PENGUINS PLUNDERED BY PIRATES

PORTLAND, ME - Drew Miller netted two goals and Mike McKenna stopped 26 of 27 shots to lead the Portland Pirates to a 2-1 win against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Friday night at the Cumberland County Civic Center.

The loss saw the Pens' record fall to 25-16-0-2 on the season (52 points, second in the East Division), while the Pirates upped their mark to 28-14-2-3 (61 points, second in Atlantic Division). The clubs will face off for the second and final time this season on February 8 in Wilkes-Barre.

Miller, who has spent most of the season with the Pirates' parent club, the Anaheim Ducks, continued his torrid scoring pace in the AHL this season. In just 11 games, the Dover, NJ native has picked up 12 points (7+5), with all seven of his goals coming in the past six contests.

The Penguins actually held the lead for 28 minutes, as Nathan Smith's 11th of the season put the visitors in front 6:28 into the contest.

Portland outshot the Pens 29-15 through two periods, but could only slip one puck past David Brown in that time, as the Notre Dame graduate continued his strong play in net. Since the first of the year, Brown has allowed just 11 goals in 302 minutes of play (2.18 goals against average, .921 save percentage). The offensive support hasn't been there, though, and the rookie netminder has posted just a 1-3-1 record in January as a result.

Such was the case again Friday, as the Penguins failed to beat McKenna after the first period. Miller's second of the night at 7:54 of the third period proved to be the difference, as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton dropped its third game in the past four tries.
                                                                                                                        
The Penguins finish up the pre-All-Star portion of their schedule Saturday night in Manchester, where they will take on the Monarchs at 7:05pm.