SHARKSPAGE

Grosenick stellar in WorSharks 2-1 shootout win over Manchester

The Worcester Sharks took their five game point streak an hour north to the Granite State, and while Troy Grosenick’s 31 save performance kept the WorSharks in the game rookie defenseman Konrad Abeltshauser’s first professional goal got them back to even and into a shootout where Worcester defeated the Manchester Monarchs 2-1 Sunday afternoon at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire in front of a crowd listed at 3,758.

WorSharks rookie goaltender Troy Grosenick improved his record to 5-2-0 with a
2-1 shootout win Sunday at Manchester. Grosenick has 3 shootout wins so far this season.
File photo courtesy of TEAMSHRED

Scratches for Worcester were Jimmy Bonneau, Adam Comrie, Dylan Demelo, Lane Scheidl (knee), and Sebastian Stalberg. Harri Sateri was the backup netminder. Mike Ricci spent his third game of the weekend behind the bench with coaches Roy Sommer and David Cunniff. The game was Nick Petrecki’s 254th in a Worcester uniform, surpassing former captain Mike Moore for most ever by a WorSharks player. Petrecki now sits 4th all time in Worcester hockey history behind three Worcester IceCats: Jame Pollock (270), Marc Brown (303), and Worcester Hockey Hall of Fame inaugural member Terry Virtue (455).

The six game points steak for Worcester is their best in two years going back to an eight game streak that ran from December 2nd to the 17th, 2011. That eight game streak was the second time the WorSharks had done that, and is the current team record. Worcester will have some work to do to get this streak to eight with their next game being another tilt vs Manchester on Friday.

Daniil Tarasov went from potential goat to hero in the span of about 20 minutes Sunday afternoon. First, in overtime, Tarasov slashed Monarchs winger Tanner Pearson 38 seconds into the extra session when Pearson crashed the Worcester net. It wasn’t like Tarasov was trying to be coy about it either, and with their being two referees for the game there was little to no chance it wasn’t going to be called. After the WorSharks killed that minor Tarasov then accidentally flipped the puck out of play from the Worcester defensive end to earn himself another trip to the sin bin. Tarasov did redeem himself with a nice backhander in the shootout that beat Manchester netminder Jean-Francois Berube for the eventual game winner. Over the radio WorSharks radio broadcaster Eric Lindquist exclaimed, “Tarasov went from being in the dog house to eating the prime rib dinner”.

The Monarchs refer to the Verizon Wireless Arena as “The Jungle”, and in seasons past it was one of the loudest arenas in the AHL in terms of fan participation. Sunday’s game was more like a funeral than a jungle, so much so that with the significant amount of Worcester Sharks fans in attendance (three bus loads of season ticket holders plus another couple dozen fans who traveled up on their own) cheering on Team Teal several times it almost seemed like a home game for the WorSharks. That was noticed by many players after the game, as many gave a stick wave to the fans high up in sections 219 and 220 and when Grosenick was announced as the #1 star he skated directly over to the far side of the ice toward the Worcester faithful.

On a related note, the loudest cheer in the building took place during the second intermission when Monarchs and WorSharks fans alike crowded around TVs on the concourse of the Verizon Wireless Arena to watch a potential a potential game winning 58 yard field goal by the Cleveland Browns Billy Cundiff fall short to give the New England Patriots a stunning 27-26 come from behind win. And a not-so-related note, if you ever visit the Verizon Wireless Arena to see the Monarchs play get the soft serve ice cream from the Carvel stands. Best deal in the building.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 1 Troy Grosenick (31 saves)
2. MCH – 35 Jean-Francois Berube (36 saves)
3. WOR – 10 Konrad Abeltshauser (gtg)

For the second game in a row the Sharkspage player of the game is Bracken Kearns.

Even strength lines
Tarasov/Kearns/ DaSilva
Hayes/Viedensky/Schwartz
Reid/Oleksuk/Livingston
Gogol/Brace/Pelech

Davison/Tennyson
Petrecki/Doherty
Acolatse/Abeltshauser

BOXSCORE

Worcester 0 0 1 0 – 2
Manchester 0 1 0 0 – 1

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-LoVerde Mch (tripping), 6:44; Brace Wor (tripping), 9:33.

2nd Period-1, Manchester, O’Brien 3 (Backman, Forbort), 0:57. Penalties-Weal Mch (tripping), 5:55; Gogol Wor (roughing), 9:07; Andreoff Mch (roughing), 9:07; Kozun Mch (goaltender interference), 9:07; Davison Wor (unsportsmanlike conduct), 13:00; Sabourin Mch (interference), 13:00.

3rd Period-2, Worcester, Abeltshauser 1 (Tarasov, Kearns), 5:47. Penalties-Sabourin Mch (holding), 1:45; Shore Mch (hooking), 15:15.

OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Tarasov Wor (slashing), 0:38; Tarasov Wor (delay of game), 3:16.

Shootout – Worcester 2 (Livingston NG, DaSilva G, Tarasov G, Reid NG), Manchester 1 (O’Brien NG, Weal G, Andreoff NG, Kozun NG, Pearson NG).
Shots on Goal-Worcester 9-9-17-2-1-38. Manchester 9-8-12-3-0-32.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0 / 5; Manchester 0 / 3.
Goalies-Worcester, Grosenick 5-2-0 (32 shots-31 saves). Manchester, Berube 7-4-2 (37 shots-36 saves).
A-3,758
Referees-Trent Knorr (44), Geoff Miller (28).
Linesmen-Joe Andrews (32), Landon Bathe (80).