PORTLAND – Rookies picked up the slack for the undermanned Portland Pirates Wednesday night.
Rookie defenseman Nick Crawford and rookie center Luke Adam each had two goals and an assist as the Pirates ran away with a 7-0 victory against the Providence Bruins before a crowd of 3,369 at the Cumberland County Civic Center.
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It was the fourth consecutive win for the Pirates, who pulled to within a point of idle Manchester, the leader in the AHL Atlantic Division. Portland holds three games in hand over the Monarchs.
The Pirates, who handed the Bruins their seventh consecutive loss, played without veteran forwards Matt Ellis and Colin Stuart, who are out with lower-body injuries suffered during last weekend’s two-game trip.
“We’re a beat-up hockey team right now and I’m trying to distribute the ice time,” Portland Coach Kevin Dineen said. “We start the game one (player) down and you don’t like that, so you really want to get those minutes around and (the players) are taking advantage of those minutes.”
Dineen was unsure whether Ellis and Stuart, who rank among the top five in points on the club, would be able to play this weekend.
“Our guys work hard,” said Dineen, whose team was 3 for 11 on the power play while Providence was 0 for 2. “Unfortunately, when they work as hard as they do, they get some bumps and bruises that keep them out of games, so we bring in other players and they’ve done a good job as well.”
Six of Portland’s goals were scored by rookies.
“I think it speaks to the depth of our team,” Crawford said. “We had a lot of older guys out tonight. As young guys, it’s our job to step up when that happens …”
David Leggio made 23 saves for his second shutout of the season. He started in place of Jhonas Enroth, who is up with Buffalo..
“This is the first time (Enroth) has really had a challenge and I think he’s met that challenge,” Dineen said. “In saying that, (Leggio) keeps demanding his time in the net. He’s doing a great job and I love having to make that decision every day.”
It was the sixth consecutive win for Leggio, who has a 1.50 goals-against average during his streak.
Adam, who has been slow to bounce back since returning from a lengthy stay in the NHL, extended his points streak to four games.
“I kind of got away from my game for a couple of weeks,” he said. “I wasn’t playing the type of hockey I was used to. I was floating around, kind of waiting for things to happen rather than make them happen.”
The Pirates took a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Crawford and Maxime Legault, a rookie right wing.
Crawford and Adam scored power-play goals in the second period to make it 4-0.
Mark Mancari scored his AHL-leading 30th goal in the third.
Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at:
pbetit@pressherald.com
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