SHARKSPAGE

WorSharks Grab Point In Overtime Loss to Springfield, 3-2

The Worcester Sharks, who choked away potential wins in both of their previous road games by allowing six third period goals, finally turned the tables on an opponent with a game tying goal in the final twenty minutes of regulation but an untimely penalty in overtime led to a 3-2 loss to the Springfield Falcons Saturday night at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Massachusetts in front 3,652 fans.

After painful collapses in Rochester and Albany where the best thing that could be said was “at least no one got hurt”, it looked like that wouldn’t be the case just 28 seconds into Saturday night’s contest when Tom Sestito crosschecked Dan DaSilva head first into the boards deep in the Worcester zone. With DaSilva laying on the ice not moving Joe Loprieno (6″3″ 220#) jumped Sestito (6’5″ 228#) to administer some frontier justice. Sestito would get the gate for the crosscheck, but Worcester was unable to capitalize on their three minute power play after Loprieno’s additional roughing minor was served. DaSilva would miss a couple of shifts but would return later in the opening period looking no worse for wear. The couldn’t be said for the WorSharks, who would find themselves down two after those first 20 minutes.

Springfield would get their first goal at 13:46 after Kyle Wilson beat WorSharks netminder Daren Machesney five hole from the slot just inside the left face-off circle. It looked like Loprieno’s attempt to block the shot just above the crease may have screened Machesney. The Falcons would make it 2-0 when Wilson picked off a Nick Petrecki clearing attempt and put the puck back on net. After two quick saves in close Machesney was down and out as Wilson followed the play to the far post and banged home the loose puck at 16:51. After the second goal Michael Swift (5’8″ 175#) dropped the gloves with Chris D’Alvise (5’11” 180#) in an attempt to fire up his team. It worked, but it took some time before the WorSharks could convert with a goal of their own.

Worcester would finally get on the board when Brandon Mashinter grabbed a loose puck at center ice and sent Patrick Davis down the right wing side. Davis went to the net and out waited Falcons netminder Gustaf Wesslau, firing a wide angle shot that just snuck inside the far post after Wesslau went down to block the angle.

Kevin Henderson would get the WorSharks even, but it was Petrecki’s head’s up play that resulted in the tally. After Frazer McLaren gathered a loose puck from behind the Falcons net he twice passed up open shooting lanes as he wheeled the net wide and ended up in the right wing circle. McLaren sent a pass to the left point to Petrecki, who never needs to be convinced to blast the puck on net. This time he spotted Henderson all alone in the shooting lane. Petrecki fired a lazy wrister toward his teammate, and Henderson calmly stuck out his stick and easily deflected the puck past Wesslau at 4:25 of the third period.

The WorSharks would have several great chances to grab the lead, including a four minute power play late in the period, but couldn’t send the Springfield faithful home brokenhearted. After Worcester was controlling the play in overtime Petrecki took an ill advised interference minor while crashing the net, and Wilson converted on the four on three power play with an NHL-quality wrist shot over the glove of Machesney for the hat trick to grab the extra point for the Falcons.

GAME NOTES
The Worcester Shuttle has been busy this past week, with Justin Braun heading to San Jose and Tommy Wingels, Nick Petrecki, Benn Ferriero, and Matt Irwin all heading up and back in recent days. Ferriero and Irwin did not arrive in time to play Saturday night. Worcester’s injury list is unchanged, and the healthy scratches were Cam MacIntyre and Cory Quirk. Jody Pederson, who was recently traded from Elmira to the Sharks ECHL affiliate in Stockton, has been signed to another PTO.

How bad is the San Jose organization in the third period? This list says it all. If the playoffs began today in each league the teams in bold would make it in.

Washington/Hershey +40
Los Angeles/Manchester +39
Vancouver/Manitoba +33
Boston/Providence +17
Buffalo/Portland +16
Edmonton/Oklahoma City +12
Phoenix/San Antonio +12
Nashville/Milwaukee +11
Pittsburgh/Wilkes-Barre +10
Detroit/Grand Rapids +8
NY Rangers/Connecticut +8
Toronto/Toronto +6
St. Louis/Peoria +3
Philadelphia/Adirondack 0
Dallas/Texas -1
Carolina/Charlotte -3
Tampa Bay/Norfolk -3
Montreal/Hamilton -4
Calgary/Abbotsford -6
Colorado/Lake Erie -6
Minnesota/Houston -11
Florida/Rochester -12
Chicago/Rockford -14
New Jersey/Albany -14
Columbus/Springfield -15
NY Islanders/Bridgeport -18
Atlanta/Chicago -21
Anaheim/Syracuse -22
San Jose/Worcester -31
Ottawa/Binghamton -33

The three stars of the game were
1. SPR – 29 Kyle Wilson (hat trick)
2. WOR – 15 Patrick Davis (g)
3. SPR – 36 Trevor Smith (2a)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Kevin Henderson.

Even Strength Lines
McGinn/Swift/Cheechoo
Mashinter/Trevelyan/Davis
McCarthy/Desjardins/DaSilva
McLaren/Henderson/Wingels

Moore/Sullivan
Petrecki/Schaus
Loprieno/Pederson

BOXSCORE
Worcester 0 1 1 0 – 2
Springfield 2 0 0 1 – 3

1st Period-1, Springfield, Wilson 8 (Smith, Savard), 13:46. 2, Springfield, Wilson 9 (Smith, Guite), 16:51. Penalties-Loprieno Wor (roughing, fighting), 0:28; Sestito Spr (major – cross-checking, fighting, game misconduct – cross-checking), 0:28; Swift Wor (fighting), 16:57; D’Alvise Spr (fighting), 16:57.

2nd Period-3, Worcester, Davis 4 (Mashinter), 8:26. Penalties-Byers Spr (delay of game), 4:00; Swift Wor (hooking), 13:27.

3rd Period-4, Worcester, Henderson 5 (Petrecki, McLaren), 4:25. Penalties-Smith Spr (double minor – high-sticking), 14:02.

OT Period-5, Springfield, Wilson 10 (Savard, Regner), 2:44 (PP). Penalties-Petrecki Wor (interference), 2:13.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 11-8-10-2-31. Springfield 7-4-11-3-25.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0/3; Springfield 1/2.
Goalies-Worcester, Machesney 1-2-0 (25 shots-22 saves). Springfield, Wesslau 12-11-1 (31 shots-29 saves).
A-3,652
Referee-Jeff Smith (49). Linesmen-Brent Colby (7), Kevin Redding (16).

One Response to “WorSharks Grab Point In Overtime Loss to Springfield, 3-2”