Portland, ME – A second period offensive outburst help propel the Portland Pirates past the Worcester Sharks, 7-1, in front 4,740 at the Cumberland County Civic Center on Friday night.

The Pirates still feeling the sting from the last time these two team met in Worcester, a game where Portland built a 5-1 lead only to see it evaporate in third period, falling 6-5 in overtime.

“We were still uneasy with how last Sunday’s game played out,” said Pirates’ forward Derek Whitmore. “Before the game, (Pirates’ assistant coach) (Weinrich) said we need to play this game like a playoff game and that was the mentality we took.”

Portland opened the scoring in the first period when Pirates’ forward Derek Whitmore finished off a two-on-one with Matt Generous at 10:41 of the period.

It was Whitmore’s first goal in 11 games when he scored a pair against the Springfield Falcons back on Dec. 12.

“When you’re not getting the chances is when it becomes frustrating,” said Whitmore. “In the last three or four games I’ve had some prime opportunities and sooner or later I know one of them is going to go in.”

The Pirates made it 2-0 just 1:41 into the second period when Mark Mancari scored his team-leading 18th goal of the season, while on a power play, as he ripped a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle, beating Sharks’ goalie Alex Stalock.

Within a 50 second span, the Pirates and Sharks would find the back of the net.

At 8:14, TJ Brennan scored his second goal of the season, and his career, in as many games when he blasted a one-timer, off a cross-ice pass from Tyler Ennis, restoring the Pirates two-goal lead.

Only 21 seconds later, the Pirates made it 4-0 on nearly an identical play as Kyle Rank scored for the Pirates sending a shovel shot past Stalock.

Rank, like Whitmore, hit a dry spell, going pointless in his last 12 games.

“I had a meeting with (Dineen) and he said to keep shooting the puck,” he said. “It wasn’t like I wasn’t getting scoring chances.

The goal by Rank ended the night for Stalock, who was just named to the AHL All-Star Classic, which is scheduled to begin in Portland on Monday, in favor of Trevor Sexsmith.

Worcester would get on the board only 29 seconds after the Pirates established a 4-0 lead as Brandon Mashinter tipped a shot by Pirates’ goalie Jhonas Enroth.

At 14:26, the Pirates responded as Travis Turnbull jammed the puck past Sexsmith as the Pirates skated into the locker room with a 5-1 lead.

Ironically, a similar situation the Pirates found themselves in on Sunday when they gave up four unanswered goals to Worcester.

“Last game, we just got really loose and kept trying to pile it on and it’s not an appropriate way to play so it was an expensive lesson that cost us a point,” said Pirates’ head coach Kevin Dineen.

The Pirates began the third period with a power play that carried over and made sure to capitalize on their chance just 13 seconds into the period as Rank scored his second of the game with a snap shot over the shoulder of Sexsmith.

With 6:01 remaining in the game, the Pirates squashed any doubt as to who would win the game as Tyler Ennis finished off a nifty tic-tac-toe play from Mancari and Gerbe, giving Portland a commanding 7-1 lead.

NOTES: The Pirates released forward Matt Caruana on Thursday. Caruana, 24, spent 20 games with Pirates, scoring two goals, two assists for four points and lead the team in faceoff percentage. This was his second stint with the Pirates after spending part of the 2007-’08 season in Portland.

There are a limited number of remaining tickets for the 2010 Ducks Unlimited AHL All-Star Skills Competition and the 2010 AHL All-Star Game being played Tuesday (January 19th). They will be made available on an individual basis beginning Saturday morning at the Cumberland County Civic Center Box Office. Individual tickets for the 2010 Ducks Unlimited AHL All-Star Skills Competition and the AHL All-Star game are $25 each.

The Civic Center Box Office will be open Saturday from 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and Monday and Tuesday from 9:30 a.m. until event time. Tickets can also be purchased by calling (207) 775-3458 or by visiting www.portlandpirates.com (on-line sales available until Monday at noon).