MANCHESTER, N.H. – T.J. Brennan had a goal and two assists, Jhonas Enroth made 35 saves and the Portland Pirates overcame a disadvantage in shots on goal for a 3-1 win over the Manchester Monarchs in a battle of the Atlantic Division’s top teams Friday night at Verizon Wireless Arena.
The second-place Pirates, who are 7-3 in their last 10 games, moved to within a point of the Monarchs.
The Pirates were held to single digits in shots in each period and were outshot 36-23.
“We used a lot of our lineup, which was a good thing for us, and we played extremely hard,” said Pirates Coach Kevin Dineen. “We knew the importance of tonight’s game and answered the challenge.”
With the teams skating four per side, Brennan scored his seventh goal to give Portland a 2-1 lead with 3:20 left in the second period. Marc-Andre Gragnani and Corey Tropp assisted on the goal.
Brennan set up Luke Adam’s 13th goal on a power play with 8:17 left in the third and earned an assist on Mark Mancari’s league-leading 29th goal 8:14 into the first period. Mark Parrish also assisted on Mancari’s goal, and Gragnani assisted on Adam’s goal.
Mancari matched his career high for goals set during the 2008-09 season.
Manchester’s Jordan Nolan tied it at 1 with his fourth goal at 8:30 of the second.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
