Monday, February 19, 2007
Staff photo by Derek Davis
Portland's Joe Motzko, left, fires a shot ahead of Worcester's Justin Kurtz on Sunday at the Cumberland County Civic Center. The Pirates returned home from a trip during which they played five games against four teams over 11 days.
Staff photo by Derek Davis
Portland's Simon Ferguson, left, and Worcester's Garrett Stafford fight for the puck Sunday. With a win, Portland tied Worcester for fourth place in the division standings.
COMING UP
WEDNESDAY: Pirates at Providence, 7:05 p.m.
FRIDAY: Pirates at Worcester, 7 p.m.
SATURDAY: Pirates at Albany, 7 p.m.
The Portland Pirates returned from nearly two weeks on the road to skate to a solid 4-1 win against the Worcester Sharks before 5,568 fans at the Cumberland County Civic Center Sunday afternoon.
It was the 500th victory in the 14-year history of the American Hockey League franchise.
It also was the fifth consecutive game the Pirates had earned a point in the standings.
"Everybody's on the same page right now, knowing what we've got to do," said Mark Hartigan, a veteran center who scored a goal and had an assist in his first game at the Civic Center.
Hartigan joined the team eight days ago, after coming to the Anaheimorganization as part of a trade last month for Zenon Konopka and Curtis Glencross.
"Everybody knows their roles on the team," Hartigan said. "Everybody is doing their job real well, and the goalies are playing well, too."
Sebastien Caron, who has allowed a total of six goals in his last four starts, made 26 saves to snap a two-game losing streak.
It was the first game at the Civic Center in 15 days for the Pirates, who went 2-1-0-2 during an 11-day trip against four Eastern Division teams.
"Sometimes when you win a few games, things sort of fall into place," said defenseman Eric Weinrich, an 18-year NHL veteran who came out retirement to join the Pirates as a player three weeks ago. "We played some really good teams, and the only way we're going to beat good teams is to play the way you're supposed to."
Sunday's win propelled Portland into a fourth-place tie with Worcester in the seven-team Atlantic Division.
"When we don't do what we're supposed to, we're pretty average," Weinrich said. "But when we do the right things, we're pretty good. The guys are really paying attention to detail, and it makes a difference."
After a scoreless first period, the Pirates took a 2-1 lead during the second period.
At 5:36, the Sharks opened the scoring when Mike Igguiden turned former Pirate Graham Mink's centering pass from behind the net into his team-high 19th goal of the season. Igguiden shot into an open net as Caron had to scramble back into position after going behind the cage to help clear the puck during a Worcester power play.
Less than two minutes later, Hartigan, a five-year AHL veteran, scored his second goal since joining the Pirates on a one-timer from the slot. He converted Matt Keith's pass from the left corner to tie the score.
"We're starting to get something going here, and that's nice," said Hartigan.
With 2:14 left, rookie Drew Miller tipped in Clay Wilson's lead pass during a rush for his eighth goal to snap the tie and put the Pirates ahead to stay.
Keith and Tim Brent scored power-play goals in the third period for Portland.
NOTES: Brent was called up by Anaheim following an injury to Todd Marchant of the Ducks. The Ducks assigned Portland defenseman Brett Skinner to the AHL's Omaha Knights. Last season, Skinner stayed with Manitoba after coming to Anaheim in a trade with Vancouver. "I had eight defensemen," said Portland Coach Kevin Dineen, "and he needed a chance to play."
Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 725-8795 or at:
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Reader comments
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The boys looked like they were on the same track, the team was able to move the puck around well, goaltending was solid, and we kept a finese-based Sharks team from finding their groove.
I do want to add two things though...
1, I hope that Sebastien just had a minor tweak on his blocker hand, and he didn't re-injured the finger that had him on the shelf while with Anaheim.
2, I was very disappointed that the Pirates organization didn't make more public the fact that last night the team was playing for its 500 franchise victory. On Wednesday and Saturday Gregg Glynn made it well know that the boys were trying for their 500th, and on Sunday I don't remember it being mentioned once... The "Go Red" promotion got more attention, and that was a one night only deal. 500 wins in a franchise is quite a milestone, and as I said I don't remember that getting mentioned once by anyone.
Hopefully the franchise will have a fitting celebration next Sunday to award the milestone...
GO PIRATES!report abuse
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