SHARKSPAGE

McGinn, WorSharks Send Bruins Into Hibernation, 3-2

The Worcester Sharks, in a game eerily similar to Friday night’s contest, got three goals in the first half of the game and then held on for dear life during the second half to defeat the Providence Bruins 3-2 Saturday night at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts in front of 7,273 fans.

The WorSharks would grab the first goal of the game at 14:41 of the opening period when Benn Ferriero sent a pass from the left wing half boards to Jamie McGinn in the slot. Providence goaltender Nolan Schaefer, San Jose’s fifth round pick in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, made the glove save on the blast but fumbled the puck into his own net for McGinn’s first goal in the AHL since February 19, 2010. Nick Schaus had the second assist on the goal.

Worcester would connect again in the opening period, but not before causing the home town fans some consternation. With the WorSharks on the power play the Providence penalty killers kept Worcester from generating any sort of presence in the offensive zone and without a shot. As the penalty expired defenseman Sean Sullivan made one last rush up ice, dumping the puck along the right wing boards where Andrew Desjardins grabbed the loose puck behind the net and changed directions, throwing a centering fed to Cam MacIntyre all alone in the slot. MacIntyre’s one time blast beat Schaefer at 18:25.

McGinn, who has just one goal with San Jose in 49 NHL games this season, would have his second of the contest with a shorthanded tally set up by Ferriero. Defenseman Mike Moore would send Ferriero off through the neutral zone and down the right wing boards to the goal line, where the center would spy McGinn rushing to the net ahead of the Providence defenders. In a play that looked like it was right out of a video game Ferriero threw an easy pass into the slot where McGinn was able to one time it over Schaefer at 7:04 for the 3-0 lead.

Despite the shorthanded tally, like Friday night the second period belonged to the opponent as the Baby-Bs outshot Worcester 20-5. WorSharks netminder Alex Stalock was up to the task, making several great saves to keep Providence off the board. But that would change after Tommy Wingels was called for a very questionable holding call. After doing a good job of limiting Providence’s opportunities defenseman Jeff Penner would finally connect after a bouncing puck in the right wing corner found its way on to the stick of Jamie Arniel. Penner would blast Arniel’s feed past Stalock with 27 seconds remaining in the middle period.

Matt Bartkowski would get Providence within one with a blast over the glove of Stalock for a power play tally at 7:28, and the vibe in the building for Worcester fans was not good as the WorSharks issues in the third period have already cost the fans many sleepless nights. But Worcester clamped down after the Bartkowski goal, and actually had the best scoring chance after that when Desjardins was all alone in front and fired the puck just under the crossbar for what looked to be a sure insurance goal. But Schaefer was able to flash the glove out and snag it out of the air to keep Providence within one.

But that’s as close as the Baby-Bs would get as the WorSharks enter the AHL All Star break in third place in the Atlantic division.

GAME NOTES
The WorSharks went with the same line-up as Friday night.

Just before the Jeff Penner power play goal near the end of the second period Worcester showed great team work on the penalty kill when Jay Leach lost his stick in a collision in the slot. As soon as Jamie McGinn noticed Leach without a stick he passed his stick to the defenseman, and as play continued the forward picked up Leach’s dropped stick and used it to clear the puck out of the zone.

There was one fight in the contest, with Mike Moore (6’1″ 200#) taking on Lane MacDermid (6’3″ 211#) in front of the Worcester net in the second period. Several good shots give MacDermid the edge on this writer’s score card.

Kudos to Worcester Sharks Booster Club President Rich Lundin for predicting Jamie McGinn’s multiple goal performance. After watching the first period of Friday night’s game Lundin quipped that he couldn’t wait until Saturday night’s contest because McGinn always kills Providence. Counting Saturday night McGinn has 13 goals and 3 assists in 22 career games against Providence.

Some streaking WorSharks: Nick Schaus and Andrew Desjardins are both on three game points streaks. Steven Zalewski has been “even” or better in six straight games, and Schaus and Mike Moore have gone seven in a row without being “minus”.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 44 Jamie McGinn (2g,+2)
2. WOR – 21 Benn Ferriero (2a,+2)
3. PRO – 3 Matt Bartkowski (g)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Cam MacIntyre.

Even Strength Lines
McGinn/Ferriero/Cheechoo
Mashinter/Wingels/McCarthy
Henderson/Desjardins/DaSilva
McLaren/Zalewski/MacIntyre

Moore/Braun
Irwin/Schaus
Leach/Sullivan

Power Play Lines
Cheechoo/Ferriero/McGinn
MacIntyre/Wingels/Mashinter

Braun/Irwin
Sullivan/Schaus

Penalty Kill Lines
McCarthy/Desjardins
Ferriero/McGinn

Moore/Braun
Leach/Irwin

BOXSCORE
Providence 0 1 1 – 2
Worcester 2 1 0 – 3

1st Period-1, Worcester, McGinn 1 (Ferriero, Schaus), 14:41. 2, Worcester, MacIntyre 3 (Desjardins, Sullivan), 18:25. Penalties-Cohen Pro (hooking), 16:20.

2nd Period-3, Worcester, McGinn 2 (Ferriero, Moore), 7:04 (SH). 4, Providence, Penner 5 (Arniel, Colborne), 19:33 (PP). Penalties-Schaus Wor (roughing), 5:15; MacDermid Pro (fighting), 16:51; Moore Wor (fighting), 16:51; Wingels Wor (holding), 17:42.

3rd Period-5, Providence, Bartkowski 5 (Reich, Caron), 7:28 (PP). Penalties-McCarthy Wor (delay of game), 6:57.

Shots on Goal-Providence 5-20-6-31. Worcester 13-5-10-28.
Power Play Opportunities-Providence 2/3; Worcester 0/1.
Goalies-Providence, Schaefer 9-13-1 (28 shots-25 saves). Worcester, Stalock 19-17-4 (31 shots-29 saves).
A-7,273
Referee-Jamie Koharski (84).Linesmen-Chris Millea (33), Bob Paquette (18).