SHARKSPAGE

WorSharks Lose In Manchester, 3-1

The Worcester Sharks got another great goaltender performance from Alex Stalock but could only convert one one of their 28 shots in dropping a 3-1 Friday night contest to the Manchester Monarchs at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire.

The game in Manchester began a three in three weekend for the fourth place WorSharks, with each game being played against the teams in front of them in the Atlantic Division. After a poor start the defense is starting to show it can compete with any team in the AHL, but the offense still hasn’t found its legs averaging just 2.67 goals per contest after Friday night’s lone tally. And if something isn’t done about that soon the WorSharks will find themselves out of playoff contention before too long.

Manchester would grab the first goal of the game after defenseman Viatcheslav Voynov took a Brandon Kozun feed and sent a pass to Brayden Schenn in the corner to the left of Stalock. With the WorSharks trapped in their own zone and their penalty kill beginning to break down defensively Voynov was able to skate right into the slot and Schenn, an under-20 junior hockey eligible center playing with the Monarchs on an injury rehab assignment from Los Angeles, showed why he’s such a highly rated prospect by firing a pass right back at Voynov. Stalock had no chance on the one timer blast at 6:43.

The WorSharks would knot the game 1-1 at 10:06 while skating with a two man advantage. With Manchester’s Justin Azevedo already in the box for hooking and Monarch’s captain Marc-Andre Cliche joining him twenty seconds later for a high sticking minor Worcester would enjoy a long five on three power play. Despite their offensive woes at even strength the WorSharks power play is one of the best in the AHL, and that success would continue as Benn Ferriero grabbed his 10th on the season after taking a huge blast on net from the left wing face-off circle. Worcester passed the puck around the top of the zone looking for a good opening, and Ferriero found one after accepting a pass from Justin Braun. Ferriero’s blast looked to deflected off a Manchester player as it went on net, flying in over the blocker of Monarchs netminder Jeff Zatkoff. Steven Zalewski had the second assist on the goal.

From the point on for most of the game the play was tilted toward the Worcester zone despite the shots being relatively even. Kozun would add a goal to his first period assist at 3:26 of the second period after crashing the net and poking a rebound home just past Stalock. Cliche would get the back breaker at 13:42 of the third after a wild scramble at the Worcester net as he stole the puck right off forward T.J. Trevelyan’s stick in the slot. After Cliche’s tally Stalock showed his frustrations by swinging his goal stick like an axe at the Worcester net. As one would expect, the net won that encounter. And unless Worcester can find some offense, they won’t be winning many encounters of their own either.

GAME NOTES
With Carter Hutton ready to play goaltender Riley Gill was released from his PTO and returned to the Kalamazoo Wings of the ECHL. With Mike Moore being recalled earlier in the week the WorSharks had no healthy scratches and went with seven defenseman. That should change in Portland Saturday night as Moore and forward Frazer McLaren have been assigned to the team. McLaren doesn’t need to clear waivers to go to the AHL, and Moore has already cleared once and has 8 more NHL games–or 27 or so days on the NHL roster–before he has to clear again. Cam MacIntyre and Tony Lucia both remain on Worcester’s injured list.

With Jonathan Cheechoo wearing #14 this season, Frazer McLaren will switch to #10. It’s the third different number McLaren has worn in Worcester. He started with #24 at the end of the 2007-08 campaign after finishing his junior hockey season with the Moose Jaw Warriors, and switched to #14 for the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons. He’s the first WorSharks player to wear three different numbers for the team.

The three stars of the game were
1. MCH – 26 Brandon Kozun (g,a)
2. MCH – 36 Jeff Zatkoff (27 saves)
3. MCH – 22 Marc-Andre Cliche (g)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Benn Ferriero.

BOXSCORE
Worcester 1 0 0 – 1
Manchester 1 1 1 – 3

1st Period-1, Manchester, Voynov 4 (Schenn, Kozun), 6:43 (PP). 2, Worcester, Ferriero 10 (Braun, Zalewski), 10:06 (PP). Penalties-Trevelyan Wor (holding), 5:15; Azevedo Mch (hooking), 8:36; Cliche Mch (high-sticking), 8:56; Petrecki Wor (tripping), 16:08; Loprieno Wor (roughing), 20:00.

2nd Period-3, Manchester, Kozun 6 (Azevedo, Hickey), 3:26. Penalties-Henderson Wor (tripping), 3:52; Mullen Mch (delay of game), 15:59.

3rd Period-4, Manchester, Cliche 1 (Loktionov, Moller), 13:42. Penalties-Nolan Mch (tripping), 1:10; Leach Wor (unsportsmanlike conduct), 8:21; Nolan Mch (unsportsmanlike conduct), 8:21; served by Clune Mch (bench minor – too many men), 19:48.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 11-7-10-28. Manchester 12-9-6-27.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 1/5; Manchester 1/4.
Goalies-Worcester, Stalock 6-6-1 (27 shots-24 saves). Manchester, Zatkoff 7-5-1 (28 shots-27 saves).
A-4,003
Referee-Mark Lemelin (84). Linesmen-Jeremy Lovett (78), Brian MacDonald (72).