By BRUCE BERLET, Courant Staff Writer
PORTLAND, Maine -- Wolf Pack coach Jim Schoenfeld isn't a big proponent of the shootout, but he might soon change his mind.
After having a lengthy shutout streak stopped by Tim Brent's 6-on-4 goal with 47.2 seconds left in regulation, the Pack went to 4-0 in shootouts as Nigel Dawes and Jarkko Immonen scored for a 2-1 victory over the Portland Pirates Saturday night.
"We bring out the best in each other," Schoenfeld told Pirates coach Kevin Dineen as he left Cumberland County Civic Center. "That was a great game."
"He got his two points," Dineen said.
The victory enabled the Pack (21-16-3-0) to extend their points streak to 6-0-1 and move one point ahead of the Pirates (19-13-1-5) for second place in the Atlantic Division. Their fourth consecutive victory over the Pirates, two in shootouts, also moved the Pack within six points of Manchester, which hosts the Pack today.
"The last couple of games have been pretty hard-fought, and when it goes right down to the wire with a shootout, it shows how evenly matched it is," Pack assistant coach Ken Gernander said. "We weathered the storm early and matched their intensity stride for stride. We have no complaints about the effort."
Brent scored when a shot by Darien native Ryan Shannon deflected through the legs of the Pirates' Aaron Rome to the far post. Brent's backhander ended the Pack's shutout streak over the Pirates at 205 minutes, 39 seconds that spanned four games, including shutouts in the previous two meetings.
"That's how things can happen," Pack goalie Al Montoya said. "We knew they were going to come out firing because they're a real good team, and if they can get their momentum going, they can be scary. It was important to shut them down right away and get our feet under us. We played a good road game again, and that's huge in our division."
A scoreless first period in which the Pirates got 15 shots was highlighted by Montoya's stellar saves off Drew Miller alone in front and Immonen hitting the post.
The Pack broke the tie at 1:25 of the second and four seconds after a power play ended when a wide-open Dane Byers converted a pass from Ryan Callahan, who returned after missing two games with a shoulder injury.
Seven minutes later, Montoya (30 saves) stopped a wide-open Petteri Wirtanen, who had intercepted a clearing attempt by Craig Weller. Weller was moved from wing to defense because Dave Liffiton missed his first game with an undisclosed injury.
"I just tried to keep it simple," Weller said. "I got frozen a few times and threw that one [to Wirtanen], but other than that, I felt OK. We didn't allow a lot in our own end and had good support from our forwards."
Dov Grumet-Morris (37 saves) kept the Pirates in it late in the second with bang-bang stops off Byers and Callahan. The Pirates tied it when they pulled Grumet-Morris after Bryce Lampman's crosschecking penalty with 1:14 left, but the Pack won another shootout.
