Kyle Rau and John McFarland each scored two goals Wednesday night to lead the Portland Pirates to a 5-2 victory against the Springfield Falcons at the Cross Insurance Arena.

It was the fourth win in five games for the Pirates, who moved above .500 for the first time in nearly two months at 12-11-1-0.

“I think we’re learning what makes us successful as a team, both individually what we need to do and as a team what we need to do,” McFarland said. “We’re really coming together. We know if we work hard we’ll give ourselves a chance every night.”

It was the fifth loss in six games for the Falcons, who include 11 players on their roster who were with the Pirates a year ago.

Portland’s lineup included center Dave Bolland, a 10-year NHL veteran who won Stanley Cups with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010 and 2013.

Sent down by the NHL parent Florida Panthers on a conditioning assignment, he skated in an AHL game for the first time since 2008, when he played 16 games for the Rockford Icehogs.

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“Just trying to get my game back a little bit,” he said. “A few injuries that I have are nagging me. If I can get past those and help some guys out, and get a few wins with the guys here it will be fun.”

Bolland was on the ice for 13 minutes, 42 seconds, while skating on a line with Rau and Shane Harper. He also played on the penalty kill.

“He hasn’t played a lot so we didn’t want to kill him the first game,” Portland Coach Tom Rowe said. “He did a good job. You could see his intelligence. He’s a very smart hockey player. He did a lot of good things …(He) can help our young kids learn how to play with poise.”

The Pirates led 3-0 after the first period.

McFarland opened the scoring with his seventh goal of the season less than three minutes into the game. Rob Schremp set up the goal by taking the puck from a defenseman to the right of the Springfield goal. After goalie Nicklas Treutle stopped a wide-angled shot, Chase Balisy got his stick on the rebound and fed the puck out to McFarland as he flashed down the slot.

Rau scored on Portland’s first two power plays.

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A little more than 10 minutes into the game, Rau swept the puck inside the right post as the Pirates skated with a two-man advantage while former Pirates Eric Selleck and Phil Lane sat in the penalty box. Harper set up the goal by sending a pass to him from the other side of the slot.

With less than a minute left, Rau stuck a rebound inside the right post for his 11th goal after Treutle stopped shots by Harper and Greg McKegg.

Schremp made it 4-0 when he put in a shot from the left circle less than two minutes into the third period for his 12th goal.

Two minutes later, goalie Mike McKenna’s bid for his first shutout of the season ended when Greg Carey tipped in defenseman Corey Potter’s blast from center point.

After McFarland scored his eighth goal on a breakaway to make it 5-1, Carey scored his 10th goal by finishing a rush with a shot from the slot to complete the scoring with three minutes left.


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