ST. JOHN’S, Newfoundland – Rob Klinkhammer scored three goals, the Portland Pirates got seven, but it still wasn’t enough to beat the St. John’s IceCaps Tuesday night at Mile One Centre.

The Pirates blew three two-goal leads and succumbed 8-7 in overtime in front of a sell-out crowd of 6,287.

Klinkhammer also added a pair of assists for the Pirates, who have one win in four games this season.

Evan Brophy, Andy Miele, Chris Brown and Alexandre Bolduc also scored for the Pirates. Eric O’Dell and Spencer Machacek each had a pair for the IceCaps, who also got goals from Jason King, Jason Gregoire, Ben Maxwell and Alexandre Burmistrov – the latter 1:03 into OT.

The Pirates held leads of 2-0, 4-2, 5-3, 6-5 and 7-6.

Pirates Coach Ray Edwards held a closed-door meeting after the game but exited the locker room more bemused than angry. “I’m trying to dissect it right now,” said Edwards. “I thought our club did a lot of really good things tonight. It seemed like every mistake we made ended up in our net. They (the IceCaps) are probably saying the same thing. Any time you score seven goals you think you’re going to win.”

As for the words he shared with the team, Edwards said he tried to remain positive.

“I told them, you just take the good and the positive stuff and move forward and fix the bad. We’ll move past it and be ready to go (Wednesday against the IceCaps again),” said Edwards.

“It’s definitely a career night for me,” said Klinkhammer, who has seven points in four games.

“You’ve got to enjoy those games. It doesn’t happen very often.

“Sometimes you just got luck on your side and the bounces are going your way and you’ve got to ride it. It’s nice when that happens. You can’t explain it. Sometimes the puck just finds you.”