Maine Hockey Journal

McKenna dedicates Pirates’ shutout victory to newborn daughter

Mike McKenna will have one amazing tale to tell his newborn daughter when she gets older.

McKenna, in his first game back since the birth of his daughter just three days, made 35 saves for a 1-0 Portland Pirates victory over the Hartford Wolf Pack, snapping a three-game losing skid, Wednesday evening before 1,806 at XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut.

McKenna, who dedicated the victory to his newborn daughter, Adeline Josephine McKenna, overtook Jhonas Enroth with his 75th victory to move into second place for all-time wins in a Pirates’ uniform.

“It was cool,” said McKenna who is only four wins away from tying franchise leader Martin Brochu. “For tonight, (this game) was for Adeline. I felt bad that I had to take off and leave my wife and daughter at the hospital. The good news is they got home which was a little bit early They were certainly on my mind. It’s a pretty special night.”

The Pirates (30-20-2) complete their seven-game road trip, going 4-2-1. McKenna began the road trip with Portland, playing in the first three contest before leaving to be with his wife, Rachel, as they prepared for the birth of Adeline, the family’s second child.

“Anytime you leave, in the back of your mind, you feel like you are abandoning your guys even though in the grand scheme of things in life it’s the right thing to do, and you should always take family first,” said McKenna. “These are my teammates. You want to do the best job you can. You never want to feel like you are short changing them somehow.”

McKenna’s teammates and coaching staff have been supportive of their netminder through the process.

“What a great story to tell his newborn daughter as she gets older,” said Pirates coach Scott Allen. “He won one for her tonight. You look at all the things this team has gone through recently, all the things he’s been through, dealing with adversity. Life and birth of a child. We were all ecstatic for him to get that shutout win.”

“Hats off to Mike,” said Pirates’ defenseman Sena Acolatse, who tallied the only goal of the game. “He’s been playing good for us all year. He’s been our backbone. We know with a one-goal game going into the second period that we could win this game with one goal.”

The only goal of the game came with 6:10 left in the first period off a poor line change by the Wolf Pack as Jonathan Racine dished the puck up ice to Wayne Simpson, racing into the offensive zone and putting a drop pass on the stick Acolatse, who ripped a slap shot from the left circle past Magnus Hellberg.

It was Acolatse’s fifth goal of the season. However, it was his first since Dec. 4, a span of 33 games between goals.

“I definitely needed that,” Acolatse said. I had been slumping a little bit. It was nice to get (that goal) and hopefully a couple more here to come.”

The Pirates team-defense stood out as the highlight of the game. Hartford outshot Portland over the final forty minutes, 24-16, but they never developed any solid scoring opportunities. Those that developed were swallowed quickly by McKenna as the Pirates snap a three-game losing streak against the Wolf Pack, which includes the last meeting, a 5-0 shutout loss at the Cross Insurance Arena. It’s also Portland’s first victory this season at the XL Center in Hartford.

“I was very happy with the play from the guys tonight,” said Allen. “As a staff we had a game plan, and we stuck to it. I was really proud of some of our more offensive skilled guys that they dug in and allowed a one-goal game to stand. They didn’t cheat for offense. We always talk about how a strong defense will beat offense, and that was telltale tonight.”

The Pirates will now return to the CIA for the first time in nearly three weeks for a four-game homestand, starting Friday with a game against the AHL’s Atlantic Division-leading Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Portland, who won both games in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, trail the Penguins by seven points for the division lead.

“It will be good to get home to play in front of our fans,” Allen said.

NOTES: Steven Hodges made his season debut with the Pirates. Hodges missed the entire season due to off-season surgery. He was assigned to the ECHL Manchester Monarchs on Feb. 12 where he appeared in five games, scoring a goal and two assists. He was recalled by Portland on Tuesday.

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