Pirates halt hot Amerks in HSBC

The Portland Pirates sailed into HSBC Arena on Thursday to defeat the Rochester Americans, 6-3. The victory snaps a two-game skid for the Pirates while ending the Americans 11-game win streak. Mark Mancari, Philip Gogulla, and Cody McCormick each had a goal and an assist to lead the Pirates . Buzzing between Gogulla and Mancari from the first drop of the puck, Tyler Ennis picked up a pair of assists to fuel Portland’s effort. Ennis set-up a Mancari one-time laser to open scoring late in the period. He later shifted inside to create a tic-tac-toe passing play that was finished off by Gogulla to put the Pirates ahead for good at 12:56 of the second period. Rookie center Paul Byron also showed his quickness and offensive skills, scoring a short-handed goal at 4:43 of the second period to open Portland’s four-goal floodgate. The fleeting Byron spent most of his shifts between vets McCormick and Jeff Cowan. In a shuffling blueline, rookie T.J. Brennan spent most of his time with veteran Joe DiPenta. Drew Schiestel saw PK time with DiPenta, but played shifts with Mike Kostka. At one point, it appeared that Dennis Persson skated a shift at forward. Matt Generous and Mike Weber were a steady pair however. Weber was a +3 but did make one poor decision on a cross-ice pas in his own zone that was very similar to plays made in the pre-season. Jhonas Enroth, who was sent down by Buffalo earlier in the day, kicked aside 23 saves to earn his fourth win of the season. Enroth will need to remain sharp if the 6-10 Pirates are to gain ground in the standings. Nathan Gerbe (concussion), Marc-Andre Gragnani (leg), and Felix Schutz (shoulder) did not play for Portland. The Rundown: Mancari: 1G, 1A Gogulla: 1G, 1A, +1 Byron: 1G, 1 SOG Ennis: 2A Weber: +3 Brennan: even Schiestel: even Generous: +1 Turnbull: 1A Enroth: 23 saves, W

Pirates split weekend slate

In Friday farm action, Mark Mancari scored the overtime game winner while second-year man Jhonas Enroth made 36 saves as Portland defeated Lowell, 3-2. Nathan Gerbe and Tyler Ennis each added a pair of assists for Portland, while T.J. Brennan and Travis Turnbull added single helpers. The win moved the Pirates season mark to 4-7, including a 3-0 record at home. The Rundown: Gerbe: 2A, +1 Ennis: 2A Turnbull: 1A Brennan: 1A Schutz: -1 Kostka: even Schiestel: even Gogulla: -1 Mancari: 1G ----------------------- The Pirates returned to the ice on Saturday with a 3-2 loss to Bridgeport. Enroth stopped 17 of 20 shots to take the loss in his 10th start of the season. Recently-inked Marc McCutcheon scored both Portland goals, while Mancari extended his point streak to six games with an assist. The loss was the Pirates first of the season on home ice. The Rundown: Mancari: 1A, +1 Schiestel: +1 Gogulla: +1 Kostka: +1 Gerbe: -1, 4 PIM Ennis: -2 Schutz: even Brennan: even Enroth: 17 saves Weber: -1 Generous: -1 Turnbull: 3 SOG

Byron keys Saturday win; Pirates sink on Sunday

On Saturday, Paul Byron scored the game winning goal and added an assist as Portland opened their home schedule with a 4-2 win over Providence. The game's #1 star, Byron scored his first AHL goal to cap the Pirates three-goal output within a span of 4:09 in the early stages of the second period. Nathan Gerbe started the roll on the power play with his second goal in as many games at 1:19. Moments later, Mark Mancari hit at even strength at 3:41 to tie the game 2-2. Mancari also picked up an assist on the night. Kyle Rank would score the final Pirates goal. Jhonas Enroth made 28 saves to earn his first win of the season, while Drew Schiestel was a scratch. The Rundown: Byron: 1G, 1A, +2 Gerbe: 1G Weber: 2A, +2 Turnbull: 1A, +1 Gragnani: 1A Brennan: +1, 5 SOG Persson: +2 Gogulla: 2 SOG Kostka: 4 SOG Schutz: 2 SOG Legault: 2 SOG Ennis: even Enroth: 28 saves The Pirates returned to the ice on Sunday in Lowell, where they came up short in 4-0 loss to the Devils. Enroth allowed four goals on 23 shots before giving way to J.P. Lamoureux at 12:15 of the second period. Lamoureux kicked away all 18 shots he faced the rest of the way. The Rundown: Ennis: 4 SOG Turnbull: 3 SOG Kostka: even Brennan: -1, 4 SOG, 16 PIM Weber: -1, 7 PIM Schiestel: -1 Gogulla: -2 Byron: -2 Legault: -2 Schutz: -2, 3 SOG Persson: -2 Enroth: 19 saves Visit the excellent Maine Hockey Journal for complete Pirates coverage.

Early season jab by McNabb

Aside from scoring Kootenay's only goal in Saturday's lopsided 7-1 loss to Red Deer, defenseman Brayden McNabb also earned a slashing and fighting combo late in the game after a quick scrap with Rebels forward Cody Esposito. The bout was the closing act in a game featuring five fights. Tale of the Tape: McNabb, 18, 6'4, 210 lbs, 13 career majors Esposito, 20, 6'3, 205 pounds, 43 career majors Remember how the theme of the draft was team toughness? The Sabres have invested quite a bit in goaltender Ryan Miller, yet in recent years have too often came up short when protecting their meal ticket. Names like Tallinder, Spacek, Sekera, Numminen, and Campbell weren't scaring anyone away from taking a whack. That's why hard-nosed Craig Rivet was viewed as a Godsend when he arrived, why Steve Montador was a free agent target, and why it's important for Mike Weber to show a disciplined edge when trying to earn the 6/7 spot in Buffalo. Along the same lines, it's refreshing to see another Sabres CHL defenseman show a consistent willingness to "go" as he develops NHL chops. Aside from the occasional police work of future workhorse Tyler Myers, the use of fight-or-flight adrenaline is one trait that's been somewhat lacking among the Sabres' junior rearguards since the lockout. T.J. Brennan rarely pulled that club out of the bag in the Q, while OHL products Drew Schiestel and Nick Crawford have been developing with cooler heads. Even Mike Weber, who in 2007-08 had nine fights as an AHL rookie (including an infamous tune-up by Mike Keane), only had 11 scraps in his four junior seasons. (The team toughness movement is obviously not limited to defensemen. Veteran forwards Jeff Cowan and Cody McCormick are being fitted for grit in camp, and it's likely that Travis Turnbull's 14-fight USHL resume was consulted before signing him out of Michigan. There's no need to even mention what Zack Kassian represents down the road.) I'm not making a case for a back end goon, nor am I proclaiming the current blueline crop a bunch of "nice guys". Players like Matt Generous, Jordon Southorn (seasons of three and four majors) and Drew MacKenzie (three fights in 2007-08) have shown minor flare-ups in the past. I'm merely suggesting that variety is a requirement when building a blueline stable, and the drafting of third-rounders McNabb (2009) and Corey Fienhage (2008) are positive steps towards toughness while Rivet leads by example ahead of them. McNabb's 10 goals last season would have tied Schiestel for tops among all Sabres defensive prospects, while his 10 fights and 140 PIMs proved more active than his next closest competitor, Myers (5 majors, 105 PIM in nine fewer games). Fienhage had 28 PIMs in nine games including six roughing minors, one high stick, one check from behind, and a fighting misconduct. These are young, talented players acting mean and putting up different types numbers in terms of Sabres D prospects. So yes, this is all old news. Pardon me if it sounds like I'm going out of my way to state the obvious, but it's encouraging to see the plan in action.

Allard heads back to draft

With no deal made by Monday's signing deadline for 2007 major-junior draft picks, the Buffalo Sabres have effectively parted ways with former fifth round selection, Jean-Simon Allard. A forward with the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL, Allard will re-enter the June draft as a 20-year old. The 6'3, 192-pounder grew some as a player with St. John's in 2007-08, scoring 16 goals and 44 assists for the Fog Devils in their last season on the Rock. That year, Allard skated as a teammate of current Sabres prospects T.J. Brennan and Luke Adam. With the Foggies relocating to Montreal for 2008-09, the team made a splash at the 2008 QMJHL draft by sending Allard up the river to Quebec City in exchange for native son, Angelo Esposito. Allard's debut with Patrick Roy's Remparts was set back when he broke his jaw on the opening day of training camp. After a quicker-than-expected recovery, he got out of the gate fairly well by scoring 12 points (3+9) in his first nine games through mid-October. Despite the nice start, Allard never took full advantage of the talented Remparts roster that featured a total of eight NHL draft picks including offensive minded Mikhail Stefanovich, Kelsey Tessier, and Dmitry Kugryshev. His production cooled as a result, as it would take another 23 games before Allard would net his next 12 points. Toting a finesse approach while often unwilling to go to the tough areas, Allard finished the year with 16-40-56 in 66 games. Regardless of Marek Zagrapan's KHL designs, the free agent signing of Travis Turnbull and the extended look given to flashy speedster Paul Byron provided a bit of foreshadowing for the non-signing. Allard's style may be best suited for European action after one more year of junior, as it's doubtful that a team selects the re-entry at the end of the month.

Pirates eliminated

The 2008-09 season has come to end for Portland Pirates, as the farmhands were defeated 2-1 by Providence on Friday to lose their AHL first round series by a 4-1 margin. Mike Kostka scored the only goal for the Pirates on the power play while Jhonas Enroth, who was fantastic in the Pirates net, stopped 36 of 38 Bruins shots. The Rundown: Kostka: G, -1 Gragnani: A Mancari: 4 SOG Kennedy: 3 SOG Gerbe: 2 SOG Butler: 2 SOG Schutz: 2 SOG Generous: even Persson: even Zagrapan: even Whitmore: -1 Turnbull: -1 Enroth: 36 saves, L