MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Portland Pirates began a three-game road trip with a big thud Saturday night.

The Manchester Monarchs thoroughly outplayed the Pirates while skating to a 5-2 win before 9,127 people at the Verizon Wireless Center.

“We got outplayed in every facet of the game,” Portland Coach Kevin Dineen said. “Their power play was better than our power play. Their special teams were better than our special teams, and we got outplayed in their building.”

Both teams have already clinched berths in the Calder Cup playoffs. They are now embroiled in the race for first place in the AHL’s Atlantic Division, which would mean home-ice advantage in the first two rounds of the playoffs.

The Pirates have seven games left in the regular season and hold a one-point lead over the Monarchs, who have four games remaining. The teams play the final game of this season’s 12-game series Wednesday night at the Cumberland County Civic Center.

It was the fifth loss in six games for the Pirates, who play the Connecticut Whale in Hartford this afternoon.

“We don’t have too much time to think about (the loss),” Dineen said. “We’ve got a game (today) at 3 o’clock. We’ll address our overall issues. We need to find a way to steady the ship here and not just flounder.”

Defensemen David Kolomatis and Bud Holloway scored during the last five minutes of the first period to stake the Monarchs to a 2-1 lead.

Portland’s Luke Adam opened the scoring seven minutes into the game by finishing off a two-on-one break with Mark Parrish for his 26th goal of the season/ The goal came during Portland’s first power play of game.

With the assist, Parrish extended his points streak to 11 games.

Manchester, which held a commanding 34-16 edge in shots during the first two periods, moved into a 4-1 lead when Justin Azevedo and Justin Johnson scored goals less than 10 minutes into the second period.

Derek Whitmore finished off a three-on-two break with his 26th goal to make it 4-2 with 10 minutes left in the second period.

With three seconds left in the game, David Meckler collected an empty-net goal to complete the scoring.

Former UMaine defenseman Jeff Dimmen made his professional debut for the Pirates.

“I’m excited to have him in the lineup,” Dineen said. “His (college) coaching staff speaks highly of him, and I thought he was fine out there. “

Dimmen had 27 goals and 40 assists in 135 games at UMaine.

NOTES: Dimmen was one of three players added to Portland’s roster. Defenseman Corey Fienhage, up from the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League, and former University of Denver forward Kyle Ostrow also were signed to amateur tryout contracts. … Defenseman Tim Conboy returned to the Portland lineup after a two-game absence. An undisclosed injury kept Paul Byron out of the lineup.

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

pbetit@pressherald.com