SHARKSPAGE

WorSharks dig hole too big to climb out of, lose 4-3 to Hartford

The Worcester Sharks gave up three first period goals and when Hartford added a fourth early in the third period the WorSharks looked down and out, but three quick strikes in the final stanza got Worcester within one but that was as close as they would get in a 4-3 loss to the Wolf Pack Sunday afternoon at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut. Rookie netminder J.P. Anderson took the loss in his first career AHL start.

Worcester Sharks forward Tyler Kennedy, on a conditioning loan from
the San Jose Sharks, had a goal and an assist plus a diving play to
help set up another goal in the WorSharks 4-3 loss to Hartford.
File photo courtesy of TEAMSHRED

After several games of being spoiled by highlights on the WorSharks YouTube channel for the road games we’ll have to go back to pointing at AHLlive’s highlight video package.

The only line-up change from Saturday’s win over Hershey was Anderson in net instead of Troy Grosenick. Scratches for Worcester were Jimmy Bonneau, Chris Crane, Petter Emanuelsson (shoulder), Travis Oleksuk (shoulder) and Gus Young.

With his start Anderson becomes just the second right-catching goaltender in WorSharks history, with Nolan Schaefer being the first early in the 2006-07 season. In what would be called a silly stat Anderson is now in second place in all time Worcester pro hockey starts by a right catching goaltender. The Worcester IceCats only had one right catching goaltender in 11 years of play, Alex Westlund, and his entire IceCats career consisted of 7:35 worth of action at the end of a 7-6 victory in Springfield on March 23, 2001. Westlund came into the game after Brent Johnson received a serious skate cut on his back, and gave up a goal on four shots against in the relief appearance.

There were two fights in the contest, the first was Micheal Haley taking on Wolf Pack enforcer Nick Tarnasky after Tarnasty threw a big hit on a WorSharks player after the whistle blew. Tarnasky had the early edge, but Haley came on at the end and cut Tarnasky with a vicious right that sent him to the ice and then off to the dressing room for repairs. The second battle was WorSharks PTO’er Tyler Shattock fighting Steve Spinell in an even fight brought on after a high hit by Spinell, who received a minor for checking the head on the play. All such penalties are reviewed by the AHL, so potentially more on that later.

For the first time this season the Worcester Sharks lost a game where they had a potential scheduling advantage. While Worcester only had to make an hour trip to Hartford the Wolf Pack had to make a mad dash from Allentown, Pennsylvania after taking on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms Saturday night. The three goal opening period outburst by Hartford shows that long bus rides may not be as big a hindrance as one would think.

The three stars of the game were
1. HFD – 30 Cedrick Desjardins (36 saves)
2. HFD – 10 J.T. Miller (g,a)
3. HFD – 17 Chris Bourque (g)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Tyler Kennedy.

Even strength lines
Haley/Karlsson/Hayes
Langlois/Hamilton/Tarasov
Lerg/Kennedy/Carpenter
Trupp/Schwartz/Shattock

Tennyson/Taormina
Fedun/DeMelo
Abeltshauser/Doherty

BOX SCORE

Worcester 0 0 3 – 3
Hartford 3 0 1 – 4

1st Period-1, Hartford, Bourque 3 (Bourque, Miller), 8:46 (PP). 2, Hartford, Miller 3 (Bodie), 11:24. 3, Hartford, Kristo 3 (Vaive, Lindberg), 14:05. Penalties-Langlois Wor (hooking), 7:34; DeMelo Wor (holding), 12:05; Tarnasky Hfd (interference), 15:54; Spinell Hfd (cross-checking), 18:03.

2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Lindberg Hfd (tripping), 0:38; Potulny Hfd (slashing), 1:46; Haley Wor (roughing, fighting), 9:23; Tarnasky Hfd (fighting), 9:23; Tennyson Wor (cross-checking), 15:28.

3rd Period-4, Hartford, Fast 1 (Bodie, Lindberg), 0:29. 5, Worcester, Carpenter 2 (Kennedy, DeMelo), 11:52. 6, Worcester, Hamilton 5 (Tarasov, Abeltshauser), 16:47 (PP). 7, Worcester, Kennedy 2 (Lerg, DeMelo), 18:48. Penalties-Kristo Hfd (hooking), 2:46; Shattock Wor (fighting), 5:53; Spinell Hfd (checking to the head, fighting), 5:53; Fedun Wor (hooking), 13:12; Jackson Hfd (slashing), 16:03.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 12-13-14-39. Hartford 7-7-4-18.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 1 / 7; Hartford 1 / 5.
Goalies-Worcester, Anderson 0-1-0 (18 shots-14 saves). Hartford, Desjardins 3-0-0 (39 shots-36 saves).
A-2,443
Referees-Cameron Voss (78), Keith Kaval (40).
Linesmen-Brent Colby (7), Paul Simeon (66).

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