PORTLAND – Tim Army wanted his team to see it and then do it. So he went to the video tape.

Entering the third period Saturday night with a scoreless tie, the Portland Pirates coach wanted to find a means to produce the one offensive break the team needed.

“The one thing that we talked about between the second and the third period was that we turned the puck over a little more in the second period,” said Army. “So we showed a couple of clips between periods. I don’t normally do things like that. I just wanted to give them a chance to visualize it. We said we wanted to create a 200-foot game – put the puck in deep and move in the cycle and try to wear them down and generate some chances and capitalize on some opportunities. I thought we played a solid third period.”

Portland played a sound defensive game in the final 20 minutes and finally watched its work in the offensive end pay off. Portland got a Chris Hajt power-play goal off a defenseman’s skate and a Mike Souza wrister in a 2-0 victory in front of 5,191.

“We just kept being persistent,” said Hajt. “It’s a game where we came through and really didn’t get discouraged that we’re not scoring or getting chances or not getting chances. We tried to play like we can play and hopefully get some bounces. We worked really hard, and guys are doing a lot of good things.”

Goaltender Rastislav Stana stopped 28 shots for his third shutout of the season. He was sound throughout, backstopping Portland to its fifth straight game without a loss (3-0-2).

“I don’t think they had too many scoring chances,” said Stana. “They had less than 30 shots. Still I gave up some rebounds that I shouldn’t have, but they did have a lot of chances.”

Portland is ranked 27th in the league and has the second-least goals for in the AHL. Providence ranks 21st with just 2.38 goals per game, and the Bruins were missing the core of their offense, Matt Herr, Kris Vernarsky, Pat Leahy and Andy Hilbert, to injuries.

It made for a defensive struggle where the two goaltenders, Stana and the Bruins’ Peter Hamerlik kept each team deadlocked.

Portland finally broke the stalemate 6:41 into the third. Graham Mink drew a penalty when he was slammed into the boards by Ed Campbell. That enabled Portland to score on the power play for the fifth straight game. Mink went behind the net and fed Hajt out front at the left post. He tried to feed Brian Sutherby on the other side of the crease, but the pass redirected in off the skate of Shaone Morrison.

“It won’t be in a power play text book, but when you do things right you get rewarded,” said Army.

Stana preserved that lead with a nice save on Bryce Colburn in front with 7:26 remaining. Souza sealed the deal with 6:23 left, taking a Sutherby pass and wristing one from between the circles.

“It was a battle everywhere,” said Bruins coach Scott Gordon. “There was good penalty killing and good puck movement on both power plays. There was good coverage on second opportunities. It was just a solid playoff-style hockey game.”

Offense was not at a premium in the first two periods. Both teams struck out on the power plays while Hamerlik and Stana held their ground.

The second period featured just three shots through the first 13 minutes, and Providence didn’t record a shot until 3:55 left in the period.

Stana still had to make his share of saves. He stopped Robert Liscak with a sprawling save in the first period and then stuffed him on a bid from the slot late in the second.

PIRATES NOTES: Providence goaltender Tim Thomas served the second of his two-game suspension Saturday. Thomas was given the suspension for high-sticking Pirate Darcy Verot in the face a week ago in a 4-4 tie. Defenseman Josef Boumedienne returned for his second straight game after missing 21 games with an injury.