PORTLAND – Breaks often determine winners in hockey, especially in the tightly contested playoffs.
Portland Pirates left wing Derek Whitmore used breaks Saturday night to score the tying and winning goals, the winner at 12:04 of overtime producing a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over the Connecticut Whale before 5,029 at the Cumberland County Civic Center.
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Whitmore’s winner came off a two-on-one advantage with Brian Roloff after Pirates defenseman Tim Conboy blocked Francis Lemieux’s shot. It gave the Pirates a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Atlantic Division semifinals that continues at 6 tonight at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn.
“I was kind of tired at the end of a shift, but (Conboy) made a great play at the blue line and forced the turnover,” Whitmore said. “(Roloff) grabbed it and we smelled blood with the two-on-one in overtime and wanted to take advantage of it. He made a great pass over to me and I had a wide-open net.
“It was a huge goal for us because it’s a lot better to be up 2-0 instead of tied 1-1, especially with the way we won coming from behind. It’s a real big boost for us.”
Pirates Coach Kevin Dineen was delighted that Whitmore was one of his two players involved in the decisive play, making it 8 of 10 meetings between the teams this season decided by one goal, including 3-2 in the series opener.
“He led our team in scoring in the playoffs last year and is a great kid to have as part of our mix,” Dineen said. “It’s no surprise that he was the guy who scored the goal. He was the right guy in that situation.
“It was an entertaining back-and-forth game, and at the end of the day we got the extra break, and that was the difference. And that’s what you need, to really take care of home ice.”
It also didn’t surprise Whale goalie Dov Grumet-Morris, a former Pirate who kept his team close in the final two periods of regulation. That’s when the Pirates had a 23-5 shot advantage, including 16-2 in the third period. The Whale’s two shots in the third were their low in a period this season.
“(Whitmore) just got it over me,” said Grumet-Morris, who played with Whitmore earlier this season. “He’s a good player who made a good play. It was an unfortunate series of events for us, but that’s overtime hockey.”
Whitmore and the Pirates were especially fortunate on the tying goal with 7:40 left in regulation. Whitmore intercepted a Whale clearing attempt at the left point and took a shot that found its way into basically an open net after Grumet-Morris was spun around when he was run into by a teammate.
“It was unfortunate, but I’ll take the blame before I blame anyone else,” Grumet-Morris said. “It happens in hockey.
“The fans got their money’s worth, and now there’s a quick turnaround so we have to be ready.”
The Whale had been 23-1-0-3 when leading after two periods,. The Pirates improved to 8-15-1-0 when trailing after two.
“The games don’t lie,” Dineen said. “There’s no luck involved. They’re all one-goal games and when you go to overtime, a bounce can happen either way. In saying that, I really liked the tone of our game in the final 20 minutes (of regulation) and the overtime. We said, ‘Let’s get some confidence instead of pushing back,’ and we did a good job of that.”
Despite only three shots in the opening 13 minutes, the Pirates took a 1-0 lead eight seconds after a power play ended.
Corey Tropp found Matt Ellis at a bad angle to the right of the net for a shot that deflected in off an off-balanced Grumet-Morris.
But the Whale scored twice in 1:16 to take a 2-1 lead. First, Tomas Kundratek found Lemieux streaking behind T.J. Brennan, and Lemieux slipped the puck between goalie David Leggio’s legs with 4:34 left for his first goal in 22 games with the Whale.
Then, on the Whale’s third power play, John Mitchell outmuscled Alex Biega behind the net and tried to pass in front to Kris Newbury, but the puck ricocheted in off Leggio with 3:18 left.
Neither team could muster any sustained offense in the second period, when the Pirates had a 7-3 edge in shots thanks largely to four power plays, but got only one good quality chance on Mark Parrish’s rebound in front at 3:22.
The Pirates got two more power plays midway through the third period, but Grumet-Morris flicked out his right pad to stop Parrish at 8:08, then denied Whitmore’s rebound with 10:48 left and another good Parrish bid with 9:40 to go.
Whitmore’s fortuitous tying goal two minutes later appeared to energize Portland, which nearly regained the lead with 5:18 left when Jeff Dimmen broke in down right wing, only to have his backhander kicked out by Grumet-Morris.
But Grumet-Morris was rendered helpless on the two-on-one in overtime.
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