LEWISTON — This week provided a respite for many in the working world and an extended vacation for those in education.

But just two days after the Portland Pirates played arguably one of their worst games of the season to snap a seven-game point streak, the team will be right back at it Friday and Saturday for a pair of games against conference foes Worcester and Springfield.

The first of those games is the team’s first home tilt in two weeks at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston against a Sharks squad that has matched Portland’s win total with seven.

They go to the net hard; they’re very aggressive,” Pirates’ coach Ray Edwards said of Worcester. “They get a lot of screen goals, a lot of tips and second-chance goals, and we have to be ready for that and help our goaltender out.”

Edwards wouldn’t say which of Mark Visentin or Mike Lee would get the start Friday. Visentin has seen the most action for the Pirates this season with a 6-5-1 record. He played Wednesday in the team’s setback to the Hartford Wolf Pack, a game the team lost 4-1.

“I didn’t think we played well as a team at all,” Edwards said. “We didn’t start well; we didn’t compete hard. And even with all that, we scored to make it 3-1 in the third and we had a chance. But it just wasn’t a good game.”

The Pirates have lost a significant amount of firepower and steady play to players signing elsewhere and through call-ups to the NHL in the last couple of weeks, which has changed the dynamic of the team. Still, Edwards said the team needs to battle through that.

“Part of winning in this league is attrition,” he said. “With injuries, call-ups, other guys need to step up.”

Gilbert Brulé scored six goals in eight games for the Pirates and then signed recently to play in the KHL in Russia. The Pirates’ parent club, the Phoenix Coyotes, recalled Tim Kennedy a couple weeks back, and he’s chipped in with four assists for the Coyotes. The Coyotes also recalled the team’s second-leading scorer, Chris Brown, and top defensive prospect Connor Murphy earlier this week.

Andy Miele continues to lead the Pirates in scoring with 14 points in 16 games this season.

The Sharks’ Bracken Kearns is a dual threat, leading the team in scoring (13 points) while also staying among the team leaders in penalty minutes. Danill Tarasov with 12 is the only other Worcester skater in double figures in points.

Troy Grosenick has been the Sharks’ better goalie this season, though Harri Sateri has played more games. The pair has allowed 46 goals in 16 games.

Saturday, the Pirates will skate in Springfield to complete a three-games-in-four-days stretch.