Monday, March 12, 2007
Staff photo by Derek Davis
Garett Bembridge of the Pirates, center, gets past Matt Ellison of the Phantoms but can't get the puck past goalie Scott Munroe, who blocks the attempt and tries to cover the rebound. Philadelphia won in a shootout.
Staff photo by Derek Davis
Joe Motzko, right, celebrates with his teammates after scoring a first-period goal Sunday against the Philadelphia Phantoms at the Cumberland County Civic Center. The Phantoms tied the game in the third period, then won 2-1 in a shootout.
For the second time in less than 24 hours, the Portland Pirates dropped a heartbreaker to an AHL team from Pennsylvania.
On Sunday, the Philadelphia Phantoms pulled out a 2-1 win in a shootout before 5,626 fans at the Cumberland County Civic Center.
Defending Calder Cup champion Hershey eked out a 3-2 win Saturday night against the Pirates, who are fighting to stay in the race for the fourth and final playoff berth in the Atlantic Division.
Sunday's loss was especially disappointing since Portland, which held a 42-19 advantage in shots, outplayed the Phantoms for much of the game.
"We played a very well-rounded game, and not to come out with the result we want is very discouraging," Portland Coach Kevin Dineen said.
"I'm happy with the jump we had and the majority of our play, but we need to find some finish."
Philadelphia goalie Scott Munroe was the difference. He stopped 38 of 39 shots during 60 minutes of regulation, made three saves in the 5-minute overtime and stopped all four Portland shooters in the shootout.
The Pirates trail Lowell by five points with 17 games left in the regular season. The Devils moved into sole possession of fourth place in the division Sunday with a 5-2 win against Providence.
Portland trails fifth-place Worcester by three points.
The Pirates still have five games against Lowell. They also have played two fewer games than either Lowell or Worcester.
"We've got to start putting teams away," Portland forward Geoff Peters said. "Either we're letting them hang around or we have to battle back. We've got to lay the hammer down."
Portland opened the scoring 4 minutes into the game when Joe Motzko scored an unassisted goal after intercepting a clearing pass inside the offensive zone.
Knocked to the ice as he approached the goal, Motzko managed to slide puck under Munroe's pads while rolling into the crease.
Moments later, another goal by Motzko was waved off because of a slashing penalty to Eric Meloche.
The Phantoms, who are eight points back in the race for the final playoff berth in the East Division, needed nearly 50 minutes to catch up with the Pirates.
With 6:45 left in the third period, Boyd Kane finished off a two-on-two with Denis Topeko by redirecting the puck inside the left post.
During the shootout, Mark Cullen, Matt Ellison and Matt Davis put in goals for the Phantoms, a 2-1 winner against the Pirates in a shootout Feb. 16 at The Spectrum.
Portland is 4-9 in shootouts, the nine losses an AHL high.
"We've been really unfortunate in our shootouts," Peters said.
"It's something we work on a lot in practice, and it's frustrating."
NOTES: Tickets are available for Tuesday night's "Evening With the Pirates" at Holiday Inn By The Bay. For more information, visit portlandpirates.com.
The Pirates called up veteran defenseman Sean Blanchard from the Augusta Lynx of the ECHL. Blanchard spent the past five seasons playing in Europe.
Motzko has nine goals and eight assists in 19 games since joining the Pirates.
Matt Keith and Trevor Gillies were healthy scratches for Portland.
Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 725-8795 or at:
Questions/Comments
North of the Border
Recently Seen
Pirates PlayOff Hockey Game - May 6
Propel event
Reiche Library Closure Protest
'What Happens in Vegas'
The Baker's Bench
The Big Lebowski
Where's the beach?
Casting Call
Reader comments
There are not yet any comments. Post your comment and it will appear here.
You must be a registered user of MaineToday.com to post a comment. Register or log in.