MANCHESTER, N.H. — The Portland Pirates lost their fourth straight game, losing to the Manchester Monarchs 5-2 Friday evening at the Verizon Wireless Arena.
Portland fell behind 4-0 after allowing two goals in each of the first two periods.
Brian O’Neill scored his third of the season on a power play 4:43 into the first period. Nick Ebert got the second goal with 6:11 left before intermission.
In the second period, Justin Auger gave the Monarchs another early goal at 1:12.
Jeff Shultz made it 4-0 with 6:22 left in the second before Alexandre Bolduc converted a late power play for the Pirates.
Dylan Reese and goalie Mike McKenna assisted on Bolduc’s goal.
Sean Backman increased the lead to 5-1 on a power play at 11:13 of the third.
Lucas Lessio got Portland’s final goal 31 seconds later, following assists from Bolduc and Tobias Rieder.
The Pirates continued to struggle on the power play, converting just 1 of 6 for the game. After going 2 for 6 in the opener, a 3-2 win over Providence on Oct. 11, Portland has just two goals in 20 chances with the man advantage during its four-game slide.
The Pirates outshot the Monarchs 33-28, including a 13-7 edge in the first period.
Patrik Bartosak made 31 saves for Manchester.
Jordan Weal had three assists and Backman finished with two for the Monarchs.
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