St. John's extend winning streak to four games with 7-4 win over Portland

PORTLAND, Ore. - Jerome Samson scored twice, and St. John's power-play unit came alive with five goals to lift the IceCaps over the Portland Pirates 7-4 in American Hockey League action on Friday.

John Albert had a goal and two assists, Brenden Kichton had a goal and one assist, and Jason Jaffray and Adam Lowry also scored for St. John's (25-16-3), which extended its winning streak to four games.

Ben Chiarot, Kael Mouillierat, and J.C. Lipon chipped in with two assists apiece.

Jordan Szwarz, Brandon McMillan, Phil Lane, and Lucas Lessio scored for the Pirates (16-17-9), who racked up 27 penalty minutes on 12 infractions.

IceCaps goalie Michael Hutchinson made 33 saves for the win, while Portland's Mark Visentin stopped 26 shots in defeat.

The Pirates got on the board with Lane's goal in the opening seconds of the game. St. John's tied it on Kichton's ninth of the year at 18:38 of the first period, and the IceCaps expanded their lead to 3-1 on two power-play goals early in the second period.

Portland made it 3-3 after a goal from Szwarz and a short-handed goal from McMillan, but Jaffray closed out the second period with another power-play goal to give the lead back to St. John's.

Lessio added a power-play goal of his own to tie the game at 4-4 at 4:19 of the third, but the IceCaps responded with three unanswered goals to seal the victory.