SHARKSPAGE

WorSharks make it two in a row over Manchester with 5-4 shootout win

The Worcester Sharks entered this week having lost ten of the previous eleven matchups with the Manchester Monarchs, but after a shocking 3-1 win Tuesday over their rivals from New Hampshire the WorSharks did it again Friday in a 5-4 shootout victory over the Monarchs at the DCU Center. Jeremy Langlois and Taylor Fedun had multiple point nights for Worcester, while captain Bryan Lerg had the only tally in the shootout. The two teams play again Sunday in Manchester.

Worcester Sharks rookie forward Chris Tierney was falling to the ice but still
managed to rip off a wrist shot that beat Manchester goaltender J.F. Berube to
tie the game 2-2. The WorSharks would go on to win 5-4 in a shootout.
Photo courtesy STEVE LANAVA/T&G Staff

For video highlights of Friday’s game we’ll use the WorSharks YouTube channel.

Worcester went with the same lineup both Tuesday and Friday, with Jimmy Bonneau, Petter Emanuelsson (shoulder), Greger Hanson, and Eriah Hayes (shoulder) all scratched and J.P. Anderson the backup goaltender. There was one lineup change due to an AHL trade that saw forward Adam Burish being loaned to the Chicago Wolves by the San Jose Sharks and the St. Louis Blues assigning old friend John McCarthy to the WorSharks. While there have been a handful of minor league players to have multiple stints with Worcester, McCarthy becomes just the second player to leave the WorSharks to sign with another NHL organization only to eventually return to the Worcester roster. The first was Derek Joslin, who was reacquired after he signed with the Vancouver Canucks and spent the majority of the season with, ironically enough, the Chicago Wolves. Worcester also had another transaction in the week, releasing Riley Brace from his PTO.

One of this writer’s pet peeves is when the official far away from the action calls a penalty that the near referee has a great view of and doesn’t make. If the referee 30 feet away looking right at the play doesn’t call something, why does the referee 100 feet or more away think he has a better angle? That happed twice Friday night, and both cost the WorSharks a power play. In the first period Manchester defenseman Derek Forbort tackled Chris Tierney from behind in a move that looked like a linebacker taking down a running back. Referee Jon McIsaac’s hand went right up and the whistle blew as the Monarchs had possession of the puck, but from almost 100 feet away referee Cameron Voss called Tierney for a dive, despite Forbort being on top of Tierney. Later it was McIsaac’s turn, who called Daniil Tarasov for diving after he was blown out by a Forbort crosscheck while Worcester had a man advantage. To make matters worse, the crosscheck went uncalled.

To continue on about not being happy with the officiating, Manchester’s Josh Gratton was assessed two minors. His first was in the second period for unsportsmanlike conduct after a play was blown dead, and watching the video it’s not obvious what he did to deserve it. For the most part he was skating toward the bench for a line change by himself. His second was in the third period for goaltender interference, and despite him crashing into Grosenick it looked like a good hockey play from everyone involved. That penalty resulted in Taylor Fedun’s goal that gave the WorSharks a 4-3 lead.

Due to the craziness of the AHL scheduling Friday night was the last visit from the Monarchs to the DCU Center for the regular season. Worcester went 2-3-1 in the six games. They teams still play four more times in New Hampshire, starting with Sunday’s 3pm EST contest.

Local legend Rene Rancourt sang the national anthem prior to the game. Rancourt, who is the usual anthem singer for the Boston Bruins and for a variety of events around New England, also signed autographs during the game and fans around these parts still line up to greet him.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 14 Taylor Fedun (g,a)
2. WOR – 28 Jeremy Langlois (g,2a)
3. MCH – 6 Colin Miller (g,2a)

The Sharkspage player of the game is Troy Grosenick.

Even strength lines to start the game were
Tarasov/Tierney/Coetzee
Haley/Oleksuk/Hamilton
Lerg/Trupp/Langlois
McCarthy/(Tierney/Oleksuk)/Carpenter

Taormina/Doherty
Abeltshauser/DeMelo
Young/Fedun
Jones was inserted into pairings on the right side

BOX SCORE

Manchester 2 1 1 0 – 4
Worcester 0 2 2 0 – 5

1st Period-1, Manchester, Hughesman 1 (Backman, Weal), 5:03. 2, Manchester, Crescenzi 1 (Auger, C. Miller), 7:26. Penalties-Forbort Mch (holding), 8:16; Tierney Wor (diving/embellishment), 8:16; LoVerde Mch (holding), 14:36; Forbort Mch (fighting), 17:35; Haley Wor (fighting), 17:35.

2nd Period-3, Worcester, Langlois 11 (Young, Lerg), 11:19. 4, Worcester, Tierney 5 (Carpenter, McCarthy), 15:03. 5, Manchester, C. Miller 10 (Auger, Bissonnette), 19:05. Penalties-Gratton Mch (unsportsmanlike conduct), 9:13.

3rd Period-6, Worcester, Oleksuk 4 (Langlois, Fedun), 5:58. 7, Worcester, Fedun 2 (Lerg, Langlois), 12:51 (PP). 8, Manchester, Mersch 8 (Weal, C. Miller), 17:42. Penalties-Hamilton Wor (interference), 1:11; Bodnarchuk Mch (cross-checking), 7:53; Tarasov Wor (diving/embellishment), 8:53; Gratton Mch (goaltender interference), 11:49.

OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties

Shootout – Manchester 0 (Miller NG, Weal NG, Backman NG), Worcester 1 (Lerg G, Hamilton NG).
Shots on Goal-Manchester 7-11-11-5-0-34. Worcester 11-4-12-1-1-29.
Power Play Opportunities-Manchester 0 / 2; Worcester 1 / 4.
Goalies-Manchester, Berube 19-4-2 (28 shots-24 saves). Worcester, Grosenick 14-6-1 (34 shots-30 saves).
A-3,122
Referees-Jon McIsaac (45), Cameron Voss (78).
Linesmen-Ryan Gibbons (75), Brandon Gawryletz (2).