SHARKSPAGE

Ferriero, Hutton Lead WorSharks Over Monarchs 3-2

The Worcester Sharks got two goals from Benn Ferriero and a great goaltending performance from Carter Hutton to defeat the Manchester Monarchs 3-2 Sunday afternoon at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire in front of an announced crowd 7,011.

After long bus rides to and from Wilkes-Barre during the weekend it was imperative the WorSharks get off to a good start to give themselves any chance of beating the division leading Monarchs, and luckily for Worcester they did just that. And their early hard work paid off when Frazer McLaren, who had no better option from the right wing corner, fired a hard backhander toward the net. In this St. Patrick’s Day weekend luck of the Irish was with Worcester when the puck deflected off of Patrick Davis and past Manchester netminder Jeff Zatkoff for the 1-0 lead 12 minutes into the period. Newcomer Nathan Longpre had his first professional point with the second assist.

Worcester would make it 2-0 on a nice four on three power play goal at 18:11. With John McCarthy and Manchester’s Patrick Mullen in the box for matching roughing minors, David Meckler would join his teammate in the box to give the WorSharks the unusual power play. The WorSharks went with three forwards, with Ferriero occupying the left point. A Tommy Wingels pass to the top of the left wing circle found Ferriero all alone, and his return blast beat Zatkoff just inside the far post. Matt Irwin has the other assist.

During the second period every bounce went Worcester’s way, including several that kept the puck out of the WorSharks net and a few that gave Worcester great scoring chances. It was one of those bounces that got Worcester its third goal of the game. With time winding down in the middle stanza Ferriero broke into the Manchester zone but was cut off from heading to the net. Ferriero instead left a drop pass for Mike Moore in the high slot, and the onrushing defenseman uncorked a blast that Zatkoff could barely get the right pad on. The rebound when right to Ferriero, who kicked it to his stick and batted it into the net with 26 seconds remaining for the 3-0 lead. Dan DaSilva’s outlet pass to Ferriero earned him the second assist.

And that third goal was big because of Worcester’s issues in the third period over the course of the season, and the few WorSharks faithful in the stands were already expecting the worse when Oscar Moller used defenseman Sean Sullivan to screen Hutton and fired a hard wrist shot just inside the top corner to make it 3-1 at 1:45. Manchester would make it 3-2 with a power play goal when a wide open Corey Elkins beat Hutton just under the crossbar at 6:19.

But Worcester’s tired legs had just enough energy left in them to keep the Monarchs at bay the rest of the way, and hopefully the two points aren’t too little, too late.

GAME NOTES
Worcester’s injury list just keeps growing, this time it’s Cam MacIntyre. His injury left the WorSharks with just 18 healthy skaters, and head coach Roy Sommer was forced to use defenseman Jon Landry at forward. The list may be growing even larger as T.J. Trevelyan was injured early in the contest and didn’t return.

Tommy Wingels (5g,2a) extended his point streak to six games. John McCarthy’s streak was stopped at five games. Benn Ferriero (2g,a) and Dan DaSilva (g,a) both have two game streaks going.

It’s a well known fact that most AHL teams–the WorSharks included–count tickets sold as their attendance and not the actual count of people with their butts in the seats, but the 7,011 number announced by the Monarchs would mean there were about 3,000 no-shows for the game. Of course, it is possible Sunday was “dress as an empty seat” night in Manchester and there were some really great costumes, but this writer doubts it.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 21 Benn Ferriero (2g)
2. WOR – 30 Carter Hutton (37 saves)
3. MCH – 6 David Kolomatis (2a)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Mike Moore.

BOXSCORE
Worcester 2 1 0 – 3
Manchester 0 0 2 – 2

1st Period-1, Worcester, Davis 5 (McLaren, Longpre), 12:00. 2, Worcester, Ferriero 14 (Wingels, Irwin), 18:11 (PP). Penalties-Landry Wor (roughing), 1:27; Petrecki Wor (cross-checking), 1:27; Azevedo Mch (roughing), 1:27; Campbell Mch (roughing), 9:23; McCarthy Wor (roughing), 16:33; Mullen Mch (roughing), 16:33; Meckler Mch (hooking), 17:43; Landry Wor (hooking), 19:24.

2nd Period-3, Worcester, Ferriero 15 (Moore, DaSilva), 19:34. Penalties-Sullivan Wor (hooking), 4:08; Campbell Mch (tripping), 8:14; Loprieno Wor (roughing), 11:14; Kaunisto Mch (roughing), 11:14.

3rd Period-4, Manchester, Moller 23 (Kolomatis, King), 1:45. 5, Manchester, Elkins 18 (Kozun, Kolomatis), 6:19 (PP). Penalties-Moore Wor (interference), 2:29; Ferriero Wor (holding), 6:07; Wingels Wor (kneeing), 15:52.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 10-12-6-28. Manchester 13-13-13-39.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 1/3; Manchester 1/6.
Goalies-Worcester, Hutton 8-4-2 (39 shots-37 saves). Manchester, Zatkoff 18-14-5 (28 shots-25 saves).
A-7,011
Referees-Ghislain Hebert (49). Linesmen-Bob Bernard (42), Brian MacDonald (72).