No goals hamper Pirates' goal

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By DOUG MANNERS, Special to Maine Sunday Telegram

Sunday, March 25, 2007

TODAY'S GAME

WHO: Portland Pirates at Bridgeport Sound Tigers

WHEN: 1 p.m.

WHERE: Arena at Harbor Yard

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - Portland forward Drew Miller simply stood hunched in frustration. His teammates shared the sentiment.

With the Pirates trailing by two goals early in the second period, Miller took a pass from behind the net and came streaking down the slot.

Miller got a shot off, but the puck went right into the glove of Bridgeport goalie Wade Dubielewicz.

It was a feeling the Pirates felt throughout the game as Dubielewicz turned aside 36 shots to help the Bridgeport Sound Tigers win 2-0 at the Arena at Harbor Yard.

"When you get an opportunity like that, you want to put the shot in. After you look back, you want to put it some place else," said Miller, who along with Petteri Wirtanen led the Pirates in shots with five. "(Dubielewicz) made some great stops tonight. Some nights your goalie gets lucky and comes up with big saves for his team."

After falling behind 2-0 in the first period, the Pirates came out with a sense of desperation in the second, firing six shots on goal in the first five minutes.

"That's the way we have to play consistently," Pirates Coach Kevin Dineen said. "It's not popping for us right now, so we have to play with that desperation."

The Pirates are desperate for points as they try to keep their playoff hopes alive. With 11 games remaining, Portland is nine points behind fourth-place Worcester, which won Saturday night, for the final playoff spot in the Atlantic Division. The Pirates also need to leap over fifth-place Lowell, which they trail by seven points.

Dineen said that while Dubielewicz had a strong game, he'd like to see the Pirates get more traffic in front of the net and focus on scoring some ugly goals.

"When I'm looking at shots from the bench, a lot of times he's getting a chance to see the shot and it's a bit easier to make the saves," Dineen said. "We've seen this scenario played out before. We carry the majority of the play for the majority of the game and we run up against a hot goalie."

Bridgeport, playing without its leading scorer in Eric Boguniecki, who is out with an illness, scored the only two goals of the game in a span of 1:44 in the first period.

Rick Berry's slap shot from the left point beat a screened Pirates goalie Gerald Coleman (22 saves) with 7:10 left in the period. The Sound Tigers scored on their next shot as Masi Marjamaki popped a shot from the near corner over Coleman's right shoulder.

Coleman, who only saw 10 shots over the final two periods, came up with his best save late in the period when he made a right pad save on Gregg Johnson as he raced in on a breakaway out of the penalty box.

The Pirates and Sound Tigers meet again today in Bridgeport. With both Worcester and Lowell off, the game is a key opportunity for Portland to gain ground.

"We know that the points are there and we need to take advantage of it," Dineen said.

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