For the second time this season, the Portland Pirates played – and won – at home.

Their true home, the building formerly known as the Cumberland County Civic Center.

“It sure felt good to be at home,” said Pirates goaltender Louis Domingue, who backstopped Portland’s 2-1 American Hockey League victory over the Syracuse Crunch Saturday night. “It’s something we struggled with last year. We didn’t find a home.”

A crowd of 2,544 saw Tobias Rieder score twice shorthanded to end a four-game losing streak for the Pirates (2-4), whose other victory came on opening night in Portland two weeks ago before a crowd twice as large.

“It was huge,” Rieder said of the morale-booster. “We knew we had to have a bounce-back game. I think we played well for 60 minutes and it was great to get the win at home.”

Domingue finished with 20 saves, none bigger than his toe stop in the final frantic seconds just before Syracuse hit the left post as time expired. He took a shutout into the third period as the Pirates for the first time held a lead after each intermission.

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“That was the save I needed to get the win,” Domingue said. “The guys played really well in front of me. They kept it simple. Not a lot of scoring chances.”

Syracuse (3-2-1) had won three in a row but managed only 21 shots on goal to Portland’s 32. The Pirates failed to convert several opportunities at even strength and with a man advantage, but scored twice when down a skater.

The first goal sprung from a first-period faceoff just outside the Pirates’ blue line. Center Jordan Martinook poked the puck to Rieder and the two of them raced up ice with only one Syracuse defender in their way.

Using Martinook as a decoy, Rieder found an opening inside the left post for his first goal.

His second came in similar circumstances. After winning a puck battle in the corner to Domingue’s left, Rieder took off on a 2-on-1 with center Alexandre Bolduc. After passing ahead to Bolduc, Rieder skated hard toward the net and got the puck back just outside the crease.

“Bolduc made a really nice pass right on my tape,” Rieder said. “I just had to have my stick there and it went in.”

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That made it 2-0 after two periods. Syracuse spoiled the shutout in the ninth minute of the third when Cody Kunyk’s shot from the left point found a hole.

“I didn’t see it,” Domingue said. “Unfortunately, it went through.”

Bolduc and Martinook each barely missed an open net after Syracuse pulled goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (30 saves) at the end of the game. There was a scary moment with a minute and a half remaining when Dalton Smith of Syracuse sent Portland’s Francis Wathier headfirst into the boards near mid-ice. Wathier crumpled to the ice and remained there for a few minutes before being assisted up and to the locker room.

Smith received five minutes for boarding along with a game misconduct.

“It’s too bad,” Pirates Coach Ray Edwards said. “Even though (Wathier) didn’t play a ton of minutes, he gave us really good leadership, makes the right play, and plays the way we want our team to play.”


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