BRUINS FALL TO PIRATES

Back at The Dunk Friday, March 1

Portland, ME -- The Providence Bruins fell to the Portland Pirates 6-3 this evening at the Cumberland County Civic Center. Torey Krug, Kevan Miller and Craig Cunningham scored for Providence. Niklas Svedberg posted 23 saves in his first loss in 11 starts.

The Bruins, coming off a disappointing 3-2 shootout loss on Saturday in Norfolk, came out of the gates hot in Portland. Rookie defenseman Krug got the squad on the board first when his shot from the point made it's way through traffic and deflected off a Portland defenseman's skate. Tommy Cross and Justin Florek assisted on the opening goal. It only took the Pirates 50 seconds to respond as Portland's Martinook's goal 11:46 sent the teams into the locker room tied 1-1.

Portland, who came into the contest trailing the Bruins by two points in the Atlantic Division, could not be stopped in the second period. The club scored two power play goals in a span of less than two minutes. Coming into the game, the Pirates' power play ranked 22^nd in the league with a dismal 14.7% success rate.

The Bruins started the third period looking promising. Miller, who dropped Portland's Chris Brown in a first period fight, beat the Portland netminder topshelf through traffic in front, bringing the Bruins within one goal. However, the Pirates struck back and fast, scoring two goals in span of three minutes to take a 5-2 lead. Both goals were on special teams,  including a power playa goal that improved the Pirates to 3-for-3 on the power play as well as a shorthanded goal. However, 32 seconds later, Cunningham gave the Bruins renewed hope with their own power play goal. Despite the late efforts, the Pirates held on and secured the win with an empty net goal.