SHARKSPAGE

WorSharks chomp on Penguins, win 3-1

The Worcester Sharks took full advantage of a Saturday night off while their opponent was playing an overtime game and used their high energy play and two first period Benn Ferriero goals to defeat the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 3-1 Sunday afternoon at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts in front of 3,865 fans.

From the moment the puck dropped it was obvious the Penguins, who played in consecutive overtime contests in Portland and Manchester, were a step slower than one would have expected from the number two team in the conference. The WorSharks sensed blood in the water and immediately took it to Wilkes-Barre, with all four lines pressuring all over the ice. Their hard work would pay off early when Ferriero grabbed a lose puck in the left wing corner and wheeled to the halfboards to unleash a laser just inside the near post at 4:16. Penguins netminder Brad Thiessen was screened by Mike Connolly and couldn’t react in time to make a blocker save. Both Connolly and Brodie Reid had assists on the goal.

The WorSharks never took their foot off the accelerator and continued to carry the play against Wilkes-Barre and again Ferriero connected, only this time while on the power play. Standing in nearly the same spot as his first goal Ferriero fired the puck into a screen that rang one off the near post and past Thiessen at 7:10, with the assists going to Connolly and Tommy Wingels. Despite having no chance on either goal Penguins head coach pulled Thiessen in favor of Scott Munroe. The goalie switched stemmed Worcester’s momentum a touch, but it had little effect on the scoreboard.

At the other end of the ice WorSharks netminder Tyson Sexsmith was holding for fort down stopping all six Penguins shots in the period. Sexsmith’s job was made easier by the play of his defense in front of him, who blocked several shots and broke up many chances before they could develop.

The middle stanza saw the Penguins come out with more intensity, but it was Worcester that was able to grab a goal when Nathan Moon fired a low shot to the far post that Munroe made the pad save on. Brandon Mashinter was right there for the rebound, and after a couple of attempts was finally able to lift it over Munroe and into the net at 6:32. Wingels had the second assist on the play.

At the other end of the ice Sexsmith was significantly busier than the opening period and was called upon to make several nice saves to keep Wilkes-Barre off the board. None were bigger than when Colin McDonald broke in alone from the blue line, and after a deke toward the middle Sexsmith was forced to flash the glove out to catch McDonald’s bid. Soon after Sexsmith’s save Monroe had a highlight save of his own when Taylor Doherty sent Mashinter in all alone with a nice pass off the boards. Monroe made a great right pad save on Mashinter’s bid to keep it 3-0 WorSharks.

The third period saw Worcester trying to defend its lead and Wilkes-Barre forcing the issue with a relentless attack. The Penguins best bid came early when Geoff Walker found an opening and broke into the WorSharks zone, but Sexsmith forced him wide to erase the scoring chance. As time was winding down in the game Connolly took an hooking minor and the Pens pulled Monroe for a six skater on four advantage. Sexsmith and the WorSharks played it very well, but after back to back saves Sexsmith thought he had the puck covered under his pad but the puck was still visible. Eric Tangradi was able to bang it home to ruin the shutout bid with 24.8 seconds to go.

GAME NOTES
Worcester’s scratches were Ryan Del Monte (thigh), Curt Gogol (healthy), Ben Guite (foot), Mike Moore (head), Sean Sullivan (lower body) and Marek Viedensky (healthy). Harri Sateri was the back-up goaltender. With Sullivan going down on Friday night the WorSharks signed defenseman Brian O’Hanley signed to a PTO. O’Hanley plays for Cincinnati (ECHL) and has now played for three different AHL teams this season under try-out contracts. Just based on one game I’d be shocked if he can’t hook on full time in the AHL somewhere.

The schedule gave Worcester a huge benefit in this game as they had Saturday night off while Wilkes-Barre was in the middle of a three game in three days road trip through New England. The Penguins will get to return the favor when the WorSharks visit Wilkes-Barre on Saturday, March 17 after playing at home against Providence the night before while the Penguins will be off that Friday night. Wilkes-Barre entered the weekend undefeated on the road but left New England dropping two shootouts and Sunday’s regulation loss.

The three stars of the game were:
1. WOR – Sexsmith (34 saves)
2. WOR – Ferriero (2g)
3. WOR – Mashinter (g)

Ferriero was the AHL’s second star of the night.

The Sharkspage player of the game was Nick Petrecki, who didn’t make it on the scoresheet but might have played his best game ever defensively.

Even strength lines
Connolly/Ferriero/Reid
Mashinter/Moon/Wingels
McLaren/McCarthy/Livingston
Bonneau/Lucia/MacIntyre

Irwin/Acolatse
Petrecki/Doherty
O’Hanley/Pelech

BOXSCORE

W-B/Scranton 0 0 1 – 1
Worcester 2 1 0 – 3

1st Period-1, Worcester, Ferriero 4 (Reid, Connolly), 4:16. 2, Worcester, Ferriero 5 (Connolly, Wingels), 7:10 (PP). Penalties-Craig Wbs (hooking), 6:04; Petrecki Wor (interference), 14:33; Craig Wbs (interference), 16:16; McLaren Wor (high-sticking), 19:00.

2nd Period-3, Worcester, Mashinter 3 (Moon, Wingels), 6:32. Penalties-MacIntyre Wor (hooking), 13:04; Lerg Wbs (double minor – high-sticking), 14:37.

3rd Period-4, W-B/Scranton, Tangradi 8 (Dimitrakos, McDonald), 19:35 (PP). Penalties-Petersen Wbs (tripping), 8:41; Livingston Wor (hooking), 14:58; Connolly Wor (hooking), 18:44.

Shots on Goal-W-B/Scranton 6-16-13-35. Worcester 8-13-7-28.
Power Play Opportunities-W-B/Scranton 1 / 5; Worcester 1 / 5.
Goalies-W-B/Scranton, Thiessen 9-4-1 (7 shots-5 saves); Munroe 1-1-2 (21 shots-20 saves). Worcester, Sexsmith 3-3-2 (35 shots-34 saves).
A-3,865
Referees-Terry Koharski (10), Jarrod Ragusin (42).
Linesmen-Chris Aughe (74), Todd Whittemore (70).

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