Rookie Andre Burakovsky scored his first AHL goal 3:26 into overtime to lift the Hershey Bears to a 3-2 win over the Portland Pirates on Friday night at Cross Insurance Arena.
Burakovsky, a 20-year-old center who has scored nine goals in 50 NHL games for the Washington Capitals this season, put in a shot from the top of the left circle to snap the Pirates’ seven-game winning streak.
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WHO: Hershey Bears at Portland Pirates
WHEN: 7 p.m. Saturday
“It was like playoff game,” Portland Coach Ray Edwards said. “It was one of those games where I don’t think anybody had the advantage. It was just a good, solid hockey game, and they made a skilled play at the end and found the way to get the extra point.”
The win enabled Hershey (39-18-5-2) to remain within a point of the Manchester Monarchs in the race for the league’s best record.
The Pirates (35-22-3-1) salvaged one point, but they dropped to seventh place in the Eastern Conference standings, two points ahead of the Springfield Falcons, who currently hold the final playoff spot.
“It was a big point for us,” Edwards said, “but they ended up getting the extra point and we’ve got to turn it around tomorrow.”
The teams play in Portland again Saturday night.
“I think there’s another level for some of our guys,” Edwards said. “I think we can get some more out of some guys and, if we do, we’ll have a better chance.”
The score was tied 1-1 at the end of the first period.
Former Pirate Tim Kennedy opened the scoring 10 minutes into the game on a shot from the top of the slot for his ninth goal. Defenseman Mike Moore was credited with hist first of three assists on the night.
With less than 5 minutes left, Alexandre Bolduc evened it for Portland when he scored a shorthanded goal on a breakaway after Jordan Martinook stole the puck in the neutral zone.
The Bears regained the lead 8 minutes into the second period when Kris Newberry jammed the puck into the left side of the net. Chris Brown, a former University of Michigan forward who spent two seasons with the Pirates, assisted on the goal.
Goalie Philipp Grubauer (25 saves) made sure Hershey took a 2-1 lead into the third period when he stopped Bolduc point-blank during a two-on-one break with Henrik Samuelsson.
Grubauer then stopped Martinook on a breakaway early in the third.
With 7 minutes left in regulation, Bolduc tied the score by putting in a shot from the left dot for his team-high 16th goal.
NOTES: Kennedy, who has played with four NHL teams, was a Pirate last season and in the 2008-09 season when the team was the Buffalo Sabres’ affiliate. … Former Bowdoin College defenseman Jon Landry, in his fourth AHL season, skated for the Bears. … New York Rangers director of personnel Gordie Clark, a former Maine Mariner, and Capitals player development coach Olaf Kolzig, a former Pirate, attended the game. … Montreal Canadiens great Peter Mahovlich, a pro scout for the Panthers, also was at the game.
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