Arizona Coyotes AHL Report- 5/4/15
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The Arizona Coyotes AHL affiliate, the Portland Pirates, were unable to overcome an early 2-0 series deficit against the Manchester Monarchs and were eliminated from the Calder Cup playoffs. Portland was able to win two games and send the series to a decisive Game 5.
The Pirates were able to win Game 3 and send the series to another match up. In the final two games, the Pirates showed fantastic resilience. The team featured players that have spent some of the season with Arizona along with some of the Coyotes brightest prospects from the CHL.
Mar 9, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Coyotes goalie Louis Domingue (35) looks on against the Nashville Predators at Gila River Arena. The Predators won 2-1 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Game 4 in Portland was a destruction on the Monarchs. The Pirates cruised to a 5-0 victory and forced a Game 5. Louis Domingue saved all 28 shots on his way to a shutout.
Francis Wathier scored 2 of the goals for Portland. Brandon Gormley, Patrick McNeill, and Brendan Perlini would score the other 3. Gormley along with Lucas Lessio and Henrik Samuelsson had two assists in the contest. Eric Selleck, Laurent Dauphin, and Jordan Szwarz also pitched in assists.
The decisive Game 5 saw the Pirates make one furious comeback, but didn’t have enough in the tank to make it two. Manchester was off to a raucous start and were leading 3-0 during the 2nd period. By the end of the period, however, Portland managed to tie the game.
Sep 22, 2014; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Coyotes center Henrik Samuelsson (15) carries the puck during the second period against the Los Angeles Kings at Gila River Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports
Henrik Samuelsson started the scoring with helpers from Gormley and Brendan Shinnimin. Minutes later Tyler Gaudet cut the deficit to one. Assists went to Szwarz and Gormley. With a second remaining in the second period, Shinnimin fired a shot past the goaltender to tie the game at 3.
However, within the first two minutes of the third period the Monarchs scored twice and this time were able to keep the lead. Portland fought valiantly but in the end the #8 seed was not able to dethrone the #1 seed.
Shinnimin led the Pirates in scoring with 6 points. Shinnimin and Gormely led the team with 4 assists. Wathier led Portland in goals with 3. Henrik Samuelsson accumulated 5 points with 2 goals and 3 assists. Domingue went 2-2 with a 2.37 goals against average and .925 save percentage.