Saturday, February 7, 2009

Enroth stops 44, Kennedy's streak ends in loss

Jhonas Enroth made a career best 44 saves, yet gave up two goals in the shootout as Portland lost 3-2 at Albany. The Pirates welcomed rookie all-star Nathan Gerbe back to the lineup after the forward missed seven games due to injury. Mark Mancari scored his 19th of the year on the power play, with assists going to Gerbe and Marc-Andre Gragnani. Gragnani faked a shot and whisked the puck to Mancari who ripped a beam under the crossbar. Marek Zagrapan assisted on the first Portland goal by Colton Fretter at 1:48 of the second period. Mancari, Gerbe, Tim Kennedy, and Tyler Bouck all struck out in the breakaway round. Kennedy saw his five-game point streak snapped in the loss, while Dylan Hunter missed the game with a bug. Line combos: Mathieu Darche-Tim Kennedy-Mark Mancari Nathan Gerbe-Marek Zagrapan-Colton Fretter Aaron Slattengren-Derek Whitmore-Jimmy Bonneau Felix Schutz-Tyler Bouck-Kyle Rank. Defense pairings: Marc-Andre Gragnani-Mike Kostka Kenny Macaulay-Matt MacDonald Cliff Loya-Zach Tarkir. The Rundown: Mancari: 1G, -1 Gerbe: 1A, 2 SOG Zagrapan: 1A, +1, 4 PIM Gragnani: 1A, 2 SOG Kennedy: -1, 4 SOG Whitmore: 1 SOG Kostka: even Enroth: 44 saves, L