Lowell Devils Get Bedeviled, Unable To Hold Lead In AHL Loss To The Portland Pirates, 3-2 Shootout Style

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MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com – PORTLAND, Maine - The Portland Pirates (30-26-3-9) fought off a two-goal deficit to defeat the Lowell Devils (34-24-5-6) 3-2 in the shootout at the Cumberland County Civic Center Friday night.

On the power play in the early stages of the first period, Petr Vrana gave the Devils the lead. He took a pass from Dan McGillis in the slot and snapped home his 12th of the season. Vrana tied his mark from last season, which was his rookie year, and the goal came at 7:37. Just over four minutes later Chris Minard made it 2-0 Lowell, firing home his 27th of the season from the right circle. Barry Tallackson picked up the lone assist, returning to the Devils lineup for the first time since February 28th.

Portland spent much of the second stanza in the attack zone, forcing G Frank Doyle to make several key saves in the cage for the Devils. However, with 5:57 remaining in the period, Portland got on the board. Simon Ferguson netted his sixth of the season, burying a blast from the right wing boards to cut the Devils lead in half. The Pirates led in shots during the period 11-5.

Neither team had many quality chances in the third, and the Devils went nearly halfway through the frame without a shot on goal. The game reached the final minutes of regulation when the Pirates managed to tie the score. Aaron Rome notched his seventh of the campaign at 15:02 to knot the score. The two clubs combined for just 11 total shots in the third.

The Devils and Pirates headed to overtime for the fourth straight meeting and Lowell got in trouble by taking a penalty with less than two minutes remaining in the extra session. They still had a chance to take the win with a 2-on-1 shorthanded break in the final minute, but Mike Mottau missed the net just wide. In the shootout, Ryan Murphy, Vrana and Mike Pandolfo scored for the Devils against G Gerald Coleman while Joe Motzko, Mark Hartigan, Geoff Peters and Motzko again (in sudden death) scored for Portland to take the win.