shot off the crossbar with four minutes left.
Less than three minutes into the second, defenseman Sean Curry made it 4-0 when he capped a rush on the right side.
At 7:53, defenseman Brett Skinner scored Portland's goal at the end of a rush down the right side. He slid the puck under goalie Philippe Sauve.
Joe Motzko and Shane Endicott, both obtained in trades last week, picked up assists for their first points as Pirates.
Petr Kalus and Jeff Hoggan, who have spent most of the season with the Boston Bruins, each put in goals during the first nine minutes of the third period.
NOTES: Earlier Friday, Portland assigned left wing Trevor Gillies and right wing Simon Ferguson, to the ECHL's Augusta Lynx.
Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 725-8795 or at:
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