BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – Through the Portland Pirates’ best start in franchise history, there was one number Coach Kevin Dineen called an “eyesore.”

The Pirates have been terrible on the power play, a trend that continued Sunday in a 4-1 loss to Bridgeport. Portland went 0 for 8 on power plays at the Arena at Harbor Yard; the Pirates are now 0 for 30 with a man advantage this season.

“I see a lot of things I’ve got to change, that we’re going to have to adjust,” Dineen said after his team fell to 4-1.

The Pirates changed up some personnel during Sunday’s game. Sometimes, they tweaked their approach. Still, they couldn’t sneak one past Bridgeport rookie goalie Kevin Poulin.

“We’ve got to try different personnel,” Dineen said. “The definition of stupidity is doing the same thing over and over. We’ve got to give some other people some decent looks.”

Poulin made 31 saves, and none were bigger than his seven stops in the first period. After Bridgeport led 1-0, the Sound Tigers’ Micheal Haley tried to get Dennis McCauley to fight. The two had gone at it Friday when the teams met in Maine.

McCauley didn’t drop the gloves, and Haley got a double minor for roughing.

Poulin made seven stops over those four minutes, including one brilliant right-pad save on Derek Whitmore’s one-timer.

The Sound Tigers led 2-0 before Portland rookie Luke Adam’s right-circle wrister eluded Poulin late in the second period for a 2-1 deficit.

At least one team didn’t struggle on the power play Sunday. Bridgeport netted its second power-play goal of the game six minutes into the third period before a late empty-netter sealed matters.

It was Portland’s third game in three days, which Dineen hoped wasn’t a factor.

“We’ve got to stay sharp with our execution,” Dineen said. “Maybe the legs are tired, but the brains can’t be.”

The Sound Tigers scored their first three goals on rebounds. Justin DiBenedetto got credit for two on the power play. Rhett Rakhshani got the other at even strength. Bridgeport Coach Jack Capuano said that’s what the Sound Tigers had to do against Pirates goalie Jhonas Enroth, who even after Sunday has 153 saves on 165 shots, a .927 save percentage.

“We got pucks to the net, and we got rewarded for getting pucks to the net,” said Capuano, the former All-American at the University of Maine.

“We scored rebound goals.”

The Pirates couldn’t find those rebounds. They put 29 shots in all on Poulin, including 13 on the power play, but got only one goal.

And for any team, particularly one that had won its first four games, a power-play drought is perplexing.

“We’re beyond being patient,” Dineen said. “We’ve got to look at other options.”

 

Copy the Story Link