Portland, ME, January 14, 2011 – Derek Whitmore scored a pair of goals, and David Leggio made 21 saves for his first career AHL shutout, to lead the Portland Pirates to a 3-0 win over the Connecticut Whale Friday night at the Cumberland County Civic Center.
The loss knocked the Whale (20-15-2-5, 47 pts.) down into third place in the Atlantic Division. They had entered the game in a second-place tie with the Pirates, who improved to 22-12-4-1 for 49 points with their fourth win in five games. It was the first win in three tries for Portland over the Whale, who had scored overtime wins in both of the previous meetings between the two teams.
Portland controlled much of the play in the first period, outshooting the Whale 10-5 and holding Connecticut without the shot until the 6:46 mark, by which time the Pirates had already put seven shots on Whale netminder Cam Talbot (26 saves).
The Pirates were not able to capitalize on their territorial advantage until there were only 26.8 seconds left on the clock. That was when Matt Ellis whacked a second try past Talbot from right on top of the Connecticut goalie, after good digging work by linemates Dennis McCauley and Mark Mancari. Mancari knocked Tim Kennedy off the puck in the right-wing corner and slid it below the goal line to McCauley, who played it toward the front of the goal as he was falling to the ice.
After that late goal, the Pirates got an early one in the second, at 4:25, as Whitmore scored his 12th of the season. Whitmore worked a give and go with Brian Roloff, who played the puck off the left-wing boards to Whitmore at the top of the circle. Whitmore’s snap shot went cleanly past the catching glove of Talbot, who was screened by a teammate and appeared never to see the shot.
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Talbot, though, was able to make a big save later in the period, when Maxime Legault, who came into the game with four goals in the previous four games, found himself on a breakaway after great pressure by the Whale at the other end. Legault broke down the left-wing side and tried to beat Talbot with a backhand, but Talbot stopped it with the right pad.
The Pirates kept the Whale effectively at bay through the third period, and put the game out of reach with Whitmore’s second of the game at 18:33 of the third. Whitmore took a feed from Legault and was able to work his way past Michael Del Zotto on left wing and move in alone on Talbot. Whitmore’s forehand shot went off the underside of the crossbar, hit Talbot in the back and trickled into the net.
The loss ruined the debut of the Whale’s new blue jerseys and dropped the team to 2-3-0 in its last five games, although it was only the fourth time in the last 21 games that the Whale had failed to gain a standings point (14-4-0-3). For Talbot, who fell to 7-3-2 on his rookie year, it was the first non-shootout loss in his last eight decisions (6-1-1). The shutout defeat was the Whale’s fifth in 42 games on the year. Leggio improved to 10-4-0 on the season, in just his second appearance in nine games.
Friday’s game concluded a stretch of four straight road games for the Whale, who play three straight and seven of their next eight at the XL Center, starting Saturday night at 7:00 against the Providence Bruins. That game will feature a special appearance by former Bruin stalwarts Rick Middleton and Reggie Lemelin, who will also play for the Bruins legends against the Whaler legends in the Harvest-Properties.com “Whale Bowl” at Rentschler Field February 19. Middleton and Lemelin will be signing autographs in the XL Center atrium Saturday from 6:00-7:00 PM, and then will drop a ceremonial first puck. The Whale are also home Sunday at 3:00, taking on the league-leading Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. That day will feature a free postgame skate, sponsored by Stone Academy.
Connecticut Whale 0 at Portland Pirates 3
Friday, January 14, 2011 – Cumberland County Civic Center
Connecticut 0 0 0 – 0
Portland 1 1 1 – 3
1st Period-1, Portland, Ellis 7 (McCauley, Mancari), 19:33. Penalties-Bickel Ct (fighting), 8:05; Conboy Por (fighting), 8:05; Tropp Por (interference), 12:31; Gragnani Por (slashing), 13:10; Kennedy Ct (hooking, unsportsmanlike conduct), 13:14.
2nd Period-2, Portland, Whitmore 12 (Roloff, Crawford), 4:25. Penalties-Nightingale Ct (hooking), 1:41; Klassen Ct (high-sticking), 7:16; McCauley Por (holding), 10:55; Nightingale Ct (roughing), 15:37; Legault Por (roughing), 15:37.
3rd Period-3, Portland, Whitmore 13 (Legault, Persson), 18:33. Penalties-Dupont Ct (hooking), 11:56.
Shots on Goal-Connecticut 5-10-6-21. Portland 10-10-9-29.
Power Play Opportunities-Connecticut 0 / 3; Portland 0 / 5.
Goalies-Connecticut, Talbot 7-3-2 (29 shots-26 saves). Portland, Leggio 10-4-0 (21 shots-21 saves).
A-3,448
Referees-Geno Binda (22).
Linesmen-Jeremy Lovett (78), Landon Bathe (80).
