PORTLAND – Portland Pirates goaltender Maxime Ouellet is showing signs of returning to the form he displayed during last year’s record-setting season.

While the wins have come sporadically, Ouellet has played well, posting a 2.18 goals-against average and one shutout in six games with a save percentage of .931.

St. John coach Doug Shedden wondered why Ouellet wasn’t already in the NHL after his team managed only one goal against Ouellet in two games.

“I think he’s playing well,” said Pirates coach Tim Army. “He’s responding well to the movement of the puck. One area where we worked hard with him is his lateral play, and he’s moving very well. He’s looking good in net.”

With Washington starting slowly and both Olaf Kolzig (groin) and Sebastien Charpentier (ankle) battling nagging injuries, Ouellet could push Charpentier for the backup job if Charpentier should falter.

Ouellet was called up this weekend by Washington.

It was thought he might get a start Saturday. The struggling Caps wanted to give Ouellet a look and maybe spark things, but after a win Friday night, Washington didn’t make any changes and returned Ouellet to Portland.

“He’s a good shot blocker,” said Army. “I think his greatest strength is he’s a good shot blocker. The other things we’ve talked about is controling rebounds and adjusting rebounds and getting the pass out. I think his game has evolved in those areas.”

Ouellet set franchise marks for shutouts in a season (7), highest save percentage (.929), saves in a period (29) and longest shutout streak (193 minutes, 42 seconds) last season. He also was named to the Canadian All-Star team at the AHL All-Star Classic and earned AHL Second-Team honors at seasons end.

Ouellet seemed to tire at the end of last season, but sharing duties this season with Rastislav Stana may help that. Army is equally pleased with Stana’s progress. He was 2-2 with a 2.25 GAA and .918 save percentage through five games.

“I think they’re both playing very well,” said Army. “You couldn’t ask for better goaltending.”

Power up the power play

One thing the Pirates could use is a little more production in the power play. While the penalty kill ranked eighth in the league entering the weekend, the Pirates power play was 27th out of 28 teams.

“We’ve got to get our power play working,” said Army. “That’s the biggest thing right now.”

Portland had only three power play goals in its first 48 tries, a dismal 6.3 percent. Portland scored its fourth power play of the season Saturday night.

“I like the way we’re thinking as a group,” said Army. “Our defensive game is strong. We’ve got good goaltending. The penalty kill has been very, very good. If you can get the power play to be consistent and chip in every night with a power-play goal, then we’re going to be a tough team to play against.”

News and notes

The Pirates rank as the biggest team in the AHL with an average height of 6-foot-1 3/4 and weight of 206 pounds. Having Garret Stroshein (6-7, 245) and Nolan Yonkman (6-6, 245) on the roster certainly helps the average … Former UMaine star Niko Dimitrakos was the AHL Player of the Week last week. He had three goals and four assists in three games for Cleveland. Ouellet and former Pirate Peter Ferraro were among the nominees … Prior to Saturday’s game, Portland ranked last in the AHL in attendance, averaging 3,001 after five home games. Portland’s largest crowd was 3,974. The crowd was 3,173 Saturday night.

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