The Springfield Falcons defeated the Pirates 9-3 at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee, marking the first time they’ve allowed nine goals in a home game.

“I know you guys see 9-3, but it wasn’t even close to being a 9-3 game,” Portland coach Ray Edwards said. “You look the chances, the way the game was being played, they certainly had some momentum swings, we had some momentum swings, they scored on their chances.

“Again, it wasn’t a 9-3 hockey game.”

The previous record for goals allowed at home was eight, which was done twice. The first time was Jan. 12, 1996, against Providence, and the second time came on Oct. 26, 2002 against the Lowell Lock Monsters. Both games were 8-4 finals.

Sunday’s game went downhill quickly for the Pirates, and kept sinking.

Patrick McNeil’s slapshot from the top of the left circle found its way through Mark Visentin. It was McNeil’s sixth goal of the season with Ryan Craig and Jack Skille notching the assists at the 4:21 mark of the first period.

On the next shift, Sean Collins went in on a breakaway and found the back of the net for his 11th of the season. Matt Taormina picked up the lone assist.

Springfield did some damage on the power play. Dana Tyrell found the back of the net with two seconds left on Darian Dziurzynski’s goaltender’s interference penalty at the 7:47 mark. Lukas Sedlak and Danny Urban set up the goal.

Urban picked up his second assist on Darryl Boyce’s 11th goal of the season on the man advantage with 3:06 remaining in the first period. Sean Collins also was credited with an assist for his second point of the period.

The four goals allowed by Visentin marked a temporary end to his day, as Louis Domingue replaced him in goal to start the second. Visentin stopped six shots while Domingue made eight saves on 13 chances.

Visentin returned to goal after Domingue allowed the ninth goal. In his second stint, he made eight saves.

“I think our goaltenders would admit they didn’t have a great night tonight, but I thought overall we had some good opportunities to score,” Edwards said. “On the power play, we lost come key components to our power play. We are working through different people on there. So it hasn’t looked good as it has.”

Mike McKenna stopped 27 shots for the win.

Brett Hextall cut the deficit to 4-1 with his goal 3:02 into the middle stanza. Kyle Hagel and Ethan Werek assisted on Hextall’s tenth of the season.

The Falcons special teams continued in the second period.

Former Lewiston Maineiac forward Michael Chaput scored a power play goal 9:28 into the period from the right circle for his 16th.

Springfield scored on all three power play chances while Portland was scoreless on its five chances.

Andrew Joudrey potted his tenth goal of the season with a shorthanded marker a mere 34 seconds later with Taormina and Tyrell adding to their point total to the evening.

Austin Madaisky capped off the scoring in the second period with a blast from the point to stretch the Falcons lead to 7-1. The unassisted goal came at the 14:31 mark.

Skille scored twice 26 seconds apart to start the third period. His first goal came at the 1:20 mark with Taormina setting the goal up. His ninth goal of the year was set up by Chaput and Urban at the 1:46 mark..

Tim Kennedy notched Portland’s second goal 4:53 into the period with Tobias Rieder and Connor Murphy had the assists.

Brandon Yip picked up the Pirates third goal with 3:52 to play in the game.

“Our guys don’t quit, they are good kids, they don’t quit,” Edwards said. “We are embarrassed about that game. We’ve been embarrassed on the way we play at home. This team has dealt with a lot, they have never quit. It hasn’t been a perfect year obviously, but I have a lot of respect for our team because in games like this they keep fighting. We appreciate that effort.”

In a transaction earlier Sunday, the Phoenix Coyotes called up Pirates leading scorer Andy Miele. The 5-foot, 9-inch forward has 23 goals and 35 assists this season in 60 contests. The 58 points put him in fifth place in AHL scoring. He has appeared in four games this season with the Coyotes, recording two assists.

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