Manchester, NH — The Portland Pirates returned the favor to the Manchester Monarchs as Jhonas Enroth made 39 saves for his first shutout of the season en route to a 2-0 victory before 3,013 at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Wednesday night.

The last time these two teams played, Monarchs’ goalie Jonathan Bernier made 29 saves in a 4-0 win back on Oct. 17.

It was only the second time this season the Monarchs lost a game in regulation at home — last time being against the Hershey Bears, a 4-1 loss on Nov. 7.

On the other hand, the Pirates continue their push toward the top of the Atlantic Division with their third straight win, earning points in their last ten games, going 7-0-3-0 during that span.

“That was a good solid game,” said Pirates’ head coach Kevin Dineen. “I was happy with the majority of the effort and we needed to find a way to get something by Bernier, he’s played so well this year and we were fortunate to do that.”

“You want to test yourself against the creme of the crop, and the standings say that (Manchester) is at the top. That’s a heck of a road win for us.”

Likewise, the Pirates road record is improving, going 3-0-2-0 in their last five games.

A big part of the turn around has been the play of goaltender’s Jhonas Enroth and JP Lamoureux, who have been successful in net over the last 10 games.

Enroth is playing in his third straight game since sitting out the previous five games in favor of Lamoureux, and understands the competitive nature of the position.

“I know how (the business side) works,” said Enroth. “JP played great and (Dineen) couldn’t switch goalies so I just had to wait for my chance and be patient… I needed one good game as a turning point and that game came in Lowell.”

During his current winning streak, Enroth has stopped 93 of 96 shots with a 1.00 goals against average and a .969 save percentage.

The Pirates opened the scoring in the first period when the puck came off the end boards to Matt Caruana, at the bottom of the left faceoff circle where he fired a low shot along the ice, beating Monarchs’ netminder Jonathan Bernier between the legs with 6:25 to play in the period.

Caruana has continually impressed Dineen over the last several games since signing a PTO with Pirates.

“He did a good job tonight,” Dineen said. “He was 9-0 on faceoffs in the first two periods and that made him a lot more ice time later on.”

Another Pirate who continues to impress is Felix Schutz, earning six points (5g, 1a) in his last five games since returning from a concussion.

At 14:26 of the second period, Schutz was the recipient of crashing the net, as Mike Weber fired a shot from the left point through a screen of bodies. The puck landed at Schutz’s feet with Gogulla behind him, pushing the puck into the net with his skate.

There was no indication from the official’s or the Monarchs’ bench of any wrongdoing so the goal stood.

“As the game wore on I was using some players more than other’s because the work was being put in, and they deserved the ice time,” said Dineen. “There was a lot effort put into the game and I was pleased with how everybody played in the third period.”

NOTES: Pirates’ defenseman Joe DiPenta was cleared by the doctors today to resume playing, but Dineen indicated that DiPenta will get a couple days of practice and may return by the weekend. Derek Whitmore and TJ Brennan were healthy scratches from Portland, while Travis Turnbull will be out until sometime in February with a broken hand.