PORTLAND — Alexandre Bolduc registered three points, including an assist on the game-winning goal, as the Portland Pirates edged the Worcester Sharks 4-3 on Friday night in front of 3,578 at the Cumberland County Civic Center.

The last time the Pirates and Sharks squared off, they combined for 15 fighting majors and 143 penalty minutes. Friday night’s rematch was anything but warm and fuzzy, with the exception of a teddy bear toss in the first period. Hundreds of fans in attendance tossed teddy bears on the ice following the Pirates’ first goal.

On the ice, it came down to composure.

“Firstly, I think we played 60 minutes tonight,” Pirates coach, Ray Edwards said. “We stayed composed and we didn’t get involved in the extracurricular stuff, which is hard. They are a tough team to play against.”

Worcester’s Tim Kennedy opened the scoring 4:17 into the first period. Mike Brennan, appearing in his first AHL game this season, flung the puck towards the net from the right point, and Kennedy was able to deflect it past Pirates goalie Chad Johnson and into net.

The Pirates responded a little over six minutes later while on the power play, thanks to a Matt Irwin tripping minor. Bolduc maneuvered the puck to David Rundblad in the far circle, who wasted no time in snapping the puck into the cage. Michael Stone notched the other assist.

“I think the guys did a nice job of staying confident and sticking with (the special teams plan),” said Edwards. “When you don’t have success, sometimes it’s hard to believe in the plan, but they stuck with it and got a couple tonight.”

Bolduc found the scoresheet again at the 11:32 mark of the second period, back-handing the puck past sprawled Sharks goaltender Alex Stalock and into the net.

Forty-one seconds later, Chris Brown extended Portland’s lead to 3-1 by capitalizing on a low shot from Michael Stone and redirecting the puck past Stalock. Andy Miele contributed the other assist.

Emotion started to boil over after Brown’s goal, leading to a fight between Jordan Martinook and Yanni Gourde late in the second period.

Worcester was able to reduce the Pirate’s lead to one goal following a defensive error by Portland. Jon Matsumoto stripped the puck away behind the Pirates net and fed it in front to James Sheppard for the lay-up tally at 16:44.

One minute and 15 seconds later, the Pirates restored their two-goal lead, courtesy of Chris Conner’s 6th goal of the season. Conner held off a Worcester defender as he skated down the right wing, cut in front of the Worcester crease, and finished off the play with a nifty backhand delivery.

“We’re a good team when we have the lead,” Bolduc said. “Tonight we had the lead and were able to play more our style instead of catch-up hockey.”

Less than two minutes into the third period, the tone of the game changed abruptly once again when Kennedy deposited his second goal of the night. The former Pirates forward collected the loose puck between the hash marks and scored on a spin-and-shoot play.

Brett Hextall and Bracken Kearns dropped their gloves midway through the third period as tensions remained high.

The Pirates survived a couple of close calls in the final minutes of regulation. Some Sharks skaters thought that they had tied the game on a goalmouth scramble with approximately eight minutes remaining, but the net had been dislodged. Chris Summers was called for interference at 19:34, but Portland was able to repel a handful of Worcester chances in the final seconds.

Portland finished 2-for-5 on the power play, while holding Worcester (0-for-7) off the score sheet with the man advantage.

Chad Johnson stopped 27 of 30 shots en route to his seventh win of the season. Alex Stalock made 33 saves in the loss.

NOTES: Although this was the fifth meeting of the season between the Pirates and Sharks, and the third home contest for Portland, this was the first time that the two squads played at the Civic Center this season. The other two home games were played at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston. The Pirates will return to the ice on Saturday night, December 1st, for a 7:00 p.m. face-off against the Providence Bruins. It will be Kent Hulst Bobblehead Night presented by Bath Savings Institution.