Trent Whitefield backhands in the game-winner for Portland.
By Kevin Mills
Staff Writer

PORTLAND – Tim Army gave his team a history lesson prior to the third period Sunday afternoon.

Maybe some of the Europeans didn’t understand all the historical references, but the Portland Pirates got the point. Portland produced a fine final 20 minutes and earned a 1-0 victory over Springfield in front of 3,918 patrons at the Cumberland County Civic Center.

“We called it a Cuban Missle Crisis third period,” said Army. “To see who would blink first?

“I told them the Americans always won, and we went on to win the Cold War from there and Ronald Reagan took over. Francois Methot was kind of paying attention but the others were just like: ‘shut up and get on with it.’ I like to spice things up once in awhile.”

It was Springfield that subsequently blinked, dropping its third straight, while Portland salvaged a win after two straight losses this weekend. After a dismal 5-1 loss to Manchester Saturday, the Pirates rebounded with a solid effort.

“We had a good talk before the game,” said Army. “I challenged everybody, and I was really proud of them. They really responded.”

The Pirates received a solid defensive effort, allowing just 16 Falcon shots, a season low. Maxime Ouellet had a fine effort for his second shutout of the year.

“He played well,” said Army. “I thought we did a good job limiting their opportunities, but when he was called upon to make some big stops, he did.”

Portland broke the scoreless tie with a power-play goal 7:18 into the third period. With former Pirate Chris Ferraro in the box for cross-checking Louis Robitaille, Portland converted for its fifth power-play goal of the season and second in its last 26 tries. Chris Hajt fired the puck from the left point. Goaltender Jean-Marc Pelletier gave up a rebound and Trent Whitfield was there to backhand it by him for the game-winner.

“It just happened to be lying there, and I whacked it in,” said Whitfield. “That’s what we’ve been waiting for (rebounds like that). I saw it sitting there. I actually whacked it twice before it finally went in.”

It was the second time in the last four games that a Pirate power-play goal proved to be the game-winner. Portland ranks 27th in the league on the power play.

“The power play really scored a big goal for us,” said Whitfield. “That’s been laying on a lot of the guys’ shoulders – especially myself.”

Springfield tried to rally for the equalizer late but Ouellet preserved the lead. He stopped Frantisek Lukes on a pair of shots, and Fredrik Sjostrom hit the post.

“I thought both goaltenders played well,” said Springfield coach Marty McSorley. “We had Frank Lukes with two or three chances and Fred hit the post. We just couldn’t get one to go in or go off a skate or something.”

Springfield only had eight shots through the first period, being outshot 11-3 through the first 16 minutes.

PIRATES NOTES: Sunday marked the return of Chris and Peter Ferraro, who signed with Springfield during the summer after spending the last few seasons in Portand. Though Chris played, Peter was a scratch but was with the team. Peter recently became the 66th member of the AHL’s 500-point club. Peter is currently second in scoring on the Falcons with seven goals and six assists. He’s also second in penalty minutes with 26, ranking behind Chris, who leads the club with 31 and a couple of black eyes stemming from a recent skirmish.