PORTLAND – The St. John’s IceCaps remain the American Hockey League’s Kings of the Road.
One week after the Portland Pirates beat them at the Cumberland County Civic Center, St. John’s returned and showed why it has the AHL’s best road winning percentage.
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The IceCaps, the top team in the Atlantic Division, thoroughly frustrated the Pirates in a 3-0 win before a crowd of 4.720 at the Civic Center Saturday night.
“They are a good team, and they’re at the top of the league for a reason, and we can learn a lesson from them,” Portland Coach Ray Edwards said. “That’s the way you play. It’s a team game. Every puck was deep. Every guy finishes checks. We got frustrated by it.”
The Pirates go into the four-day AHL All-Star Classic break with consecutive losses.
Friday night, the Springfield Falcons won 3-2 at the Civic Center.
“It was two losses on home ice against teams we need to be beating,” Portland right wing Matt Watkins said.
Portland (21-18-2-3) goes into the break in fourth place in the Atlantic Division.
“We’ve got 32 games left, and we still have some time to make some hay and get ourselves into the position to make the playoffs,” Watkins said.
The Pirates held a slight edge in play during the first period. During one stretch, they held the IceCaps without a shot on goal for nearly 15 minutes. But St. John’s scored when Spencer Machacek muscled in a power-play goal with 3.2 seconds left in the period for his 11th goal.
“In games like that against good teams, little things are magnified,” Edwards said. “Obviously, we can’t give up a goal with three seconds left in a period.”
The IceCaps, who go into the break with a 27-11-5-1 record, took a 2-0 lead when their power play clicked again 13 minutes into the second period as defenseman Zach Redmond put in a rocket from the top of the slot for his fifth goal.
Portland had its chances, but couldn’t convert.
With 12:17 left in the game, referee Ed Smith waved off an apparent goal by Watkins.
“It could have went in in the corner of the net,” Watkins said. “The goalie’s arm was in the net, so it’s hard to tell.”
A little more than a minute later, Portland defenseman Chris Summers’ shot from the left point glanced off the far post.
With less than two minutes left, Kenndal McArdle put the puck in from the blue line for his sixth goal.
NOTES: The flu kept leading scorer Brett MacLean and right wing Ryan Duncan out of the Portland lineup for the second consecutive game.
Although eligible to play after serving a four-game suspension for a hit to the head in a Jan. 15 game at Manchester, Portland captain Dean Arsene was a healthy scratch.
Phoenix Coyotes GM Don Maloney was at the game.
Bowdoin College junior Molly Burke, daughter of Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke, is serving as an intern for the Pirates.
The Pirates are scheduled to resume practices next Thursday at 1 p.m.
Rookie forward Andy Miele is the only member of the Pirates participating in the AHL Classic at Atlantic City, N.J.
Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at:
pbetit@pressherald.com
Twitter: PaulBetitPPH
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