It wasn’t pretty, but for the second straight game the Portland Pirates found a way to earn two points, this time by scoring three goals in the third period for a 4-2 win over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers before 3,735 at the Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard on Saturday night.

It was the Pirates second straight win since losing three-straight game mercilessly last weekend.

The Pirates, entering the night ninth on the power play, dropped to 15th as they didn’t get off to a great start. Bridgeport built a 2-0 lead after twenty minutes of play, scoring twice on the power play.

At the 8:59 mark of the first period, Scott Howes dug deep into the crease area and found the rebound, poking it past Pirates’ goalie Curtis McElhinney to score on the Sound Tigers’ first power play of the game, taking a 1-0 lead.

Jeremy Colliton made it 2-0 for the Sound Tigers when Howes, creating havoc again in the crease area, popped the puck into a scrum in front of the net where Colliton chopped at it several times, finally beating McElhinney at the 14:46 mark of the first period.

Brock Trotter, who has recorded a point in three of his last four games since returning to the lineup from a right thumb injury, scored the lone goal of the second period as he scored on a nifty give-and-go odd man rush with Nathan Oystrick at 12:47 of the period, cutting the Sound Tigers lead in half, 2-1.

Casey Cizikas was whistled for an elbowing penalty at the end of the second period, which set up the tying goal for the Pirates just 32 seconds into the third period when Brett MacLean, charging the crease area, found the initial shot from Patrick O’Sullivan behind Bridgeport goalie Anders Nilsson and shoveled it into the net, knotting the game at 2.

About four minutes later, the Pirates took the lead for the first time on a fluky goal as Nathan Oystrick was credited with it as a clearing attempt by the Sound Tigers went off Blair Riley’s stick through a crowd and past Nilsson, giving the Pirates a 3-2 lead.

MacLean added an empty-net goal to seal the victory with 1:07 left in the game.

McElhinney stopped 29 of 31 shots for the win, improving to 8-8-1 with a 2.90GAA and a .912 save percentage. Nilsson made 25 saves in the loss.