Pirates drop tough one to Charlotte 5 - 4

Luke Adam gets 2 more goals for the Pirates in 5 - 4 loss. (Photo Jeff Schools)

Nick Dodge scored a goal and an assist to lead the Charlotte Checkers to a 5-4 win over the Portland Pirates in an American Hockey League game played tonight in front of 3,689 at the Time Warner Cable Arena.

Oskar Osala, Nicolas Blanchard, Jerome Samson and Chris Terry also replied for the Checkers, who posted their first home victory of the season to improve to 4-6-1-1.

Luke Adam paced the Pirates with two goals while Corey Tropp collected a goal and an assist. Travis Turnbull netted the other goal for Portland, who saw their four-game winning streak come to an end. The Pirates are now 9-3-0-0 on the season.

For the sixth straight game the Pirates scored first as Turnbull’s deflection gave Portland a 1-0 advantage six minutes into the game. The Pirates upped the count six-and-a-half minutes later as Tropp registered his first career AHL regulation goal (he has scored twice in shootouts) to give Portland a 2-0 lead after one. The Checkers exploded in the second scoring three times (Osala, Dodge and Blanchard) in 4:07 to surge into a 3-2 lead but midway through the period Adam silenced the uprising to even thing at three after two. Samson connected 90 seconds into the third to give the Checkers a one-goal lead and Terry upped the advantage to 5-3 with 4:53 left in regulation. Adam scored his second of the game with 25 seconds left to make it close.

Alex Petizian, signed to a try-out contract earlier in the day, made his first career start for the Pirates and allowed five goals on 42 shots to take the loss.

The Checkers out shot the Pirates 42-28 in the game.

The Allied Home Mortgage Three Stars of the game were 1. Dodge, 2. Adam and 3. Terry.

The Pirates will be back in action at the Civic Center on Friday (November 5th) when the Adirondack Phantoms come to town for a 7:30 p.m. faceoff. All fans will receive two free tickets to a future Pirates game with a donation to Goodwill. It’s also United Way Night. As part of the pre-game, a check presentation will be made to the United Way of Greater Portland representing funds raised through the Pirates involvement in the current United Way Campaign. Saturday it’s a Bud Light Hockey Night in Portland when the Pirates host the Providence Bruins at 7 p.m. at the Civic Center.

Tickets for the games, as well as each of the remaining Pirates home games, are on sale now by calling 207-775-3458, visiting the Cumberland County Civic Center Box Office or on-line at ticketmaster.com.

There’s still plenty of time to cash in on great savings by purchasing discounted ticket plans and advance tickets for the Pirates 2010-11 season. Ticket packages are available to meet all budgets and schedules. Call a Pirates Ticket representative today at 207-828-4665 ext. 350 to see what you’ve been missing!

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