Portland Pirates Dominate Monarchs To Even Series 2-2
Francis Waither… (WHO?) Brings Portland Pirates One Win Away From Advancing In Calder Cup Playoffs
I know — who is this guy? Well, he’s been involved in hockey since 2001, when he started playing junior hockey in the QMJHL. He did that till 2005, when he started playing for the Iowa Stars, an affiliate of the Dallas Stars NHL club. He has played in the AHL for 10 seasons, so you can call him a ‘seasoned’ minor league hockey player.
More of a tough guy, than a scorer, he has only played in 10 NHL games in his hockey career, and has yet to accumulate a single NHL point.
BUT…. in game three of this series against the Eastern Conference Champs — Manchester Monarchs, he scored the winning goal with 2.9 ticks on the clock to win it for the Portland Pirates. You might say that inspired the team, and in game four he doubled his heroics by lighting the lamp twice to thump the Monarchs 5-0.
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Louis Domingue showed why he could be Mike Smith’s backup with the parent Arizona Coyotes next season, by stopping all 28 shots directed at him. The Portland Pirates made good on 14 of 19 shots, or a 74% clip to show the Monarchs this series is far from over.
The final and deciding game five will be Saturday night in Manchester N.H. It would be quite an upset for the eighth seed Pirates to overturn the first seed Monarchs. But, as they always say, “this is the playoffs, and anything can happen.”
The players the Arizona Coyotes are hoping will develop well enough to play at the next level showed up for this important game. Brandon Gormley stepped up with the first Pirate goal, and assisted on two others for a three point game.
Henrik Samuelsson also chipped in two assists, as well as Lucas Lessio. Then, in the third period Brendan Perlini scored his first professional goal to ice the game for the Portland Pirates.
If they can play this well in the fifth game, things could get interesting. The only AHL championship for the Pirates took place in the ’92-’93 season. If they can come away with a big win tomorrow night, they could be on their way to another. They’ve come this far, and have an opportunity to continue on their quest to drink from the Calder Cup.
LET’S CHEER ON THE PORTLAND PIRATES ! !
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