SHARKSPAGE

WorSharks torpedo Admirals in 5-1 victory

The Worcester Sharks got a delayed video review goal from Freddie Hamilton, followed by nice goals from Adam Comrie and Yanni Gourde, and behind a solid 24 save performance from Troy Grosenick turned back the Norfolk Admirals 5-1 at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts in front of a crowd of 3,616. With a win Sunday the WorSharks will sweep their three in three weekend since the last week of the 2007-08 season.

The Worcester Sharks celebrate at center ice after Saturday night's 5-1 win over Norfolk.
Photo courtesy of Joey Nereu | Yeahmop.com

For video highlights we once again point at AHLlive.com. If you’re looking for highlights of Hamilton’s goal that needed video review to determine if it was a good goal or not, there isn’t any in that package. For a full explanation we’ll look toward WorSharks beat reporter Bill Ballou of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. Below is a truncated view of the events; for his full posting you can check out his notes column

At 2:53 of the second period, during a stoppage of play, referee David Banfield headed toward the scorer’s bench and asked to look at the replay screen. After a long, long look, Banfield pointed to center ice, signifying a goal for Worcester. After briefly visiting with Norfolk coach Trent Yawney, who didn’t put up much of an argument, Banfield dropped the puck. The goal went to Freddie Hamilton, who put a wrist shot literally through the net 38 seconds into the period.

“I could tell by the sound,” Hamilton said. “I heard it hit mesh, and not the goalie’s glove. But everybody kept playing like nothing happened, so I figured it must not have gone in after all.”

However, the Sharks asked Banfield to take a look, telling him to focus on the action right about when Rob Davison got out of the penalty box, which was at 0:40. “(Banfield) told me that he didn’t think it was a goal at first,” Hamilton added.

Perhaps even odder, the goal was originally credited to James Livingston with two assists handed out (this writer didn’t catch who they were) but was changed to Hamilton unassisted later in the game. The oddity? Livingston wasn’t even on the ice when the goal was scored.

Scratches for Worcester were Matt Pelech (hand), Nick Petrecki, and Lane Scheidl. Harri Sateri recovered enough from his illness to be the back-up goaltender, so Scott Barchard was released from his ATO. “It was a blast to be part of a great organization and fan base. Huge win by the guys and I will never forget the experience,” Barchard told Sharkspage via twitter, adding he was allowed to keep his jersey and that he “couldn’t be happier”. Coming off a knee injury the WorSharks held Scheidl out for precautionary reasons, and he should be in the lineup Sunday against Portland.

Like Friday night, it was crowded behind the Worcester bench as the same cast of characters occupied the same spots. One could expect the same again Sunday as San Jose’s organizational meetings come to a close.

In addition to the delayed video replay referee Banfield was involved in a second rarity for pro hockey when he wound the clock down to end the game after a whistle with 2.6 seconds remaining in the contest. Tempers were flaring, and after seeing Admirals defenseman Alex Grant come off the bench to attack Curt Gogol–how Grant didn’t get an instigator is beyond this writer’s comprehension–and then minutes later a near line brawl with just those few seconds remaining Banfield had seen enough and ordered Norfolk to the dressing room while indicating to the official timer to start the clock.

Norfolk goaltender Frederik Andersen is “the real deal” and will most definitely be a number one goaltender in the NHL some day. Just this season alone he’s 10-2 with a 2.07 goal against average and a save percentage of .923 for the Anaheim Ducks. His action so far this season in the AHL has been limited because of his NHL time, but when you consider how poorly the WorSharks have been putting the puck in the net the following is a little shocking: Andersen entered Saturday’s game with a 0.96 GAA and ended the game at 2.27. His save percentage went from .971 to .933. Not bad for a gang that until recently couldn’t shoot straight.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 37 Yanni Gourde (g,2a)
2. WOR – 1 Troy Grosenick (24 save win)
3. WOR – 12 Freddie Hamilton (g,a)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Dan DaSilva.

Even strength lines
Gron/Hamilton/Tarasov
Gourde/Oleksuk/DaSilva
Reid/Viedensky/Livingston
Gogol/Schwartz/Bonneau

Abeltshauser/Acolatse
Davison/DeMelo
Comrie/Doherty

BOXSCORE

Norfolk 0 1 0 – 1
Worcester 0 3 2 – 5

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Stortini Nor (fighting), 6:11; Bonneau Wor (fighting), 6:11; Steckel Nor (tripping), 14:39; Davison Wor (kneeing), 18:40.

2nd Period-1, Worcester, Hamilton 12 0:38 (SH). 2, Norfolk, Smith-Pelly 11 (Blacker, Sarault), 6:04 (PP). 3, Worcester, Comrie 2 (Gourde, DaSilva), 12:15. 4, Worcester, Gourde 1 (Tarasov, DeMelo), 15:32 (PP). Penalties-Whitney Nor (hooking), 3:32; Gourde Wor (hooking), 4:40; Gogol Wor (misconduct – unsportsmanlike conduct), 6:21; Comrie Wor (holding), 7:41; Smith-Pelly Nor (slashing), 14:28; Comrie Wor (interference), 19:35.

3rd Period-5, Worcester, Tarasov 11 (Hamilton), 3:20. 6, Worcester, DaSilva 4 (Oleksuk, Gourde), 17:24. Penalties-Grant Nor (interference), 3:34; Tarasov Wor (unsportsmanlike conduct), 3:34; Grant Nor (roughing, fighting), 18:25; Acolatse Wor (fighting), 18:25; Gogol Wor (misconduct – unsportsmanlike conduct), 18:25; Zahn Nor (roughing), 19:57; Davison Wor (roughing), 19:57.

Shots on Goal-Norfolk 6-8-11-25. Worcester 12-17-6-35.
Power Play Opportunities-Norfolk 1 / 4; Worcester 1 / 4.
Goalies-Norfolk, Andersen 2-1-0 (35 shots-30 saves). Worcester, Grosenick 8-5-0 (25 shots-24 saves).
A-3,616
Referees-David Banfield (77).
Linesmen-Bob Bernard (42), Todd Whittemore (70).