The Portland Pirates endured a host of roster moves Tuesday and Wednesday, and then they suffered their first regulation loss in eight games at the hands of the Hartford Wolf Pack.
Four different Hartford skaters scored and Jeff Malcom earned his first professional victory between the pipes as the Wolf Pack skated to a 4-1 victory over the visiting Pirates.
JT Miller, Danny Kristo, Brandon Mashinter and Ryan Bourque scored for Hartford. Lucas Lessio had the lone Pirates’ goal.
The game got off to a hot start, as Hartford’s Darroll Powe was dragged down in front of the Pirates’ net just 1:57 into the game and was awarded a penalty shot. Mark Visentin stoned Powe’s attempt to keep the game scoreless.
Miller got the Wolf Pack on the board 6 minutes later, beating Visentin to give Hartford a 1-0 lead at 8:03 of the first. Kristo, a University North Dakota product who has been on fire in his rookie professional season, gave Hartford a 2-0 advantage at 15:15 of the first.
Brandon Mashinter extended the Hartford lead to 3-0 at 2:27 of the second, beating Visentin for his first goal of the season. The Pirates attempted to respond on three consecutive power play opportunities, but failed to convert.
The Pirates got their own chance for a penalty shot just minutes into the third period, but they too missed as Tobias Rieder rang his shot off the post.
Lucas Lessio finally broke through for the Pirates at 5:17 of the third with a power play tally,the first power play goal for the Pirates in four games. Lessio’s fourth of the year was assisted by Brandon Shinnimin.
Ryan Bourque gave Hartford its three-goal edge back at 8:51 of the third with his third goal of the season to seal the win for the Wolf Pack.
Nine fighting majors were assessed between the two teams and a total of 72 penalty minutes were assessed during the game. The Pirates went 1-for-5 on the power play
while Hartford was held scoreless on their three man advantages. Mark Visentin took the loss for the Pirates to drop to 6-5-1 on the year.
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