By Brian Ring
Portland, ME, April 14, 2011 – The Connecticut Whale fell to the Portland Pirates, 3-2, Thursday night in the first game of their Atlantic Division Semi-final series. Three goals in a span of 2:53 in the first period gave the Pirates the 1-0 series advantage before 2,171 fans at Portland’s Cumberland County Civic Center.
Game Two between the Whale and the Pirates will be Saturday night, also in Portland.
The Pirates had jumped out to a 1-0 lead 13:47 into the first period while on the power-play, as a failed clearing attempt turned into Portland’s first score of their three-goal flurry. Dov Grumet-Morris (20 saves) hugged the right-side post looking to poke-check Luke Adam, however Adam reached around the Whale goaltender and stuffed it in. Paul Byron and T.J. Brennan both assisted on the play.
“Little mistakes aren’t going to be little mistakes,” said Whale head coach Ken Gernander. “They manifest themselves into big plays throughout the course of the game.”
Portland extended their lead less than one minute later at 13:45 of the frame, as Corey Tropp sniped a wrist-shot past Grumet-Morris as he skated through the right circle, beating him high to the blocker side. Mark Voakes had set up Tropp with a pass up the slot.
Colin Stuart completed the outburst and gave the Pirates a 3-0 lead with a shot from the left point at 16:40, as Portland capitalized on the power play for the second time, with Nick Crawford and Voakes chipping in the assists. The Pirates outshot the Whale, 13-7, in the first period.
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“We compounded some of our problems by taking some penalties,” Gernander said. “When things aren’t going your way, you definitely don’t want to be playing shorthanded. We definitely let them get too much momentum.”
The Whale broke through 5:13 into the second, as Blake Parlett found himself in front of the Portland cage all alone and accepted a pass from Francis Lemieux in the left corner. Parlett managed to stuff it behind Portland goaltender David Leggio (23 saves) for Connecticut’s first goal of the playoffs. Tommy Grant also assisted on the goal.
Connecticut outshot the Pirates, 9-3, in the second period, but the Whale could not get anything else past Leggio with Parlett’s goal accounting for the only tally of the frame.
Dale Weise cut the Portland lead to 3-2 with 6:57 remaining in the third period, as his slap-shot from the slot was ripped past Leggio, knocking the goaltender’s water bottle flying. Evgeny Grachev and Wade Redden both assisted on Weise’s goal.
The first period letdown proved decisive, though, as the Whale could not mount any further offense against Portland, despite outshooting the Pirates 25-23 in the game and 18-10 over the last two periods.
“We got ourselves back into the game. We’ll focus on that tomorrow as more along the lines of how we have to play these next 60 minutes, and we’ll build from there,” said Gernander.
The Whale will face the Pirates again Saturday, as they meet for Game Two of the series.
The series will switch to the XL Center in Hartford for games Three and Four of the series, as the Whale will host Portland on Sunday the 17th (6:00) and on Tuesday the 19th (7:00).
Connecticut Whale 2 at Portland Pirates 3
Thursday, April 14, 2011 – Cumberland County Civic Center
Connecticut 0 1 1 – 2
Portland 3 0 0 – 3
1st Period-1, Portland, Adam 1 (Byron, Brennan), 13:47 (PP). 2, Portland, Tropp 1 (Voakes), 14:45. 3, Portland, Stuart 1 (Crawford, Voakes), 16:40 (PP). Penalties-Brennan Por (slashing), 0:52; Newbury Ct (tripping), 7:28; Couture Ct (goaltender interference), 12:05; Williams Ct (slashing), 15:08.
2nd Period-4, Connecticut, Parlett 1 (Lemieux, Grant), 5:13. Penalties-Adam Por (slashing), 7:03; Valentenko Ct (interference), 10:05; Whitmore Por (tripping), 16:07.
3rd Period-5, Connecticut, Weise 1 (Grachev, Redden), 13:03. Penalties-Turnbull Por (holding), 3:30; Weise Ct (elbowing), 7:31.
Shots on Goal-Connecticut 7-9-9-25. Portland 13-3-7-23.
Power Play Opportunities-Connecticut 0 / 4; Portland 2 / 5.
Goalies-Connecticut, Grumet-Morris 0-1-0 (23 shots-20 saves). Portland, Leggio 1-0-0 (25 shots-23 saves).
A-2,171
Referees-Chris Brown (86), Terry Koharski (10).
Linesmen-Landon Bathe (80), Jeremy Lovett (78).
