On the Farm: Pirates Off to Rough Start

Every week Die by the Blade will take a look at how things are going on the farm with the Portland Pirates.  We will discuss their games from the previous week and take a look at the team leaders.  We will post a three stars of the week and ask for your comments on the team.

Much like the Buffalo Sabres, the Portland Pirates began their season with an opening night loss and now they wait.  The Pirates also played only one game last weekend and came out on the losing end.  The two teams are mirror image of each other as they out-shot their opponent but couldn't find the back of the net often enough.

The Good

• Marc-Andre Gragnani showed that he can add some offense from the blueline scoring both of the Pirates goals.
• Tyler Ennis was a plus one rating in his AHL debut.
• Pirates out-shot Springfield by a 33-24 margin in the game and 26-12 in the final two periods.
• Paul Byron had an assist in his AHL debut.

The Bad

• Lost 5-2 despite outshooting their opponent 33-24.
• Jhonas Enroth allowed five goals on only 24 shots in the 2009-2010 opener.
• Special Teams need to be better.  The Pirates were 0-for-7 on the power play and they were 2-for-5 on the penalty kill.

The Ugly

• The slash by Joe Dipenta on Kip Brennan.

Three Stars of the Week

1. Marc-Andre Gragnani - 2G-0A-2P
2. Paul Byron - 0G-1A-1P
3. Dennis Persson - 0G-1A-1P