PORTLAND – The Portland Pirates failed to clinch the AHL Atlantic Division title Wednesday night, but rookie Luke Adam brought them to within a point of earning home-ice advantage for the first two rounds of the Calder Cup playoffs.
Adam scored his 28th goal of the season with 30 seconds left in overtime to lift the Pirates to a 6-5 victory against the Manchester Monarchs before a crowd of 3,545 at the Cumberland County Civic Center.
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Both teams already clinched playoff berths, but the win put Portland four points ahead of Manchester in the race for the division title.
The Pirates have three games left in the regular season and the Monarchs have two. Portland has to earn just one point over the weekend to capture its first division title since 2006.
“We fully expect (the Monarchs) to go out and win both of their games, and we still have to do our business,” Portland Coach Kevin Dineen said. “Certainly, it was great for us to win that in overtime.”
The Pirates, who would have clinched the division crown with a win in regulation, rallied from a two-goal deficit.
“It would have been great to win it in regulation, but it was still great to get the two points,” said left wing Derek Whitmore, who scored his 27th goal eight minutes into the third period to give the Pirates a short-lived 5-4 lead. “It was a great win for us, the way we did it coming back and winning it in overtime.”
Center John Zeiler and defenseman David Kolomatis scored in the first five minutes of the second period to help the Monarchs to a 3-1 lead.
Three minutes later, Paul Byron scored his second power-play goal of the game on a shot from the top of the right circle to make it 3-2. It was his 24th goal of the season.
With eight minutes left in the second period, Manchester took a 4-2 lead when defenseman Pat Mullen slammed in a rebound of his own shot. Less than two minutes later, Colin Stuart scored his 16th goal on a power play to make it 4-3.
Adam tied the score with the Pirates’ fourth power-play goal of the game seven minutes into the third period.
After the Pirates took the lead on Whitmore’s goal, Bud Holloway, who scored all four of the winning goals in the Monarchs’ sweep of the Pirates in the first round of last year’s playoffs, tied the game with his 28th goal with less than six minutes left to force overtime.
Four of the six defensemen who played for the Pirates weren’t even on the roster a week ago.
“Someone told me we had eight or nine regulars out tonight,” Adam said. “For guys to step into roles, step right into a game that was like a playoff game, says a lot about the kind of players they are.
“It makes the guys who have been here all year comfortable to have guys come in like that and perform like they do.”
NOTES: Portland left wing Dennis McCauley sat out after injuring his right shoulder Tuesday night during a fight with Worcester forward Cam MacIntyre. … Former Boston College goalie John Muse, who was signed Tuesday by the Pirates to an amateur tryout contract, did not dress for the game. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Coach John Hynes was named winner of the Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award as the AHL’s top coach. Binghamton center Cody Bass received the Yanick Dupre Memorial Award, presented to an AHL player for his outstanding contributions to his local community and charitable organizations. The Pirates signed former Providence College defenseman Eric Baier to an amateur tryout contract.
Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at:
pbetit@pressherald.com
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