It took them five games, but the Portland Pirates finally found the recipe for a win Wednesday, and it included a healthy dose of discipline.
Andy Miele continued his torrid scoring pace with a pair of goals, Chris Brown added a goal and an assist and rookie defenseman Daine Todd added three helpers from the blue line to help the Pirates to a 4-2 win over the Hartford Wolfpack in Hartford.
“We played a really solid game, more like what we expect,” Pirates’ coach Ray Edwards said. “It’s nice to win on the road.”
The goals for Miele are his fourth and fifth of the season, giving him eight points in five games this season. That puts him tied for eighth league wide in scoring.
“He’s leading us,” Edwards said. “He’s our offensive leader. And not only on offense. He’s killing penalties, he’s taking hits to make plays, he’s winning big faceoffs for us. He’s playing at a high level right now.”
Todd, meanwhile, continues to get his feet wet in the professional ranks. But his three-point outburst Wednesday was promising.
“He’s a first-year player, so that’s not always easy,” Edwards said. “But he’s definitely got a lot of composure with the puck and can make some plays. It’s nice to see he had a good solid game for us.”
But perhaps the biggest difference for the Pirates on Wednesday from previous games was the team’s discipline. Portland took only two penalties on which Hartford gained power plays, while earning eight chances with an extra skater, during which the Pirates scored three goals.
“Discipline was a big part of our win (Wednesday),” Edwards said. “I know the guys were focused toward that. We’ve talked a lot about it the past couple days. They know you can’t beat yourself, and that last game in Worcester we beat ourselves by sitting in the penalty box.”
Portland started well, with Miele lighting the lamp at 14:06 of the opening period to put the visitors on top 1-0.
Captain Jordan Szwarz made it 2-0 with a power play chance just 1:43 into the second. Todd and Brandon Gormley earned assists. And Brown made it 3-0 for the Pirates, beating Hartford keeper Jason Missiaen at 8:55 of the middle frame, again on the man advantage.
Kyle Jean got the home team on the board at 17:32 of the second, busting keeper Mark Visentin’s bid at a shutout, but Miele followed that with his second of the night with 43 ticks left in the period to reestablish Portland’s three-goal edge.
Danny Kristo brought the Wolfpack back to within two early in the third, but the Pirates shut Hartford down from there, handing the hosts their first regulation loss of the season.
The Pirates are back in action Sunday in Albany before returning home for three in a row starting Wednesday, Oct. 30.
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