Springfield, MA – Kyle Rank scored his first career hat trick and added an assist in leading the Portland Pirates to a 7-1 win over the Springfield Falcons in an American Hockey League game played tonight in front of 2,913 at the MassMutual Center.
Derek Whitmore added a pair of goals for the Pirates while Kyle Wanvig and Jeff Cowan rounded out the goal scoring. Mike Kostka supplied two assists for the winners, who won for the second straight time and extended their road point streak to nine games (6-0-2-1). Overall the Pirates improved to 14-11-3-2.
Bill Thomas netted the lone goal for the Falcons, who are now winless in nine (0-7-1-1) and sunk to 10-13-4-2 on the year.
            The Pirates led 2-0 after one on a shorthanded tally by Rank and a power-play strike by Whitmore. Thomas cut the lead to one early in the second when he capitalized with the man advantage but the Pirates responded loudly. Whitmore added his second of the game just 22 seconds later, the first of four second-period goals as Portland cruised into the third with a 6-1 advantage. Rank completed his hat trick in the final minute of the game to complete the scoring.
            The Pirates played the game without Mark Mancari, who was recalled by the Buffalo Sabres earlier in the day. Despite missing Mancari and Nathan Gerbe (also with Buffalo), two of their three top scorers, Portland managed to produce their highest offensive goal total of the season.
Springfield out shot the Pirates 32-26 in the game as Jhonas Enroth posted the victory.
            The Allied Home Mortgage Three Stars of the game were 1. Rank, 2. Whitmore and 3. Cowan.
           
The Pirates round out a four-game road trip Tuesday night when they head to Bridgeport to take on the Sound Tigers in a 7 p.m. start. The game can be heard live on News Talk WLOB 95.5 FM and on line at www.portlandpirates.com beginning with the pre-game show at 6:45 p.m.
The next Pirates homes games take place December 18th and 19th when the Falcons and Sound Tigers visit the Cumberland County Civic Center respectively. On the 18th one lucky fan could win big in the $10,000 Dash for Cash and it’s a Gritty’s Mug Club Members Night with special ticket discounts to all Gritty’s Mug Club Members. It’s a Labatt Blue Light Hockey Night in Portland on the 19th and someone could win Salty Pete’s Treasure Chest filled with more than $500 in prizes. It’s also the Pirates second Student Achiever Night of the season as the Pirates and Aquafina reward participating schools and students with free tickets to the game. Tickets for the games are available by calling (207) 775-3458, visiting the Cumberland County Civic Center Box Office or going on-line at www.portlandpirates.com.
 
Ticket plans for the 2009-2010 season are available at the Pirates office, located at 94 Free Street in Portland. The Pirates office is open Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For all the information about Pirates 2009-2010 ticket plans and 2010 Time Warner Cable AHL All-Star Classic visit www.portlandpirates.com or call (207) 828-4665 Ext. 350 to speak with one of the Pirates account executives.

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