SHARKSPAGE

WorSharks salvage weekend with 3-1 victory over Providence

If the Worcester Sharks could play the Providence Bruins every game not only would the ticket sales people at the WorSharks have a much easier job but at least this season Worcester would potentially be a lot higher in the AHL’s Atlantic Division standings after the WorSharks improved to 5-0-0 vs their route 146 rivals with a 3-1 victory over the PBruins Sunday afternoon at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island. Riley Brace, Jeremy Langlois, and Chris Tierney had the goals for Worcester while goaltender Troy Grosenick had 34 saves.

Worcester Sharks defenseman Taylor Fedun had two assists in the WorSharks
3-1 victory over the Providence Bruins. File photo courtesy of TEAMSHRED

For highlights we’re going to point to SendToNews.com. Embedding causes the highlights to autoplay, so we’ll use a link instead.

Scratches for the WorSharks were Andrew Blazek, Adam Burish (banged up), Taylor Doherty (hand), Petter Emanuelsson (shoulder), and Freddie Hamilton. After the hard-luck loss Saturday J.P. Anderson was once again in his usual role as back-up goaltender. Hamilton was a healthy scratch due to a potential recall after San Jose forward Joe Thornton was placed in injured reserve. If it happens it will likely be a short recall for Hamilton as Thornton would be eligible to return to action on January 7th. Micheal Haley is already on his way back to Worcester from San Jose and should be in the line-up on Friday.

WorSharks trainer Matt White was a busy man for a few minutes during the first period, having to tend to Worcester captain Bryan Lerg after he was taken hard into the boards by PBruins forward David Pastrnak. While Lerg was receiving treatment on the bench Eriah Hayes was injured on a hard check by Providence defenseman Chris Breen. Lerg eventually retuned to action but Hayes left the game with a shoulder injury after attempting to play one more shift. There was no word on his condition post-game.

Every goal counts as just one, but for Brace his first period goal will hopefully open the floodgates for more. Brace had a goal in each of his first three games during his try-out contract to end the 2012-2013 season, but then went 56 straight games without an AHL goal. The streak covered parts of three seasons and two different organizations. Brace did have goals in the ECHL during that time, 13 in 35 games, but presuming the idea is to stick in the AHL Brace needs to score in this league. According to Bill Ballou of the T&G Brace’s goal had some historical significance; it was the franchise’s 1800th in team history.

With the win WorSharks head coach Roy Sommer passed John Paddock for third in the AHL for career head coaching wins with 590. Next on the list is Hershey Bears legendary coach Frank Mathers with 610. Fred “Bun” Cook is the all-time leader at 636, a number that seems unlikely to be reached this season. Sommer is already the AHL record holder for career losses as a head coach at 607, nearly 100 more than Mathers.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 1 Troy Grosenick (34 saves)
2. WOR – 14 Taylor Fedun (2a)
3. WOR – 28 Jeremy Langlois (g)

The Sharkspage player of the game is Riley Brace.

Even strength lines
Lerg/Trupp/Langlois
Tarasov/Tierney/Coetzee
Hayes/Oleksuk/Hanson
Bonneau/Carpenter/Brace

Abeltshauser/DeMelo
Young/Fedun
Taormina/Jones

BOX SCORE

Worcester 1 2 0 – 3
Providence 0 0 1 – 1

1st Period-1, Worcester, Brace 1 (Taormina), 15:14. Penalties-Carpenter Wor (high-sticking), 3:15.

2nd Period-2, Worcester, Langlois 9 (Lerg, Fedun), 14:25. 3, Worcester, Tierney 3 (Coetzee, Fedun), 16:55. Penalties-served by Ferlin Pro (bench minor – too many men), 5:25.

3rd Period-4, Providence, Florek 6 (Lindblad, Breen), 1:09. Penalties-Hanson Wor (boarding), 9:59; Youds Pro (cross-checking), 9:59; DeMelo Wor (slashing), 10:26; Eminger Pro (slashing, misconduct – abuse of officials), 17:17; Tarasov Wor (slashing), 19:08.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 10-18-7-35. Providence 11-8-16-35.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0 / 2; Providence 0 / 3.
Goalies-Worcester, Grosenick 10-6-1 (35 shots-34 saves). Providence, Subban 7-8-0 (35 shots-32 saves).
A-7,675
Referees-T.J. Luxmore (49), Cameron Voss (78).
Linesmen-Todd Whittemore (70), Jack Millea (23).