Sun, April 4, 2004

Wolf Pack get 7 back
Angelstad, Ulmer debut in D.C.

One of the bright spots in a difficult season for the Portland Pirates has been their goaltending. But that may be enough to propel them into the Calder Cup Playoffs.

Maxime Ouellet made 26 saves for his 10th shutout of the season on Saturday night, and Portland got three timely third-period goals to knock off Providence, 3-0, and move into a tie for fifth place in the Atlantic Division.

The Pirates (28-27-13-7) are even with Lowell at 76 points. The Lock Monsters have four games remaining, one fewer than Portland.

Jakub Cutta broke the scoreless tie with his first goal of the season, 7:12 into the final period. Ivan Ciernik added an insurance marker less than five minutes later, and Dwayne Zinger hit the empty net with 23 seconds to go and the Bruins skating with a 6-on-3 advantage.

Ouellet's 10 shutouts are one more than the AHL record heading into this season, and second only to Hartford's Jason LaBarbera (13). Despite an overall record that is 14 games under .500 (14-28-8), Ouellet owns a 1.99 GAA and .931 save percentage on the year.

Elsewhere on Saturday:
Frederic Cassivi made 33 saves as Chicago closed in on second-place Grand Rapids with a 2-1 win over the Griffins... Nolan Schaefer made 25 saves as Cleveland shut down Hamilton, 1-0... Alexander Suglobov scored and Matus Kostur made 36 saves for his first AHL win as Albany beat Lowell in overtime, 1-0... Martin Kariya scored with 1:53 left in regulation to give Bridgeport a 3-2 win over Hershey... Blake Evans and Peter Sejna recorded a goal and an assist apiece to help Worcester defeat Hartford, 3-1... Defensemen Freddy Meyer and John Slaney each scored twice as Philadelphia moved closer to the East Division title with a 4-1 win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton... Marty Wilford scored one goal and set up another as Norfolk beat Binghamton, 3-1... Domenic Pittis recorded a goal and an assist to move into a tie for third in the AHL's scoring race and lead Rochester over Syracuse, 5-3... Kiel McLeod scored twice and Peter Ferraro had three assists as Springfield beat Manchester, 5-3... Brandon Segal's goal early in the third period lifted Milwaukee to a 4-2 win over Cincinnati... San Antonio passed Utah and moved to within five points of a playoff spot in the West Division as Travis Scott made 33 saves in a 3-1 win over the Grizzlies.

~*Jazzy*~