Maine Hockey Journal

Pirates lose third straight

Portland Pirates regular season contest against the Providence Bruins at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland, Maine on 2/6/2016. (PHOTO: Michael McSweeney/Portland Pirates)

Portland Pirates regular season contest against the Providence Bruins at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland, Maine on 2/6/2016. (PHOTO: Michael McSweeney/Portland Pirates)

PORTLAND – The effort was there for the Portland Pirates, but the result did not show as they dropped their third straight game Saturday evening, falling 3-1 to the Providence Bruins before 4,912 at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland.

The Pirates (26-18-1-0) have lost five of their last seven games while Providence (21-15-8-2) is without a regulation loss in their last 13 games (9-0-3-1) to move within a point of Portland for third place in the American Hockey League’s Atlantic Division standings.

We’re a fragile group right now,” said Pirates’ head coach Scott Allen. “You pull three veterans out of the lineup in this league, and it certainly makes a difference. You build your own confidence and (Providence) is a confident group right now.”

The Pirates will now board a bus for a seven-game road trip that will take them away from the CIA for the next three weeks as they travel to Lehigh Valley, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Utica, Rochester, Toronto and Hartford.

“We’ve got work to do,” said Allen. “We go on the road now for a lot of games. It doesn’t matter where we play right now we have to find a way to win.”

The Bruins, who scored the only goal of the first period, had a scare before the game even started.

During warmup, goaltender Malcolm Subban, who was expected to get the start for Providence, took a puck to the throat from a slap shot by Anton Blidh. Subban removed his mask and appeared to be in serious pain as he immediately left the ice for medical attention. He was taken by ambulance to Maine Medical Center for evaluation and remained there overnight for observation.

Zane McIntyre got the start for the Bruins, stopping 35 shots for the victory. Benn Ferriero, who was listed as a healthy scratch, would be the backup for the first period until Joe Parker of Portland, Maine arrived prior to the start of the second period. Parker, 37, plays recreational hockey in the Greater Portland Industrial Hockey League.

“It was a one in a million shot where you get exposed,” said McIntyre. “We got the good news about him that he’s doing well and that obviously a positive. I just had to stick with my routine and to make sure that I’m prepared whenever I can get in to get some playing time. It was tough circumstances, but I had just had to be ready to help the team win.”

With both teams skating four-on-four, defenseman Chris Casto fired a slap shot from the left point beating goaltender Mike McKenna with 5:50 remaining in the first period.

Only 31 seconds into the second period, Alexander Khokhlchev made it 2-0 on a redirect past McKenna for this 14th goal of the season.

Portland kept applying pressure in the second period, outshooting the Bruins 16-5. The Pirates had four straight power play opportunities, but couldn’t get anything past McIntyre.

“Our power play has been a huge let down lately,” Allen said about that power play which has gone 2-for-34 (5.9%) over the last eight games.

The Pirates would finally break through with 54.5 seconds left in the second period when bad line change by the Bruins led to a partial 2-on-0 break. Greg McKegg cut into the slot area and snapped a shot that beat McIntyre stick side to cut the Bruins’ lead, 2-1.

“I thought the second period we showed some push back,” Allen said. “We dug in and recaptured some momentum, but they’re not a team that doesn’t get rattled.”

The Pirates pressured for the equalizer in the third period, pulling McKenna, who finished with 36 saves, but Frank Vatrano scored an empty-net goal with 34 seconds left in regulation.

NOTES: Cameron Gaunce was in the lineup for the Pirates one day after a scary moment in the second period as his neck was cut by a skate blade. He required 12 stitches to close the wound, but he returned to the game in the third period of a 5-0 loss to the Hartford Wolf Pack… Pirates’ captain Brent Regner made his NHL debut with the Florida Panthers, scoring his first career NHL goal after being recalled from Portland on Friday.

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