LEWISTON — The Portland Pirates managed a burst of energy late in the game Friday, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Worcester’s early lead as the Sharks stuffed the Pirates, 3-1, in front of a post-Thanksgiving crowd of 2,793 at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee.

After winning or taking the game into overtime in seven consecutive contests, the Pirates (7-7-0-3) have now dropped two straight against conference foes, and will have little time to rest with a road game at Springfield on the docket for Saturday.

Friday’s loss was easier to stomach than Wednesday’s 4-1 setback, but it still wasn’t enough.

“It was better than Wednesday, but that’s just it, it was just good,” Pirates coach Ray Edwards said. “To win in this league, (our effort) has to be better than ‘good.'”

Despite that start, the Pirates had a chance to come back in the third period.

Brett Hextall got credit for a goal at 5:55 of the final frame when his shot from the right halfwall deflected off Worcester goalie Harri Sateri’s stick into a crowd in front of him. The puck appeared to catch either Portland forward Jordan Martinook or one of two Worcester defenders in the chest, and it bounced into the cage to pull Portland within a goal at 2-1.

But a chance deflection on a 150-foot clear attempt from Worcester centerman Freddie Hamilton found an empty net as the Pirates were pushing for the equalizer to put the visitors back in front by a pair — and for good — at 3-1.

“In that case, you can sometimes catch them a little bit snoozing if you pull (the goalie) a little bit early,” Edwards said. “And we had full possession. It’s all a read. If you have possession, do you pull him there? Maybe you never get full possession again. As soon as I did it, we turned it over, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.”

Worcester outshot the Pirates handily in the first frame, though many of the shots came from the outside and keeper Mark Visentin was game, stopping all 15 pucks the Sharks threw his way.

The Pirates had a pair of shots that handcuffed Sateri at the other end, both times hitting the Sharks’ keeper squarely in the mask. Neither rebound posed any immediate danger, and the defenders cleared the puck away without incident.

The first period did have a few fights, though, including a pair involving the Pirates’ leading scorers, Andy Miele and Chris Brown. The other featured Portland pugilist Kyle Hagel against former Pirate Jimmy Bonneau in a spirited scrap that lasted better than a minute.

“I liked the way we competed, and we stood up for ourselves, which is fine,” Edwards said. “I was on them about their compete level, because Wednesday it wasn’t good, and they came out and competed hard.”

Bracken Kearns broke the stalemate at 3:55 of the second period on a juicy rebound after a Dan DaSilva shot caromed off Visentin’s paddle to the right side of the slot. Kearns buried his chance for a 1-0 Worcester advantage.

The Sharks added another at 9:04 of the second, again on a rebound. Sebastian Stalberg rifled a wrister from the right half wall and hit Visentin in the pads. The Pirates’ keeper redirected the puck to his right, but onto the stick of James Livingston, who stuffed the rebound into the cage for a 2-0 Worcester lead.

“That’s a play we all do, though, we call the shot off the pads,” Edwards said. “It’s a tough rebound for a goalie to control, but what we have to do a better job of is (defending) the guy coming down to the net. Chris (Summers) was there, but he didn’t have him.”

The Pirates got things rolling in the third period, finally putting nominal pressure on the Sharks’ defense and finding a way past Sateri. But it wasn’t enough.

“Our best players weren’t good enough,” Edwards said. “We didn’t generate enough chances, and obviously it’s tough to win when you score only one goal. We were better than Wednesday, but not good enough.”

Copy the Story Link