Peaking in Portland

The folks in Portland send me weekly updates about the Pirates, and here are some of the key notes from today's release:

*Until the Albany River Rats scored the first goal of the game on Friday night, the Pirates had not trailed in a game in 308:30 minutes of play. The last time the Pirates trailed before Friday night was Oct. 29th in their 3-2 overtime loss to the Hartford Wolf Pack.

*With an 11-1-1-0 record, Portland has the highest winning percentage in the AHL at .885. The Pirates have won 7 games in a row and are the only AHL team that has not suffered a regulation loss in their last 10 games.

*The Pirates' record of 11-1-1-0 is a franchise record for most wins during the first 13 games of a season. It is the best start in franchise history since the 1994-95 season, when the team was 10-0-3 through the first 13 games of the season.

*The Pirates are 6-0-0-0 in November. The Pirates have never gone undefeated in November, their best record in the month was 12-1-0-1 (W-L-OTL-T) in 1996-97.

*On Friday night, Jhonas Enroth made 27 saves in his sixth consecutive victory in the Pirates 6-3 win against the Albany River Rats. Enroth has a record of 6-1 through his first seven games. On Saturday night, Pirates goalie Adam Dennis made 27 saves in the Pirates 5-2 win over Providence. Dennis has a record of 5-1 on the season.

*The Pirates have allowed the fewest goals among all Eastern Conference teams (34).

---John Vogl

Comments

[jan]

Not much will happen with trades until late Feb.- early March. Put Connolly on IR, start benching Sabres that aren't playing well, then bring some one up from Portland for a chance to see how they handle the NHL. They should be careful about who they bring up. Some of those young guys may be doing well in Portland, but the NHL is a different game.

[Chad]

BTW, for those interested, TSN ranked three Buffalo prospects in the top 10 of their AHL player rankings:

http://www.tsn.ca/fantasy_news/feature/?ID=11702

[Chad]

Unfortunately, it seems like Mancari, Gerbe and Kennedy are down there until somebody goes on IR or is traded since almost no Sabres can be sent down without clearing waivers. Maybe Kaleta gets sent down soon?