Last modified: Saturday, November 22, 2008 1:22 AM EST PB's shoot down Portland BY PETER GOBIS SUN CHRONICLE STAFF PROVIDENCE - Wacey Rabbit had a pair of Portland Pirates attempting to pillage the puck from his possession heading into the left corner of the ice. "I felt a couple of guys on my shoulder, so I kind of blocked them with my right leg, stepped away and I saw Bitzy (Byron Bitz) out of the corner of my eye," said the 5-foot-10 center, who set up the second and tying goal for the Providence Bruins, who went on to beat the Portland Pirates 3-2 in a shootout. After a scoreless, 4-on-4, five-minute overtime period, Providence's Peter Schaefer scored the lone goal in the five-shooter sequence on the Bruins' fourth attempt at Portland goalie Jhonas Enroth, while Providence goalie Kevin Regan made five consecutive pad saves to preserve the point. After two scoreless periods of AHL playoff pace hockey, Portland twice took the lead in the third period on goals by Felix Schutz (at 2:33) and by Derek Whitmore (at 7:50), but twice Providence netted the equalizers - Vladimir Sobotka scoring his sixth goal of the season at 5:20, then Byron Bitz finishing off Rabbit's tremendous display of determination at 14:17. "That was probably one of the better games that we've played, it was almost playoff caliber," said Providence coach Rob Murray, whose Bruins handed Portland (12-1-1-1) its lone loss (back on Oct. 19) of the season. "Both teams played exceptionally well. There was good energy. "They're (Portland, affiliates of the Buffalo Sabres) a very good hockey team and we showed well. You always want to see where you stack up against the league's best at any time of year." Rabbit showed a lot of moxy setting up the tying goal. "I felt two or three guys on me, trying to reach and take it (the puck) away," said Rabbit. "I kind of went behind the net and tried to drop it off. They're a first place team and it's not that we've been low, but we've been playing not as well as we can. We played a good 60 minutes." Sobotka, who now has a four-game point streak (three goals, four assists) cleverly tied the battle of Atlantic Division leaders on a breakaway, taking a pass from Martins Karsums, ever so cautiously guarding against an offside infraction, beating Enroth to his stick side. Providence outshot Portland by a 13-5 margin in the first period, allowing the Pirates just one shot through the first 16 minutes of play. However, Providence went 0-for-5 on the powerplay in the period, including a string of nearly three consecutive man-up advantages. Eventually in the shootout, Martin St. Pierre (wide left), Sobotka (pad save) and Karsums (wide right) were unable to score for Providence before Schaefer one-handed a loose shot into the right corner of the net. Then Regan (4-1, unbeaten in his last three outings) made pad saves on Portland's fourth and fifth shots. "I don't have any issues," added Murray with the performance of his team (before a crowd of 6279). "We had multiple opportunities (33 shots through three periods), our penalty kill was excellent. Realistically, any breakdowns will happen in a game like that, it was a quick pace." Penalty Shorts Providence travels to Springfield tonight and entertains the New York Ranger farmhands, the Hartford Wolfpack Sunday afternoon at 4 ... Portland's leading scorer Mark Mancari (14 goals) was summoned to Buffalo Friday ... St. Pierre (seven assists) and Karsums (three goals, three assists) have four-game scoring streaks ... Regan, of South Boston, via UNew Hampshire, is 3-0 in Providence, getting the start in favor of Tuukka Rask, sidelined with a "day to day" injury (of undisclosed nature) according to Murray ... Former BC star Nathan Gerbe has been sensational for Portland with 12 goals and eight assists.