enlarge Fred Field/Staff Photographer

Brett Festerling of the Pirates controls the puck and tries to skate past Hartford’s P.A. Parenteau and get to the front of the net Sunday night during Game 4 of their AHL playoff series at the Cumberland County Civic Center. Portland took a 3-1 series lead with a 4-3 victory.

enlarge Fred Field/Staff Photographer

Andrew Ebbett of the Pirates tries to fight his way past Hartford’s Greg Moore and Lauri Korpikoski, front, during Portland’s 4-3 playoff victory Sunday night.

GAME 5

WHO: Pirates at Hartford Wolf Pack

WHEN: 7 p.m. Tuesday

SERIES: Pirates lead, 3-1

Stephen Dixon scored his second goal of the game with 4:20 remaining to lift the Portland Pirates to a 4-3 victory over the Hartford Wolf Pack in an AHL playoff game Sunday night at the Cumberland County Civic Center.

Dixon joined Michal Birner and Jason King as game-winning scorers for the Pirates in the best-of-seven Atlantic Division semifinal series, which Portland leads, 3-1.

"On the bench, we're saying the exact same thing – a new hero every night," said Geoff Platt, who had two assists. "We're real proud that everyone's chipping in. It isn't one guy or another. It's a really fun atmosphere."

Game 5 is scheduled for Tuesday night at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn.

Game 4 was an emotional roller coaster for the 3,263 fans at the Civic Center, as the teams swapped the lead or were tied five times before Dixon's winner from the slot, set up by Bobby Ryan's feed from the left side during a rush.

But it was typical for the playoff series between the evenly matched teams.

"We're playing a heck of an opponent right now," Portland Coach Kevin Dineen said. "They come extremely hard at us.

"As much as I'm excited about the good things we did, we weathered the storm and came back and put the pressure right back on them."

After the first four games, the Pirates hold an 11-10 scoring edge.

Goalie J.S. Aubin, who has played in nine NHL seasons, stopped 23 of 26 shots for his third playoff win.

His biggest save came in the last two minutes when he stopped P.A. Parenteau, the Wolf Pack's leading scorer, on a breakaway.

"That save is just so standard on his part," Platt said. "We almost come to expect it from him and we're spoiled by how good he is night in and night out. To do something like that in that sort of situation is something so special."

The Wolf Pack, who won just one of their four games in Portland during the regular season, led 2-1 after the first period.

Hartford's Alex Bourret, a former Lewiston Maineiac, opened the scoring 11 minutes in when he whirled in the middle of the right circle to send a shot past Aubin after intercepting a clearing pass.

With 57 seconds left in the period, Jason King tied the game with his third goal of the series on a shot from the left circle during a power play.

The Wolf Pack regained the lead with four seconds left in the first when defenseman Andrew Hutchinson scored from the top of the left circle.

The score was tied 3-3 at the end of the second. Dixon made it 2-2 on a power play less than three minutes into the period when he tipped in defenseman Joe Callahan's shot from the right point for his first playoff goal. It was Callahan's team-high fourth assist of the series.

Portland took a 3-2 lead five minutes later when Mike Hoffman got his stick on the puck after defenseman Brett Festerling's shot from the left point went wide and rebounded off the back boards, then tucked it inside the near post.

Parenteau tied the score with 2:11 left with his team-high third playoff goal.

Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 386-0346 or at:

pbetit@pressherald.com