SHARKSPAGE

WorSharks defeat Providence 2-1 in preseason action

The Worcester Sharks, or at least a bunch of guys wearing WorSharks jerseys, took on the Providence Bruins in preseason action Friday night at the New England Sports Center in Marlborough, Massachusetts and defeated their division rivals 2-1. Two “locks” for the opening night roster, rookie defenseman Konrad Abeltshauser and fan-favorite enforcer Jimmy Bonneau both scored against Providence goaltender Malcolm Subban. Jared Knight beat Worcester netminder Troy Grosenick for the PBruins lone goal.

Worcester Sharks rookie defenseman Konrad Abeltshauser scored the WorSharks opening goal
in a 2-1 win over Providence in AHL exhibition action Friday night.
Photo courtesy of STEVE CONWAY

For the particulars of the game, Darcy Hamilton has the recap on WorSharks official site, and Bill Ballou took some time off from covering the playoff bound Boston Red Sox to throw together a brief recap with a feature on Bonneau for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. The Providence Bruins have their version of the events on their site.

Worcester broadcaster Eric Lindquist was taking some video of the game and just happened to catch Bonneau’s game winner.

The spotlight was on Abeltshauser Friday and if last night was any indication teams are going to have to pay close attention to him because he was often times the best player on the ice for the WorSharks. Paired with Sena Acolatse most of the night Abeltshauser looked like a professional out there, something that many young players have an issue with early in the season as they settle in. Obviously this was just an exhibition game and Abeltshauser played against many guys that won’t be making the PBruins opening night roster, but those are the guys he needs to dominate over and he did.

Another player that looked good was Marek Viedensky, who is trying to get his career back on track after a season that saw him split time between San Francisco (ECHL) and the WorSharks and suffer a couple of injuries. To show how confident the organization in is his abilities Viedensky is wearing the captain’s “C” here in the preseason. And he wore it well, looking like a player that’s ready to have a breakout year.

To complete the record, James Livingston and Acolatse wore the “A” for Worcester.

Grosenick looked decent in net, and made several big stops in the second period to keep the WorSharks in the lead. The third period was a different story as Providence beat him five times in the stanza, but three found the iron behind him and a fourth trickled just wide. Knight’s knuckleball of a shot that beat Grosenick five-hole is the only official stain on his record.

The WorSharks even strength lines were
Tarasov/Schwartz/Reid
Caporusso/Viedensky/Stalberg
McDonough/Brace/Livingston
Bonneau/Oleksuk/Crane

Abeltshauser/Acolatse
Comrie/Goggin
Tarasuk/Kidd

I didn’t keep any notes about special teams lines, but it’s entirely possible the only player that didn’t kill penalties last night for Worcester was back-up goaltender J.P. Anderson.

There were no official three stars of the game, so after a quick polling of the usual suspects Sharkspage will go with:
1) WOR- Jimmy Bonneau (gwg)
2) WOR- Konrad Abeltshauser (g)
3) PRO- Malcolm Subban (29 saves)

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