File Image (PHOTO: Rosina Vacchiano)

They said all the right things, and did all the right things in practice, but you’d never know it after the first twenty minutes, Friday night, at the MassMutual Center.

The Pirates gave up two shorthanded goals on the same power play and were down 3-0 to the Springfield Falcons after one period of play.

After an even period, the Pirates carried the momentum in the third period, scoring three times to send the game into overtime, eventually getting the victory, 5-4, in a shootout before 3,396 in attendance.

No winner could be decided in overtime, although, the Falcons believed they had scored, however, the referee blew the whistle because Falcons’ defenseman Nick Holden was on ice after being injured on the play.

In the shootout, rookie Cam Atkinson scored for the Falcons, but Brock Trotter and Ryan Duncan scored for the Pirates, giving them the victory and snapping a three-game losing streak.

The Pirates also snapped a scoreless streak at 167 minutes, 50 seconds, dating back to Jan. 6 in Providence, Rhode Island when Matt Watkins was credited with a goal 1:37 into the third period.

Down 3-0, Jordan Szwarz snapped the goal-less drought with penalty shot goal after being hauled down on a breakaway midway into the second period.

Springfield re-established its three-goal margin when Brett Lebda fed a pass from the left circle to Maksim Mayorov at the right faceoff dot for a one-timer by Pirates goalie Curtis McElhinney at little over two minutes later.

The Pirates have been down by three goals in the past this season as they head into the third period. Portland has given up the first three goals of the game in their last five contests, going 2-3-0 during that span.

Portland took advantage of the power play in the third period as Andrew Joudrey started the penalty parade as he made his way to the box for holding less than two minutes into the period.

Ryan Duncan roofed a shot by Springfield netminder Mark Dekanich only a minute later for the first of two power-play goals in the period.

At 9:40, the Pirates recorded its second power-play goal when Brock Trotter picked up a loose puck in the slot and ripped a shot by Dekanich to pull within a goal at 4-3.

Less than two minutes later, Michael Stone capped the comeback with a slap shot from the high slot to tie the game at 4.

Portland opened the first period, looking lethargic as the Falcons’ held them to without a shot for nearly 15 minutes, and took the 1-0 lead on a short-handed goal set up by Mayorov, who threw the puck on net from the bottom of the right circle, where Ryan Garlock poked it past McElhinney at 10:42 of the period.

Only a minute later on the same power play for the Pirates, Cam Atkinson scored his 20th goal of the season, completing a two-on-one, using Andrew Joudrey as a decoy, and sliding the puck behind McElhinney, giving Springfield a 2-0 lead.

A turnover by Patrick O’Sullivan led to Springfield’s third goal of the second period as he tried to dish the puck from the left half boards to Matt Watkins, but it was picked off by Joudrey, who skated into the slot and snapped a shot by McElhinney with 2:55 remaining in the period.

McElhinney finished the night with 33 saves, while Dekanich made 27 saves in the loss.

NOTES: The Phoenix Coyotes assigned defenseman David Rundblad to the Pirates earlier in the day on Friday. The Swedish defenseman was acquired in a trade last month from the Ottawa Senators that saw forward Kyle Turris shipped out of Phoenix. In two games with the Coyotes, Rundblad, a first round draft pick of the St. Louis Blues, has two assists. He’s scheduled to be in the lineup for the Pirates on Saturday when they finish their home-and-home series with the Springfield Falcons…. Alexandre Bolduc traveled with the Pirates on the road for the first time this season. He’s missed all year as he recovers from surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder after injuring it during off-season training. His target date to make his debut for the Pirates is within one to two weeks…. Coyotes Assistant GM Brad Treliving was inducted into the CHL Hall of Fame on Wednesday. Treliving was one of the founders of the WPHL in 1996 where he served as Vice-President and Director of Hockey Operations. He was instrumental in the merger of the CHL and WPHL in 2001 where he spent seven years as league president before leaving for the Coyotes Assistant GM position.