PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Jon Sim scored two goals and R.J. Umberger added a goal and two assists as the Philadelphia Phantoms defeated the Portland Pirates 5-0 in the American Hockey League on Sunday.

Goaltender Neil Little stopped all 32 shots he faced for his third shutout of the season and the 16th of his AHL career.

Randy Cote and Ben Stafford also scored for Philadelphia (39-21-3-4), which has won five of its last seven games and moved into a first-place tie with Binghamton in the East Division. Both teams have 85 points, but the Phantoms have played one less game.

Goalie Maxime Daigneault made 25 saves in his second career start for Portland (30-28-3-5). He also played against Philadelphia in a 3-2 victory at Portland last week. Sim wasted no time by helping Philadelphia grab a 1-0 lead just 36 seconds into the contest.

After Daigneault stopped Umberger’s shot, the puck trickled between his pads and lay in the crease for Sim to deposit into an open net.

Sim made it a 2-0 game with a power-play goal at 7:44 of the second period when he deflected Joni Pitkanen’s point-shot for his second of the game and 32nd of the season. Sim has recorded 12 goals in his last nine games.

The Phantoms increased the pressure in the Pirates’ zone, but were kept off the scoreboard as Daigneault made several point-blank saves.

Philadelphia then broke the game open with a pair of goals 24 seconds apart. Umberger one-timed a loose puck from the point at 14:09 for his 17th of the season before Cote added his own one-timer from the slot at the 14:33 mark for his third.

Philadelphia sent 21 shots on goal during the middle stanza.

Portland applied its own pressure in the third and had a two-man advantage late in the game, but was unable to solve Little, who turned aside 14 shots in the final frame.

Stafford completed the scoring midway through the third with his 13th goal.

Pitkanen and John Slaney each added two assists for Philadelphia. Slaney notched his 800th career AHL point and 200th as a Phantom.

AP-ES-03-20-05 2305EST