Greetings from HSBC Arena, where the Portland Pirates will serve as the home team tonight. The Buffalo Sabres' AHL affiliate is in town to host the white-hot Rochester Americans.
Buffalo's old affiliate has won 11 games in a row and is in first place in the AHL's Western Conference North Division with a 12-1-1 record.
This is the first meeting between the two teams since the Sabres switched affiliates prior to last season.
One player who won't be on the ice for the Pirates is Nathan Gerbe. The second-year pro will miss his fourth straight game because of injury. You can read more on that in tomorrow's Pirates notebook.
I still like this idea of Portland playing games here, but I'm not sure about the timing. Having the game sandwiched between two Sabres home games might hurt attendance, by the looks of things in the Arena so far. Three straight nights is a lot to ask of Sabres season ticket holders (the assumed target market for this game), both in terms of time and the hit that takes on one's wallet.
That being said, it provides a great chance to see some of Buffalo's young prospects for a reasonable cost, something that's not easily done anymore considering the distance between Western New York and Maine.
Back for the drop of the puck in about 20 minutes.
FIRST PERIOD
As The News' John Vogl reported earlier today, Jhonas Enroth has been sent back to the Pirates by the Sabres. He's in net tonight. The rest of the Portland starters: Mike Weber and Matt Generous, D; Tyler Ennis, C; Mark Mancari, RW; Philip Gogulla, LW.
Portland scratches: Felix Schutz, C; Marc-Andre Gragnani, D; Gerbe; Brad Larsen, LW.
7:06 p.m.: We're underway.
7:13 p.m.: Decent chance for Pirates LW Jeff Cowan after a turnover at the Rochester blue line. Cowan's shot is gloved by Amerks rookie goalie Alexander Salak. We're still scoreless.
7:17 p.m.: Enroth's first big save of the game comes with 12:19 left in the first period after Rochester's Mike York got free behind the Portland defense. York went five-hole, to no avail. Shots are 4-3 Amerks.
7:24 p.m.: A good shift by Portland LW Derek Whitmore results in a couple good chances but still no score. Shots are now 6-6 with less than five minutes to play in a quick-moving first.
7:27 p.m.: First penalty of the game comes with 3:16 left in the first and goes to Rochester's Graham Mink for holding. Pirates to the power play.
7:31 p.m.: Before the Portland fans can even celebrate taking a 1-0 leadon Mancari's power play goal, the Amerks tie it 1-1 on Jeff Taffe's goal just 17 seconds later. It's 1-1. Mancari took Ennis' touch pass and blasted it home from the point. Taffe scored on a great feed from Jamie Johnson.
7:34: Tough way for the Pirates to end the period. On a delayed penalty, Rochester takes a 2-1 leadon Johnson's perfect tip of a point shot from Jason Garrison with just 27.4 seconds left in the period. Taffe also had an assist; he and Johnson have two points on the night.
7:36 p.m.: End of 1, 2-1 Rochester. Shots are 8-7 Amerks.
SECOND PERIOD
7:52 p.m.: We're back. Just one penalty in that first period. Not much hitting either.
7:56 p.m.: Portland to the power play as Rochester's Peter Aston goes off for holding at 1:46.
7:59 p.m.: Nothing doing on the power play, still 2-1 Rochester with 16:07 to go in the second.
8:01 p.m.: This time it's a Pirate to the box, as C Travis Turnbull is whistled for holding.
8:02 p.m.: Doesn't matter. Portland's Paul Byron ties it at 2-2 with a short-handed goal on an assist from Cody McCormick.
8:06 p.m.: Enroth makes a big save on a partial breakaway for Rochester's Jimmy Bonneau. Shots are 11-11 so far exactly halfway through the game.
8:15 p.m.: Philip Gogulla's third goal of the season gives the Pirates a 3-2 lead. It was scored on the type of goal you'd see at the NHL level. A perfect three-way passing play from the top line of Ennis-Mancari-Gogulla leads to an easy one.
8:17 p.m.: Whitmore is rewarded for his earlier hard work with his third goal of the season. His impossible-angle shot from the left somehow gets behind Salak and makes it 4-2 Portland. That one chases Salak. Chris Beckford-Tseu is now in net for the Amerks, if you're scoring at home.
8:25 p.m.: We saw one NHL-level play in that period and one mite-level play. With less than 10 seconds to play in the second Rochester's Keaton Ellerby trips over his own blue line, leading to a breakaway for McCormick, who beats Beckford-Tseu with just 3 seconds to go in the period. It's 5-2 Pirates.
8:26 p.m. End of 2, 5-2. Shots, 18-17 Rochester.
THIRD PERIOD
8:44 p.m.: We're back for the third. A quick note on attendance: It's bad. Probably about 4,000 or so, much less than the more than 11,000 who were here in February. Not a soul in the 300s. Posts will be sporadic in the third as we've got a game story to write.
8:56 p.m.: Portland to the power play with 10:12 left. Rochester's David Brine goes off for tripping.
8:59 p.m.: It's turning ugly. Mancari takes a cross-checking penalty with 8:46 left, negating the rest of the Pirates power play, after it looked like the referees missed a high sticking on Rochester.
9:00 p.m.: Announced attendance 4,685. Sounds about right.
9:02 p.m.: Rochester scores on the power play. York sets up former Sabre Chris Taylor in front with 7:39 left. A few "Let's Go Amerks" chants can be heard. It's 5-3 Portland.
9:12 p.m.: Timeout Rochester, 1:38 to play. Still 5-3 Portland.
9:13 p.m.: Kyle Wanvig ices it for the Pirates, scoring into an empty net with 1:17 left. It's 6-3.
9:15 p.m. Final score: Portland 6, Rochester 3. Back after the game with some quotes.
POSTGAME THOUGHTS
Ennis is the real deal. He looks like a young Derek Roy and made some dazzling plays with the puck. I wouldn't expect to see him in Buffalo soon, though. He's got a lot of getting bigger and stronger to do before he can handle NHL defensemen. ... The attendance was simply disappointing, no other way to put it. ... The Gerbe injury sounds like a real concern. Portland's people are being awfully quiet about it. Two concussions in the span of a year is scary.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Mark Mancari:
On the win: "It was a really important win for us. We had a tough loss last night and obviously coming in and playing the No. 1 team in the league, it was a sign of good things to come."
On getting bounces: "Sometimes you get that when you're working hard and sometimes you don't. Tonight was one of those nights where we did the right things and the bounces came our way and it showed on the scoreboard."
On his line: "My line played well all around. We were moving the puck and I was able to find Philip there for the goal, so that made a big difference. Tonight was our first night, the three of us together. ... I though things went really well. We had a lot of communication and we knew where each other were."
Head coach Kevin Dineen
On Tyler Ennis: Tyler has been a guy who's not unlike Timmy Kennedy here last year. When I was looking to get a player going we seemed to put him on his [Kennedy's] wing and all of a sudden he's playing some pretty good hockey. [Ennis is also] not unsimilar in that both of them have never been natural centers, so he [Ennis] is working himself into that role and has probably been our top player to this point."
---Jay Skurski
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