LEWISTON — Zach Redmond and Eric O’Dell each had a goal and an assist as the St. John’s IceCaps completed a two-game sweep with a 4-2 win over the Portland Pirates at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee on Friday night.

J.C. Lipon and Jason Jaffray also scored for the IceCaps, the Newfoundland-based team that wraps up a six-game road trip Sunday against the Worcester Sharks.

Brendan Shinnimin scored his first two goals of the season for the Pirates, now 0-4-0-1 on their home ice.

The game was played before 2,157, more than 1,500 fans under capacity at the Lewiston arena.

“We’re playing hard, but we’re making those small mistakes right now that are ending up in our net,” said Brendan McMillan, who set up both of Shinnimin’s goals. “We’ve just got to start playing the full 60 minutes. We’ve got to try to step out and get a lead and just go on from there and play hard.”

On Wednesday, the IceCaps cruised to a 5-1 win by scoring three goals during the first 15 minutes of the second period to take command.

Friday night, St. John’s appeared to take control much earlier, scoring three goals during the last 111/2 minutes of the first period to open up a 3-0 lead.

Lipon opened the scoring less than nine minutes into the game by putting in a shot from the middle of the left circle for his third goal of the season. With less than six minutes left in the period and the Pirates on their first power play, Jaffray lifted in a shot from the left side of the slot inside the far post for his fifth goal after Redmond picked off a pass in the neutral zone.

With 7 seconds left, Redmond, a veteran defenseman playing in his first game this season, scored a power-play goal on a slapshot from the top of the left circle.

Eight minutes into the second period, Shinnimin flashed down the left side and jammed the puck past goalie Eddie Pasquale for his first goal of the season after Brendan McMillan forced a turnover to set up the shorthanded score.

With less than six minutes left in the period, the same duo finished off a two-on-one break. This time, McMillan took a long pass from Chris Brown and rushed down the right side. After coming to a stop in the right circle, he slid the puck across the slot to Shinnimin to poke in the left side.

“What you have to have is a standard of work,” Portland Coach Ray Edwards said. “The other night, we didn’t have it. Tonight, we had (it) and we fought our way back into the game.”

O’Dell ended the rally by sticking a rebound inside the left post for his team-high sixth goal with less than three minutes left in the second period.

“At the end of the night we probably outchanced that team by a few, but you have to find a way to put the puck in the net,” Edwards said. “We’re getting opportunities, but they’re not going in for us.”

Pasquale made 39 saves for compile his second consecutive win against the Pirates

“We just got to keep working at it,” Edwards said. “We just got to keep getting better, keep getting chemistry with our lines.”

 

NOTES: An upper-body injury took defenseman Randy Jones out of the lineup on his second shift. He was playing his first game for the Pirates … Mark Louis, now listed as right wing, skated some shifts on defense …Veteran forward Tim Kennedy, who was assigned to the Pirates by Phoenix on Thursday, didn’t arrive in time to play.

Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at:

pbetit@pressherald.com

Twitter: PaulBetitPPH