PORTLAND — Mark Mancari has a bazooka blast of a slap shot, but over time, he’s learned to use that firepower selectively.

Tuesday brought about one of those occasions. Mancari rifled in a slap shot shootout goal, Nathan Gerbe added another, while netminder J.P. Lamoureux stopped all five shootout attempts to give the Portland Pirates a 3-2 triumph over the Lowell Devils, before 3,904 at the Civic Center.

T.J. Brennan and Tyler Ennis both scored during regulation, with Ennis’ tally coming with 5 minutes remaining to help salvage the Pirates’ chances against tight-checking Lowell.

“That’s how they play,” said Ennis, the AHL’s top rookie scorer. “We expected that kind of game. We could very well face them in the playoffs, so it could be much the same thing. Against them, you have to keep wearing them down.”

Portland, which has been in a funk during the last two weeks, seemed to be on the way to its seventh loss in eight starts.

However, as the minutes ticked away, Ennis rifled in his 21st goal of the season, paving the way for the extra session.

Lowell outshot the Bucs 6-1 in overtime, including a late bid by Tim Sestito on a breakaway.

However, Pirates’ goalie J.P. Lamoureux stopped Sestito at the doorstep, then prepared himself for the ensuing shootout.

“I’ve personally had some ups and downs on the ice,” said Lamoureux, who has been thrust into the Bucs’ starting role with the recent injury to Jhonas Enroth. “And I’m just trying to stay persistent when I have a

chance to get points for the team. I have an opportunity to get on a roll.”

In shootouts, the home team’s coach has the prerogative of taking the first shot, and most opt to do so.

However, Pirates’ bench boss Kevin Dineen favors the opposite approach, and allowed Lowell to fire the first salvo at Lamoureux.

“I like my goalie’s confidence,” said Dineen. “I liked my goalie’s confidence, and the way he played. I like the tone of his game.”

Lamoureux responded well to Dineen’s vote of confidence.

“I like that,” he said. “Seeing the first shooter, and giving the guys the confidence. If I make that first save, it takes a little pressure off the shooters.”

Actually, the shooters put pressure of their own on Lowell goalie Mike McKenna, the former Pirate.

Gerbe gave Portland a 1-0 shootout lead, and Mancari followed.

Mancari made it 2-0 after skating in from the red line, stopping, then with full wind up, blasted his slapper past McKenna.

“I didn’t know what I was going to do,” admitted Mancari. “I looked at ”˜Dino’ (Dineen) and he said just fire it. I went down, he (McKenna) didn’t come out very much, and I just let it go.”

After Mancari scored, Lamoureux came up with the clinching save on Nick Palmieri (who had beaten him in regulation).

Up to then, it appeared that the Devils would be pulling off one more frustrating road win.

The Buccos grabbed an early 1-0 lead on T.J. Brennan’s goal, but trailed 2-1 after the second period.

Brennan, a rookie defenseman, bombed in his fifth goal of the season with a blast from the blue line, eluding McKenna, a former Pirate.

The goal came at the 9:11 mark.

Six minutes later, while Lowell skated with a man advantage, Palmieri knotted the score with his 20th goal of the year.

Portland poured 19 shots on McKenna in the second stanza, but couldn’t score.

Then, with 2:18 left in the period, Matt Halischuk put Lowell ahead.

But not to stay.

Ennis saw to that.

EMPTY NETTERS: Injured Pirates’ goaltender Jhonas Enroth hobbled into the Civic Center an hour before game time, motoring on crutches and his sprained left ankle encased in a giant walking boot. “I’ve seen better days,” Enroth quipped. The highly touted Buffalo Sabres’ prospect, who was injured during the weekend in a goal mouth collision, will be out a minimum of three weeks.

— Contact Staff Writer Dan Hickling at dhickling@journaltribune.com.