Maine Hockey Journal

Pirates receive lineup boost

Portland Pirates regular season contest against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland, Maine on 3/23/2016. (PHOTO: Michael McSweeney/Portland Pirates)

Portland Pirates regular season contest against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland, Maine on 3/23/2016. (PHOTO: Michael McSweeney/Portland Pirates)

The Portland Pirates are getting a boost to their lineup prior to Game 3 of the Atlantic Division semifinals.

The Florida Panthers announced Wednesday they have assigned forwards Logan Shaw and Greg McKegg and defenseman Mike Matheson to the Pirates for the remainder of the Calder Cup playoffs.

The best-of-five series between the Pirates and Hershey Bears is currently tied 1-1, and will shift to the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania, starting with Game 3 which is scheduled for Thursday at 7 pm. Game 4 is scheduled for Saturday at 7 pm and Game 5, if necessary, will be played at 5 pm.

The Pirates claimed the opening game of the series with a 6-4 victory at the Cross Insurance Arena on Friday. The Bears evened the series with a 3-1 win on Saturday.

Shaw, McKegg and Matheson all saw action with the Panthers during their Stanley Cup playoff run, which came to end Sunday after being eliminated, 4-2, in the best-of-seven series against the New York Islanders.

Matheson, 6-foot-2, 198 pounds, was recalled to the Panthers for a second time this season on Apr. 7. He appeared in the final three regular season games for Florida. After playing Game 1 of the first-round series, Panthers’ head coach Gerard Gallant opted to sit Jakub Kindl in favor of Matheson. He played the final five games, paired with Aaron Ekblad, earning his first NHL point in Game 3 with an assist on a goal from Reilly Smith. Matheson averaged 21:41 per game for the Panthers during their playoff run.

The 22-year-old rookie played in 54 games with the Pirates this season, scoring eight goals, 12 assists for 20 points with a plus-14 rating. He was named the winner of the Jack Button Award, which is given to the Pirates player deemed as the best NHL prospect for the season.

Shaw, 6-foot-3, 204-pound forward, was recalled by Florida on April 16 and skated in the final three games of the Florida’s playoff series against the Islanders. During the regular season, Shaw appeared in 53 games for the Panthers, scored five goals, two assists for seven points.

In 19 games with Portland this season, Shaw tallied 11 goals, three assists for 14 points. He had an eight-game point streak (6G, 3A) snapped on Apr. 15 at Bridgeport.

McKegg, 6-foot-0, 185-pound forward, has been with Florida since being recalled on an emergency basis from Portland on March 14. He appeared in 15 games with Florida this season and scored his first two NHL career goals. McKegg, who was acquired in a trade from the Toronto Maple Leafs last June in exchange for forward Zach Hyman, made one appearance in the Stanley Cup playoffs, playing Game 3 for the Panthers. During his time with Portland this season, McKegg tallied 10 goals, 13 assists in 47 games.

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