Portsmouth got on the scoreboard first when Niklas Pedersen scored his fourteenth goal of the season just two and a half minutes into the Patriots second game of the season with league leading Cumberland on Saturday night.  Looking to even the series after the Clippers took the first game between the teams back in December at the Abbey, the squad made the long trip to Adelard Arena on the campus of Mount Saint Charles Academy to meet its opponent.  Fresh off Friday’s win over Cranston West, the Patriots carried their momentum and started off well, but that quickly changed when the penalties began.  And there were a lot of them.

 

The two teams were assessed a combined total of twenty penalties over the course of the game, including four majors and four misconducts scattered among the twelve minor infractions called.  While the Patriots’ had sixty percent of those penalties, their share of the seventy-two minute total ran slightly higher at forty-seven minutes.

 

Less than a minute after Pedersen’s team-leading goal, the squad took its first penalty of the night - a five minute major for boarding.  Unlike minor penalties which end if the team on the power play scores, major penalties continue with the player in the penalty box for the duration of the infraction.  The Clippers made good use of their long man-advantage by scoring two goals to erase Portsmouth’s lead.

 

Cumberland added to its lead with another power play goal in the second period, then netted its only tally at even strength in the third period to close out the Patriots by a final score of 4-1.

 

Hamstrung by penalties throughout the game, the Patriots never got their offense going and managed just 13 shots the entire game.  With the best goalie in D-II manning the net for Cumberland, that just wasn’t enough.

 

Meanwhile, the Clippers launched 36 shots at goalie Sam Stamoulis who had 32 saves on the night.

 

Power plays were the order of the night, and the difference in the game.  While the Patriots skated with the man-advantage four times the team wasn’t able to score.  Cumberland took full advantage of their eight power plays to ring up three unanswered goals in a row on the scoreboard, before capping their effort with their even strength tally.

 

The loss dropped the team’s record to 7 wins - 5 losses - 1 tie - 0 OTLs.  Despite the loss, Portsmouth, with fifteen points on the season, was able to maintain its fifth place position in the standings due to several key losses by other teams around the league.

 

The Patriots have three games left in the regular season, all on their home ice at the Abbey.  But before they get back to work on enhancing their playoff positioning, they will be joined by RMR at the Abbey later today for the second annual Robin’s Nest charity benefit game,  That event begins at 3:00 pm and promises to be lots of fun for everyone, with hockey, contests, and raffles to entertain everyone.  And it’s for a good cause.  You can find more details in a recent earlier news item on this website.

 

Portsmouth’s next league game is set for next Wednesday, February 12, at 6:00 pm at the Abbey.  The team will host the Lincoln Lions in the only regular season contest on the schedule.  The Patriots will be looking to tame the kitties as the season heads into its final two weeks before the playoffs begin.  Come on out and root for Portsmouth.  See you at the rink.