Lowell, MA – The Lowell Devils topped the Portland Pirates 3-2 behind two third period goals. Jhonas Enroth made 36 saves on 39 shots and Marek Zagrapan scored a pair of second period goals.

The Pirates and Devils played a scoreless first period with Jhonas Enroth stopping all seven shots he faced while Lowell netminder Jeff Frazee made ten saves.

In the second period, the pace picked up dramatically and the Pirates struck first. Colton Fretter had the puck on the right wing and made a nice pass to find Marek Zagrapan in front who scored his ninth goal of the season. Nathan Gerbe picked up an assist on the play as well. Zagrapan's goal came at 7:59 of the second period, but just 1:48 later Alexander Vasyunov tied things up. Tyler Eckford took a shot from the top of the slot and Enroth made the first save but couldn't corral the rebound. Vasyunov found the loose puck and buried it to tie the game. Rod Pelley picked up an assist as well.

Things stayed tied at one with end to end action and a series of big saves by each netminder, capped off by a spectacular glove save of an Anssi Salmela shot from the slot that was headed for the top right corner of the net. At the 19:09 mark of the second, Nathan Gerbe took a shot from the right circle that was redirected and poked home by Marek Zagrapan for his tenth goal of the season. Gerbe and Matt MacDonald picked up assists and the Pirates took a 2-1 lead into the final period.

Lowell refused to go away in the third though, and Nicklas Bergfors scored his eighth goal of the season at the 7:11 mark with the assists going to Ryan Murphy and Petr Vrana. A little over four minutes later the Devils took the lead, as Tyler Eckford blasted a one timer past Enroth to put Lowell on top 3-2. Nicklas Bergfors and Ryan Murphy had assists on the play. Portland couldn’t capitalize on any late chances and fell by a final score of 3-2.

Jhonas Enroth drops to 13-8-2 on the year after stopping 36 of 39 shots he faced. Jeff Frazee improves to 11-6-2 thanks to 34 saves on 36 Pirates shots.

Allied Home Mortgage Three Stars of the Game: 1. Tyler Ecford (LOW) 2. Marek Zagrapan (POR) 3. Nicklas Bergfors (LOW)

Notes: The Pirates suffered their seventh consecutive road loss, and have not won on the road since December 6th when they beat Lowell 5-2...Jhonas Enroth made his 11th straight start...Attendance: 1,110.

The Pirates next game is Friday, January 9th at 7:00, when the Pirates host the Lowell Devils. It will be Goodwill Night with the Portland Pirates, as Goodwill will have trucks parked outside the Civic Center where fans can donate any gently used clothing or other household goods. Fans will receive a free Main Deck ticket to a future game for making a donation. IT will also be a Forecaster Friday Family Night, and fans can take the family to the game for just $35 by redeemin the coupon from the week’s edition of the Forecaster at the Civic Center Box Office.

Fans can follow the Pirates on U.S. Cellular Pirates Radio Network or watch the game LIVE on the internet courtesy of AHL Live by clicking the icon on the left side of the home page. The U.S. Cellular Pirates Radio Network includes the Pirates flagship station, the Bay 1400AM and 1490AM (Portland) and affiliates WEZR 1240 AM (Lewiston-Auburn), WTME 780AM (Rumford) and WKTQ 1450AM (South Paris).