SHARKSPAGE

Hutton, WorSharks Blank Providence Bruins, 2-0

JAY LEACH TUSSLES WITH PROVIDENCE IN FRONT OF NET - PHOTO TRISH HUNT

DEFENSEMAN #27 JUSTIN BRAUN SHOT ON GOAL - PHOTO TRISH HUNT

DEFENSEMAN #29 NICK PETRECKI GATHERS PUCK - PHOTO TRISH HUNT

The Worcester Sharks used solid defensive play and a twenty save shutout performance from Carter Hutton to defeat the Providence Bruins 2-0 Saturday night at the DCU center in Worcester, Massachusetts in front of a crowd of 6,061 just hours after the two parent clubs went at in an NHL contest in Boston, with San Jose defeating Boston by an identical 2-0 score. Both victories were overshadowed by the news that WorSharks star netminder Alex Stalock has been lost for the remainder of the season with a sliced nerve in his left knee.

The first period ended scoreless, but it certainly wasn’t due to a lack of effort by Worcester. The WorSharks came out firing on all cylinders, throwing several bone jarring hits and doing everything except putting puck past P-Bruins goaltender Matt Dalton. Despite the physical play by Worcester the period saw just a single set of matching penalties called by referee Chris Brown when Andrew Desjardins and Joe Colborne got together in an altercation that barely met the minimum qualifications for a fight at 11:00.

Tempers would flare again early in the second period, and Desjardins would find himself right in the middle of the action for a second time. But when Nathan McIver tried to fight Desjardins he only made it as far as Brandon Mashinter, who put on old fashion whoopin’ on the P-Bruin defenseman at 1:43.

In a game dominated by physical play it would only make sense that Worcester’s fourth line would get them on the board. After pinning the Baby-Bs in their own zone with perimeter play Frazer McLaren collected a loose puck and fed Justin Braun to the right point. Braun fired a low shot into traffic that defenseman turned forward Joe Loprieno tipped past a screened Dalton to light the lamp at 16:09.

With just the one goal lead the WorSharks continued to play hard and did an excellent job of limiting Providence’s scoring chances. Those that they did allow were easily turned aside by Hutton. The netminder, pulling double duty by getting the start in place of the injured Stalock after sitting on San Jose’s bench in the matinee contest backing up Antti Niemi in Boston, had to make only one truly difficult save in the contest and it was of his own doing when he deflected a rebound right on to the tape of Kirk MacDonald’s stick. The rookie netminder had to flash out the pad to make a quick save of the return blast. Providence’s other good scoring chance came when a bouncing puck eluded the WorSharks defense and allowed Maxime Sauve to break in alone, but Hutton held his ground and forced the center wide as his shot missed the net.

Mashinter gave the WorSharks a little breathing room with an empty net goal from the center red line, assisted by Nick Schaus and Dan DaSilva, at 19:05. Providence continued to play hard until the final horn, but so did the WorSharks and held the Baby-Bs without a great scoring chance for the rest of the contest. As the final horn sounded Hutton picked up the loose puck to celebrate his first professional shutout.

A Worcester-Providence photo gallery from Trish Hunt is available here.

GAME NOTES
It was a busy day for the Worcester Shuttle, but with San Jose playing in Boston the shuttle only had to travel 40-odd miles down the Massachusetts Turnpike to complete its rounds. In the morning John McCarthy and Carter Hutton were sent on to Beantown, and right after the game Hutton made the hour trip back west to make the start for Worcester. The WorSharks had no healthy scratches, and once again used defenseman Joe Loprieno at forward. Daren Machesney, who was originally signed to a PTO Friday to back up Hutton when Alex Stalock was scheduled to be recalled for Saturday’s NHL contest, was the back-up netminder.

How bad is the San Jose organization in the third period? The WorSharks still have the worst goal differential in third period in the AHL, and San Jose ranks in the bottom five in the NHL in that category. Perhaps it’s the jerseys because Friday night in Stockton the Thunder, the ECHL affiliate of both San Jose and Worcester who are second in their league with a plus-16 rating in the period, wore San Jose jerseys and lost the game on a third period goal. On Saturday night, again wearing Sharks jerseys, Stockton surrendered two third period goals in a 3-2 win over Utah.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 30 Carter Hutton (20 save shutout)
2. WOR – 3 Joe Loprieno (gwg)
3. PRO – 30 Matt Dalton (28 saves)

For the second game in a row the Sharkspage player of the game was Brandon Mashinter.

Even Strength Lines
McGinn/Desjardins/Cheechoo
Mashinter/Zalewski/Wingels
DaSilva/Henderson/MacIntyre
McLaren/Quirk/Loprieno

Braun/Petrecki
Schaus/Irwin
Leach/Sullivan

Power Play lines
Cheechoo/Desjardins/McGinn
Mashinter(Wingels)/Wingels(Zalewski)/MacIntyre

Irwin/Braun
Schaus/Sullivan

Penalty Kill Lines
Desjardins(Wingels)/McGinn
Quirk/McLaren

Leach/Braun
Schaus/Sullivan

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

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Colborne Pro (fighting), 11:00; Desjardins Wor (fighting), 11:00.

2nd Period-1, Worcester, Loprieno 2 (Braun, McLaren), 16:09. Penalties-McIver Pro (fighting), 1:43; Mashinter Wor (fighting), 1:43; Roussel Pro (unsportsmanlike conduct), 3:28; Bartkowski Pro (unsportsmanlike conduct), 5:48; Desjardins Wor (holding the stick), 16:37.

3rd Period-2, Worcester, Mashinter 9 (Schaus, DaSilva), 19:05 (EN). Penalties-Schaus Wor (interference), 8:16; Ling Pro (holding), 8:59.

Shots on Goal-Providence 5-6-9-20. Worcester 11-9-9-29.
Power Play Opportunities-Providence 0/2; Worcester 0/3.
Goalies-Providence, Dalton 7-5-0 (28 shots-27 saves). Worcester, Hutton 5-3-2 (20 shots-20 saves).
A-6,061
Referee-Chris Brown (86). Linesmen-Brian MacDonald (72), Bob Paquette (18).