SHARKSPAGE

WorSharks Can’t Get It Done Against Providence

The Worcester Sharks were dominated in nearly every aspect of the game at a time when they needed to be playing at their best, and while goaltending usually keeps the WorSharks in games this season when their play is less than stellar that wasn’t the case Saturday night in a 4-1 loss to the Providence Bruins at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts in front of an overflow crowd of 8,075. The loss keeps Worcester two points (and a tie breaker) behind the Connecticut Whale for the last guaranteed playoff spot in the AHL’s Atlantic Division.

Providence’s opening tally at 1:51 of the opening period had WorSharks fans thinking it would be a long night as carter Hutton totally misplayed Maxime Sauve’s shot from the low left wing circle. Hutton was not squarely against the near post and as the puck fluttered around between the netminder and post Jamie Arniel was able to just poke it over the goal line.

Worcester had a great chance early to get that goal back when Dan DaSilva found himself all alone at the far post just over six minutes into the contest, but P-Bruins goaltender Michael Hutchinson was able to get across the crease to make the save. The WorSharks did finally get back to even with 56 seconds remaining in the period with a power play goal after a wild scrum in front of the Providence net. Benn Ferriero, playing on the point, blasted a shot on net from the blue line that deflected off Tommy Wingels and slowed significantly. The puck got to Hutchinson at just about the same time as the WorSharks forwards crashed the net, and with the P-Bruin penalty killers in the mix a huge pile of players developed at the top of the crease. T.J. Trevelyan was somehow able to direct the puck just over the goal line to make it 1-1.

The Baby-Bs second goal of the game brought huge groans from the Worcester faithful when Providence converted on a broken play after Hutton misplayed another shot. With the WorSharks playing a P-Bruins rush well enough to prevent a clear scoring attempt from down low Stefan Chaput was able to get just enough of a bouncing puck to settle it in the slot for Lane MacDermid. From about twenty feet out the winger’s half slapshot low along the ice beat Hutton five hole to make it 2-1 Providence at 5:22.

As poorly as Hutton played he still made several great saves, and there was none bigger than while the WorSharks were on the power play as Providence broke in shorthanded two on one. Hutton made a great save after a cross ice pass left an onrushing P-Bruin penalty killer with a yawning open net. The save put Hutton down and out, and it looked like the return blast would give the Baby-Bs a two goal lead, but Matt Irwin was able to get to the front of the net to make the save for his goaltender.

Early in the third period Worcester had two great chances to get the tying goal, but after a great feed from DaSilva to a wide open Trevelyan the forward misfired from the slot with a lot of net available for him to hit. A few minutes later Brandon Mashinter was also all alone in front, in almost the exact same spot as Trevelyan’s miss, but Mashinter’s blast rang off the crossbar and bounded away harmlessly.

The P-Bruins would get the back breaker at 7:46 of the third on another shot Hutton should have had that ended going into the net through his legs. With defenseman Mike Moore all over Sauve down the left wing side, the onrushing forward was able to get a shot off that Hutton got a piece of, but the puck trickled through his legs and just over the goal line. After a turnover by Ferriero at the Providence blue line Jeremy Reich would add an empty net goal at 18:53 for the 4-1 final.

GAME NOTES
The WorSharks went with the same line-up as Friday night. The blue line for Worcester is starting to get crowded as the WorSharks have signed Sena Acolatse to an ATO and San Jose has reassigned Taylor Doherty from Kingston of the Ontario Hockey League. The transactions on the AHL’s official website reports that Nathan Longpre, who played Saturday night, has been released from his ATO. There has been no other confirmation from any other source.

Saturday’s crowd of 8,075 was the second largest in the Worcester Sharks era. The largest was the 9,803 fans that saw Worcester IceCats tribute night on January 22 against Bridgeport. The crowd was the 13th time in WorSharks history they’ve had over 7,000 in the house, and while many Worcester fans seem to think “they always lose” in front of large crowds that isn’t the case as Worcester has gone 8-4-1 in those games. The official sell out number is 7,230, and the WorSharks are 4-1-0 in games at that number of fans. Six times Worcester has raised the end curtains and sold tickets beyond the normal ticket limits, and Worcester has a respectable record of 3-2-1 on those games. It’s not shocking news to hear that of the 13 times there has been 7,000 or more at the DCU Center nine of them were against the Providence Bruins. Worcester is undefeated against the three other teams they’ve faced at home in front of those large crowds, having two wins over the Portland Pirates and single victories over the Manchester Monarchs and Lowell (now Albany) Devils.

The WorSharks announced their team awards during the game:
Rookie of the year: Tommy Wingels
Man of the year (community contributions): Nick Petrecki
Unsung hero: Dan DaSilva
Three stars: Johnathan Cheechoo
MVP: Andrew Desjardins

The three stars of the game were
1. PRO – 7 Maxime Sauve (g,a)
2. PRO – 35 Michael Hutchinson (33 saves)
3. PRO – 12 Jamie Arniel (g,a)

The Sharkspage player of the game was T.J. Trevelyan

Even strength lines
Davis/Ferriero/McGinn
Mashinter/McCarthy/Wingels
Henderson/Longpre/DaSilva
Trevelyan/Quirk/MacIntyre

Moore/Sullivan
Petrecki/Loprieno
Schaus/Irwin

Power play lines
McGinn/Wingels/Trevelyan
DaSilva/McCarthy/Mashinter

Irwin/Ferriero
Sullivan/Moore

Penalty kill lines
McCarthy/Davis
Ferriero/McGinn
Quirk/Wingels

Moore/Sullivan
Petrecki/Loprieno

BOXSCORE
Providence 1 1 2 – 4
Worcester 1 0 0 – 1

1st Period-1, Providence, Arniel 23 (Sauve, Button), 1:51. 2, Worcester, Trevelyan 17 (Wingels, Ferriero), 19:04 (PP). Penalties-Whitfield Pro (tripping), 6:50; Schaus Wor (hooking), 9:38; Goulet Pro (hooking), 16:32; Chaput Pro (cross-checking), 18:40.

2nd Period-3, Providence, MacDermid 7 (Chaput, Estoclet), 5:22. Penalties-Warsofsky Pro (slashing), 15:34.

3rd Period-4, Providence, Sauve 20 (Arniel), 7:46. 5, Providence, Reich 14 (Whitfield, MacDonald), 18:53 (EN). Penalties-No Penalties

Shots on Goal-Providence 7-6-15-28. Worcester 17-6-11-34.
Power Play Opportunities-Providence 0/1; Worcester 1/4.
Goalies-Providence, Hutchinson 12-10-1 (34 shots-33 saves). Worcester, Hutton 11-6-2 (27 shots-24 saves).
A-8,075
Referees-Chris Cozzan (18). Linesmen-Scott Whittemore (96), Chris Aughe (74).

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