SHARKSPAGE

WorSharks use blood and guts to defeat Bridgeport 5-2

The Worcester Sharks were bloodied, both literally and figuratively, early in the contest but stormed back with four second period goals en route to a 5-2 win that sent the Bridgeport Sound Tigers home feeling like they were the ones beaten up Sunday afternoon at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts in front of 5,023 fans.

After a long trip home following a loss in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pennsylvania Saturday night the last thing the WorSharks wanted to do was fall behind early Sunday, but as has happened far too often this season Worcester surrendered the opening goal when Tony Romano’s centering feed deflected toward the top of the circle to the right of WorSharks netminder Harri Sateri. Sound Tigers defenseman Matt Donovan fired the puck on net and past a screened Sateri at 2:53 of the opening period.

Following a shift where Bridgeport enforcer Trevor Gillies was giving WorSharks center Ben Guite “the business” at every opportunity Frazer McLaren jumped off the bench in a line-change and went after Gillies. It was a one sided battle at 7:08 with Gillies pounding McLaren to the ice and cutting him across the nose. As both Gillies and McLaren were the sixth skaters on the ice for their respective teams there is a chance for supplementary discipline from the AHL.

Just 24 seconds later Bridgeport agitator Micheal Haley jumped Worcester captain Mike Moore from behind, and in the ensuing battle bloodied Moore’s nose. Haley got an extra minor out of the deal and headed to the penalty box to serve his seven minutes. Moore went off to the WorSharks locker room for repairs and then into the sin bin to serve his remaining time, but with no stoppage in play between the end of Moore’s major and Haley’s extra time both players left the box at the same time. Despite repeated warnings to the linesmen from both penalty box attendants Moore and Haley went right back at it with Moore getting the better of the second battle. Both were given fighting majors and game misconducts, and face potential six game suspensions for fighting while leaving the penalty boxes.

A couple of minutes later Brodie Reid would get into the first fight of his pro career when he and Tyler McNeely dropped the gloves in the WorSharks zone, with Reid getting the edge in the battle. In a scary moment, as both players tumbled to the ice a skate cut linesmen Brian MacDonald’s left hand and a significant pool of blood appeared on the ice before he could be skated off to the Worcester dressing room for repairs. As if any proof was needed that the officials often need to be as tough as the players MacDonald rejoined the other officials on the ice to start the second period after being stitched up.

During a power play early in the second period the WorSharks appeared to tie the game when John McCarthy’s shot beat Bridgeport goaltender Kevin Poulin and looked to enter, and pass through, the Sound Tigers goal. But because neither referee saw the puck enter the goal nor did the goal judge turn the light on play continued despite the WorSharks–and a couple of Bridgeport players–looking around wondering how the puck hit the endboards. Despite repeated urging from the Worcester bench none of the on-ice officials went to the net to see if there was a hole in the back the puck may have passed through. While the AHL does not use instant replay to determine goals it is being tested in one AHL city for potential use next season. In an odd irony, the city where the test is being held is Bridgeport.

There was no question at all that Brandon Mashinter’s shot was a goal a couple minutes later when he beat Poulin just inside the far post at 4:41. Sena Acolatse started the play with a nice outlet pass to Guite, who then threw an easy pass over to Mashinter that the forward ripped on goal. While Mashinter’s goal was being announced Bridgeport carried the puck into the WorSharks goal, but McCarthy caused a turnover and sent James Livingston rushing down the right wing side toward the Sound Tigers end. Livingston made a self pass off the right boards and skated past the defense, picking the puck up at the halfboards and beating Poulin through the five-hole from the low right circle at 5:09.

Bridgeport head coach Brent Thompson pulled Poulin in favor of Anders Nilsson and that stemmed the tide for a short while, but the WorSharks were on a roll and never took their foot off the gas. Nilsson made a couple of nice saves to keep his team within a goal, but had no chance on Tony Lucia’s bid at 16:03. Tim Kennedy started the play by bringing the puck into the Sound Tigers zone, and while he turned back to find a trailer Lucia went straight to the goal. He stood there totally uncovered for over five seconds until Taylor Doherty saw him all alone at the top of the crease. Doherty put a shot on goal that Nilsson saved but Lucia was able to backhand the rebound over Nilsson and into the net.

It would get even worse for Bridgeport when Nilsson couldn’t get to his feet after the goal due to an ankle injury and Poulin had to go back in. Only no one could find Poulin, who had stormed off to the locker room in such a manner that had DCU Center security in the area dodging flying equipment. Just before referee Chris Cozzan was going to force the Sound Tigers to take their timeout Poulin skated through the player gate and took his position.

Recently signed Sebastian Stalberg showed why San Jose went after him quickly on the collegiate free agent market at 17:56 with an NHL-quality goal to make it 4-1 Worcester. After Mashinter rushed the puck down the left wing side he threw a back pass to Ryan Del Monte, who them spotted Stalberg racing into the zone from the bench. Stalberg accepted the pass, and while he was calming the puck skated right to the high slot to find a clear shooting lane. His laser of a wrist shot beat Poulin to become the sixth WorSharks player in team history to score in his first game with the team.

In the third period Bridgeport would make it interesting with a shorthanded goal by Sean Backman at 10:57, but Sateri and the WorSharks defense would hold to keep the Sound Tigers at bay the rest of the game. Kennedy would add an empty net goal at 19:21, with a head’s up assist by Matt Irwin, for the 5-2 final.

GAME NOTES
Scratches for the WorSharks were Jack Combs, Jimmy Bonneau, Nick Petrecki, Marek Viedensky, Cam MacIntyre, and Andrew Murray. Tyson Sexsmith was the back-up netminder.

More on the McCarthy shot that appeared to pass through the net…WorSharks beat writer Bill Ballou went to the goal judge between the second and third periods, and the goal judge claimed the puck hit the post and went wide. Sharkspage talked to several fans sitting on that side of the arena, to include a handful of Bridgeport fans, and not a single one of them thought the puck did anything but go through the net. Ballou has some more information on the situation here. The big issue this writer has about the situation is none of the four on-ice officials went to the net to check for a hole. To me that is inexcusable.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – Mashinter (g,a)
2. WOR – Livingston (g)
3. WOR – Stalberg (g)

The Sharkspage player of the game is Tim Kennedy

BOXSCORE

Bridgeport 1 0 1 – 2
Worcester 0 4 1 – 5

1st Period-1, Bridgeport, Donovan 8 (Romano, Cox), 2:53. Penalties-Gogol Wor (slashing), 3:21; Gillies Bri (fighting), 7:08; McLaren Wor (fighting), 7:08; Haley Bri (roughing, fighting), 7:32; Moore Wor (fighting), 7:32; DiBenedetto Bri (holding), 10:28; Haley Bri (fighting, game misconduct – leaving penalty bench), 14:47; Moore Wor (fighting, game misconduct – leaving penalty bench), 14:47; McNeely Bri (fighting), 16:23; Reid Wor (fighting), 16:23; Guite Wor (goaltender interference), 18:34; Frischmon Bri (hooking), 19:42.

2nd Period-2, Worcester, Mashinter 16 (Acolatse, Guite), 4:41. 3, Worcester, Livingston 6 (McCarthy), 5:09. 4, Worcester, Lucia 7 (Doherty, Kennedy), 16:03. 5, Worcester, Stalberg 1 (Del Monte, Mashinter), 17:56. Penalties-Landry Bri (tripping), 0:59; Stalberg Wor (tripping), 6:37.

3rd Period-6, Bridgeport, Backman 6 (Frischmon), 10:57 (SH). 7, Worcester, Kennedy 10 (Irwin, Pelech), 19:21 (EN). Penalties-Ness Bri (interference), 7:10; Katic Bri (slashing), 9:29; Ness Bri (interference), 12:03; Reid Wor (interference), 12:10; Guite Wor (goaltender interference), 17:35; Rakhshani Bri (goaltender interference), 18:30.

Shots on Goal-Bridgeport 10-6-19-35. Worcester 17-18-10-45.
Power Play Opportunities-Bridgeport 0 / 5; Worcester 0 / 8.
Goalies-Bridgeport, Poulin 17-16-3 (38 shots-35 saves); Nilsson 15-8-2 (6 shots-5 saves). Worcester, Sateri 12-12-0 (35 shots-33 saves).
A-5,023
Referees-Chris Cozzan (18), Geno Binda (22).
Linesmen-Brian MacDonald (72), Todd Whittemore (70).

WorSharks green with envy after 4-1 loss to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

The Worcester Sharks spent St Patrick’s Day in The Keystone State, and hopefully they celebrated before the game because there wasn’t a whole lot to be happy about after being dominated in a 4-1 loss to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Saturday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania in front of 8183 fans. Penguins defenseman Alexandre Picard had a hat trick to lead Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and John McCarthy had the WorSharks lone goal in the middle of the third period to spoil goaltender Scott Munroe’s shutout bid. Worcester netminder Tyson Sexsmith was lifted at at 18:38 of the opening period after surrendering three goals on just ten shot. Harri Sateri went the rest of the way stopping 25 of 26 attempts.

Sharkspage did not cover the game, for those interested in the particulars you can check out the Worcester Telegram’s “staff report”, which because Bill Ballou didn’t make the trip out west is really just WorSharks broadcaster Eric Lindquist’s rehashed game update found on Worcester’s official site.

On the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton side of things beat writer Jonathan Bombulie from the Citizen’s Voice has a game story and a nice blog posting. New friend Jason Iacona has some Chirps from center ice you may wish to check out.

GAME NOTES
Sebastian Stalberg was the only healthy scratch for Worcester. Jimmy Bonneau, Nick Petrecki, Frazer McLaren, Cam MacIntyre, and Andrew Murray are all at varied states of “injured”.

The three stars of the game were
1. WBS – Picard (hat trick)
2. WBS – O’Reilly (3a)
3. WBS – Munroe (27 saves)

Seeing as he scored the lone goal we’ll give the Sharkspage player of the game to John McCarthy.

BOXSCORE

Worcester 0 0 1 – 1
W-B/Scranton 3 0 1 – 4

1st Period-1, W-B/Scranton, Picard 6 (McDonald, O’Reilly), 6:28. 2, W-B/Scranton, Craig 9 (Despres, Street), 8:10 (PP). 3, W-B/Scranton, Picard 7 (O’Reilly, Grant), 18:38 (PP). Penalties-McDonald Wbs (slashing), 0:43; Lucia Wor (interference), 7:58; Livingston Wor (fighting), 11:17; DeFazio Wbs (fighting), 11:17; Gogol Wor (fighting), 11:21; Pelech Wor (fighting), 11:21; Sneep Wbs (fighting), 11:21; Walker Wbs (fighting), 11:21; McCarthy Wor (hooking), 15:29; Irwin Wor (delay of game), 18:02.

2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Irwin Wor (holding), 1:45; Lucia Wor (fighting), 8:25; Despres Wbs (roughing, fighting), 8:25; Craig Wbs (hooking), 11:21; Irwin Wor (hooking), 11:32.

3rd Period-4, W-B/Scranton, Picard 8 (Lerg, O’Reilly), 7:07 (PP). 5, Worcester, McCarthy 16 (Kennedy, Mashinter), 12:32 (PP). Penalties-McDonald Wbs (holding), 1:32; O’Hanley Wor (tripping), 4:34; Moore Wor (high-sticking), 6:01; Moon Wor (slashing), 8:03; O’Hanley Wor (tripping), 19:26; Moore Wor (hooking), 20:00.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 10-8-10-28. W-B/Scranton 10-11-15-36.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 1 / 4; W-B/Scranton 3 / 9.
Goalies-Worcester, Sexsmith 13-12-7 (10 shots-7 saves); Sateri 11-12-0 (26 shots-25 saves). W-B/Scranton, Munroe 16-6-3 (28 shots-27 saves).
A-8,183
Referees-Mark Lemelin (41).
Linesmen-Luke Murray (92), Tom George (61).

WorSharks chomp Providence 5-2 to stay in playoff race

The Worcester Sharks went into Friday night’s contest looking for a little revenge for last weekend’s shutout loss to the Providence Bruins, and after notching three third period goals defeated the Baby-Bs 5-2 at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts in front of 7,787 fans to keep pace in the Eastern Conference playoff race. The WorSharks are currently tied for 7th place in the conference with games in hand against every team behind them in the standings.

Games against their route 146 rivals often come down to bounces, take your pick if they’re bad ones for the WorSharks or good ones for Providence, and the Baby-Bs got one of those lucky bounces just 1:36 into the contest after a centering feed by Jamie Tardif hit the skate of Josh Hennessy and bounced past WorSharks netminder Tyson Sexsmith. Worcester was hampered in their own end when John McCarthy broke his stick, but the winger still failed to cover his man leading to the goal.

After both teams rang shots off the iron the WorSharks would draw back to even on a hard working play by Nathan Moon. Tony Lucia broke into the Providence zone on the left wing side and fed James Livingston breaking toward the net. Baby-Bs goaltender Michael Hutchinson made the initial save but couldn’t get his glove over the loose puck cleanly, and Moon was there are the far post to jam it home at 14:31.

Jack Combs gave the WorSharks a 2-1 lead with a power play goal that broke an oh-fer-29 skid with the man advantage when he put a rebound into a yawning net at 16:35. The play started with a hard pass to Ben Guite from Mike Moore at the blueline. Guite, standing at the left wing halfboards, unleashed a booming one-timer that Hutchinson was able to make the save on despite Livingston crashing the net right in front of him. The puck went right to the stick of Combs in the slot, and he had enough time to settle the puck and fire it into the open net before any defender could react.

Providence would have the only goal of the middle period, and it was again a lucky–or unlucky–bounce that resulted in the puck going into the net. Lane MacDermid took a shot from the high slot but partially misfired and the puck popped into the air. It bounced off the head of Trent Whitfield, and Sexsmith lost sight of it as he was expecting a booming shot. As Sexsmith was searching for the puck it dropped down on to his right shoulder and rolled into the net at 5:46. Under a minute later Providence would light the lamp again when Tardif deflected the puck into the net, but after a quick conversation with his linesmen referee David Banfield waved the goal off saying Tardiff kicked it in. Replay shows it was the correct call.

Lately Worcester has had some issues in the third period, so it was imperative the WorSharks got off to a strong start and avoid falling behind. Despite Sexsmith having to make a couple of nice saves early for the most part the WorSharks kept Providence from getting many good scoring chances. The only problem was the Baby-Bs were also keeping Worcester from getting any chances for themselves. But the WorSharks were outworking the Baby-Bs every shift, and for once that was enough to get them the lead.

Brandon Mashinter, Tim Kennedy, and McCarthy were swarming the Providence net and literally had the Baby-Bs skating in circles. With all their skating McCarthy finally had a clear opening for a great chance, but Hutchinson was able to kick the puck away and almost into the clear. Brain O’Hanley picked up the bouncing puck at the left point and wristed it through traffic, beating the screened Hutchinson at 11:19. Mashinter was credited with the second assist.

Marek Viedensky would get Worcester an insurance goal at 17:14 when he and Livingston turned a three on two into a two on one, and the rookie center beat Hutchinson to the glove side. Tony Lucia, who didn’t get an assist on the goal, was the third attacker that drew away one of the Providence defensemen. Lucia’s reward for his help in the insurance goal was an empty netter at 19:49, also assisted by Livingston.

GAME NOTES
Earlier in the week University of Vermont forward Sebastian Stalberg was signed to an amateur try-out contract by Worcester after signing a two year entry level contract with the San Jose Sharks. He was the only healthy scratch for the Worcester. Other scratches for the WorSharks were Curt Gogol, Nick Petrecki, Frazer McLaren, Cam MacIntyre, and Andrew Murray. Gogol skated in warm-ups and should be available shortly. Word is McLaren is also close to returning. One name finally absent from the injury list is Ben Guite, who played in just his 11th game of the season after suffering a broken foot and a concussion in two separate incidents. Harri Sateri was the back-up netminder.

Worcester headed off to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after the game for what will likely be their last hotel stay of the regular season. After Saturday’s game against the Penguins the WorSharks will make a mad dash home for Sunday afternoon’s game against Bridgeport. This is the second time this season Worcester has had a home game Friday, followed by a trip to Pennsylvania for a Saturday night game, and then a mad dash home for a Sunday matinee. There’s no reason for that to happen once in a season, never mind twice in five weeks.

Before before WorSharks the game the Worcester Police and Fire Department defeated the Watertown, CT Fire Department 11-5 during the Guns ‘N Hoses game to benefit the Jon Davies Children’s Foundation. Jon Davies was a Worcester firefighter killed in the line of duty in early December. At the conclusion of the game Worcester hosted a U.S. Army enlistment/re-enlistment ceremony at center ice.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – O’Hanley (gwg)
2. WOR – Moon (g,+2)
3. WOR – Viedensky (g)

The Sharkspage player of the game is James Livingston

BOXSCORE

Providence 1 1 0 – 2
Worcester 2 0 3 – 5

1st Period-1, Providence, Hennessy 17 (Tardif, Cunningham), 1:36. 2, Worcester, Moon 11 (Livingston, Lucia), 14:31. 3, Worcester, Combs 14 (Guite, Moore), 16:35 (PP). Penalties-Miller Pro (cross-checking), 14:52.

2nd Period-4, Providence, Whitfield 6 (MacDermid, Cohen), 5:46. Penalties-O’Hanley Wor (cross-checking), 18:09.

3rd Period-5, Worcester, O’Hanley 2 (McCarthy, Mashinter), 11:19. 6, Worcester, Viedensky 5 (Livingston), 17:14. 7, Worcester, Lucia 6 (Livingston), 19:49 (EN). Penalties-Mashinter Wor (slashing), 0:39.

Shots on Goal-Providence 6-7-10-23. Worcester 15-10-8-33.
Power Play Opportunities-Providence 0 / 2; Worcester 1 / 1.
Goalies-Providence, Hutchinson 7-13-1 (32 shots-28 saves). Worcester, Sexsmith 13-11-7 (23 shots-21 saves).
A-7,787
Referees-David Banfield (44).
Linesmen-Jack Millea (23), Bob Paquette (18).

WorSharks slowly sliding down standings, lose 4-1 to Adirondack

The Worcester Sharks started a new game on Sunday afternoon but it looked a whole lot like just a continuation of Saturday night’s shutout loss to Providence with the WorSharks taking a large amount of shots but just not being able to put the puck into the net. Worcester was finally able to light the lamp but it was not enough as they dropped a 4-1 contest to the Adirondack Phantoms at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts in front of s crowd of 3,963.

Former Boston Bruins forward and current Harvard University hockey head coach Ted Donato has a quote that says “catch-up hockey is losing hockey”, and that line should be painted right where the WorSharks can see it as they head to the DCU Center ice because far too often the team is playing catch-up hockey at home. Sunday was no exception as Worcester fell behind at 14:22 of the opening period when Adirondack turned defense to offense and into a quick goal before the WorSharks even knew what happened.

The play started in the Phantoms zone with Adirondack goaltender Michael Leighton making a save. Winger Rob Bordson grabbed the loose puck and lofted it over the Worcester defense to Shane Harper as the forward skated free towards the WorSharks end. The puck landed in front of Harper and bounced upwards, but the winger calmly batted the puck down in front of him and broke in on WorSharks netminder Harri Sateri, beating the rookie to the low glove side.

The Phantoms would make it 2-0 just 57 seconds into the second period when the WorSharks got a little careless with the puck in their own zone on the fresh sheet of ice. Bordson picked up the loose puck and blasted a shot on Sateri, who kicked the rebound hard into the slot. The puck went right to Matt Ford, who fired a low wrist shot past Sateri.

Jack Combs would finally end the WorSharks scoreless streak at 123:40 when he banged home a pass from Nathan Moon at 10:24 of the third period. After a Brodie Reid face-off win the puck ended up behind the Phantoms net, and the Adirondack defense made the cardinal sin of both defenders going behind the net to take on Moon. Combs stood all alone in the slot, and had no troubles converting Moon’s backhand pass into a wicked one-timer that beat Leighton.

But the Phantoms would have no part of a miracle comeback and regained their two goal lead when Bordson fired a laser from the point that Mike Testwuide tipped past Sateri at 12:30. Tye McGinn, younger brother for former San Jose forward Jamie McGinn, added an empty netter at 19:15 for the 4-1 final.

GAME NOTES
Worcester Sharks head coach went with the same line-up all weekend, with the only switch being Harri Sateri in goal and Tyson Sexsmith being the back-up for Sunday’s contest. The WorSharks injury list was unchanged before the game with Ben Guite, Frazer McLaren, Cam MacIntyre, and Andrew Murray all still hurting to one extent or another. Word is a couple of them may be back soon, but unfortunately for the WorSharks another name will be added to the list as Curt Gogol suffered an infamous “lower body injury” in the first period.

There was some question on Matt Pelech’s availability as the defenseman, who had blocked several shots on Saturday and was obviously still hurting, looked like an old man skating around during warm-ups. On more than one occasion Pelech fell down while participating in drills and he was the first player off the ice. During the game it was a completely different story as the veteran played his normal game without much issue.

Next weekend doesn’t get any easier for Worcester, with home games Friday against Providence and Sunday against Bridgeport. Saturday’s road game will be the second time in as many months the WorSharks make a mad dash into Pennsylvania when Worcester hits Wilkes-Barre to take on the Penguins.

The three stars of the game were
1. ADK – Leighton (40 saves)
2. ADK – Testwuide (g)
3. ADK – Bordson (3a)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Jack Combs

BOXSCORE

Adirondack 1 1 2 – 4
Worcester 0 0 1 – 1

1st Period-1, Adirondack, Harper 13 (Bordson, Leighton), 14:22. Penalties-No Penalties

2nd Period-2, Adirondack, Ford 20 (Bordson), 0:57. Penalties-Doherty Wor (hooking), 4:49; Walker Adk (holding), 14:50; served by Combs Wor (bench minor – too many men), 16:48.

3rd Period-3, Worcester, Combs 13 (Moon, Reid), 10:24. 4, Adirondack, Testwuide 10 (Bordson, Holmstrom), 12:39. 5, Adirondack, McGinn 10 (Ford, Walker), 19:15 (EN). Penalties-No Penalties

Shots on Goal-Adirondack 10-15-11-36. Worcester 11-21-9-41.
Power Play Opportunities-Adirondack 0 / 2; Worcester 0 / 1.
Goalies-Adirondack, Leighton 21-21-0 (41 shots-40 saves). Worcester, Sateri 11-12-0 (35 shots-32 saves).
A-3,963
Referees-Chris Brown (86).
Linesmen-Bob Paquette (18), Jack Millea (23).

WorSharks powerless in 2-0 loss to Providence

The Worcester Sharks are averaging under three goals a game, so after scoring six against Portland on Friday night it wasn’t shocking to see the return of their scoring issues in Saturday’s contest, and the inability to put the puck in the net came back to bite the WorSharks on the backside as they were whitewashed 2-0 by the Providence Bruins at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts in front of 6,204 fans.

Providence goaltender Michael Hutchinson certainly played a huge role in keeping the WorSharks off the board, but the bigger issue is one long running: the team simply does not put the puck in the net when they have opportunities to do so. The team is so bad in scoring it doesn’t even generate scoring chances while on the power play. Worcester has failed to score in its last 28 power play chances, a streak that goes back to February 24. And that was a five on three goal, to find a five on four goal one has to go back to February 21st against Syracuse.

One stat says it all: Worcester shooting percentage is a woeful 7.9%, last in the American Hockey League.

There’s one team that has a shooting percentage close to Worcester, and that’s Providence at 8%. That point-one might not seem like a lot, but what it turned into was Kirk MacDonald being able to tip a wide shot by Andrew Bodnarchuk past WorSharks goaltender Tyson Sexsmith at 12:25 of the middle period as MacDonald was all alone at the far post behind the Worcester defense. Trent Whitfield added an empty netter with four seconds remaining for the 2-0 final.

One thing that needs to be pointed out; effort and heart are not issues on this team. The WorSharks play hard every single night. But what they don’t do is score, and that’s not an issue winning teams have.

GAME NOTES
WorSharks head coach Roy Sommer went with the same line-up as Friday night. The only change was that instead of James Sheppard being a healthy scratch he was recalled to San Jose as his conditioning stint was over. Harri Sateri was again the back-up goaltender.

There was two fights in the contest, the second one starting while Providence was celebrating Kirk MacDonald’s goal. MacDonald intentionally skated into Tim Kennedy by the P-Bruins bench–there was no way he didn’t see Kennedy–and Kennedy chased after MacDonald and gave him an NHL-level two hander across the legs. All ten players got together, and within second Curt Gogol pulled Kevan Miller out of the pile and dropped the gloves. The first fight was Brandon Mashinter against Nathan McIver in a continuation of an altercation that started in the opening minutes of the game after John McCarthy was elbowed in the head. Mashinter pummeled McIver, cutting the defenseman over the right eye leaving blood on the glass. The two fights push the WorSharks to the century mark on the season, which leads the AHL.

While the P-Bruins colors are black and gold after the game Matt Pelech’s colors were black and blue as the defenseman blocked several shots, including one that caved him in as play continued around him in the first period. Later on he blocked another shot that hit his other leg, and for the rest of the game looked like he could barely stand as opposed to skating. He appeared to miss just one shift despite being in obvious pain for most of the contest.

The three stars of the game were
1. PRO – Hutchinson (34 save shutout)
2. PRO – MacDonald (gwg)
3. WOR – Sexsmith (28 saves)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Matt Pelech

BOXSCORE

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

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Mashinter Wor (roughing), 1:35; McIver Pro (fighting), 10:32; Mashinter Wor (fighting), 10:32; Moon Wor (tripping), 13:47; Whitfield Pro (holding), 16:31.

2nd Period-1, Providence, MacDonald 6 (Bodnarchuk, Miller), 12:25. Penalties-Miller Pro (fighting), 12:25; Gogol Wor (fighting), 12:25; Kennedy Wor (slashing), 12:25; Cohen Pro (slashing), 16:28.

3rd Period-2, Providence, Whitfield 5 (Tardif), 19:56 (EN). Penalties-Cunningham Pro (tripping), 7:46; Lucia Wor (slashing), 9:18; Whitfield Pro (goaltender interference), 12:08; Doherty Wor (delay of game), 14:28.

Shots on Goal-Providence 8-12-10-30. Worcester 14-8-12-34.
Power Play Opportunities-Providence 0 / 5; Worcester 0 / 4.
Goalies-Providence, Hutchinson 7-11-1 (34 shots-34 saves). Worcester, Sexsmith 12-11-7 (29 shots-28 saves).
A-6,204
Referees-Francis Charron (46).
Linesmen-Ed Boyle (81), Brent Colby (7).

WorSharks put up a six-pack against Pirates, beat Portland 6-4

The Worcester Sharks got multiple point tallies from four players in a night that saw 11 different WorSharks hit the scoresheet, and they needed just about every single one of them to overcome some shaky goaltending in route to upending the Portland Pirates 6-4 Friday night at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts in front of 2,984 very loud fans.

For most of the season Worcester has had to rely on solid goaltending as their offense doesn’t score many goals but Friday night the roles were reversed and the offense came to life to help bail out goaltender Tyson Sexsmith, who was not sharp at all. Curt Gogol would get things going on the opening shift of the game when he and Ryan Del Monte were behind the Pirates net fighting for a loose puck. Gogol was the one that came up with it, and he wheeled the net in an attempt to jam the puck home. Portland goaltender Justin Pogge didn’t hold his post and Gogol was able to bank it off Pogge and into the net 28 seconds into the contest.

A few moments later Matt Pelech, who has been arguably Worcester’s best defenseman as of late, had a great chance to make it 2-0 when he went coast to coast but just ran out of ice as he tried to muscle the Portland defense into the slot, and Pogge was able to turn aside the bid. Brandon Mashinter, who has been on fire as of late, would have better luck in front of the net at 12:43 with a bang-bang play set up by a nice effort by John McCarthy. Tim Kennedy took a draw in the right wing circle, and despite Worcester losing the face-off McCarthy was able to get to the loose puck in the corner and fire it on net. Pogge made the save but Mashinter picked the rebound out of the air and in for his third goal in two games.

Both of those goals were big because just 3:59 later Portland was back to even on two shots Sexsmith would likely want second chances on. At 13:42 Brett Sterling deflected Mathieu Brodeur’s blast from the blueline past Sexsmith and into the net. Sexsmith looked unprepared for the original shot, and as was a problem all night, seemed to be too deep in his crease. Exactly three minutes later Evan Bloodoff capitalized in the WorSharks inability to clear the puck from their own zone, and in a play that looked like Gogol’s tally Bloodoff wheeled the net and jammed the puck home when Sexsmith failed to hold the post.

With just under three minutes to go in the opening period Pelech would head to the penalty box for roughing after blowing up Jordan Szwarz just inside the Pirates zone. The hit looked high to this writer so there is a possibility Pelech could be hearing from the AHL after the weekend is over. Pelech would play a huge role in the WorSharks regaining the lead when he stepped out of the penalty box and joined an odd man rush into the Portland zone. Pelech was just ahead of the play and had to throw the brakes on to stay onside, and his back foot was just still on the blueline when Kennedy gained the line. With the defense having to worry about Pelech on the left wing Kennedy threw a nice pass to McCarthy on the right win, and McCarthy’s shot banked in off the far post with 37 seconds remaining in the period. Sexsmith, who had made a save earlier during the play in the Worcester zone, got the second assist on the tally.

When the second period began the Pirates replaced Pogge with recently acquired Peter Mannino, and the WorSharks welcomed him to the game with a four on four goal at 1:49 credited to Tony Lucia. Sena Acolatse had the original attempt on goal while Lucia was taken out of the play at the near post by the Pirates defense. With Lucia laying on the ice and the puck nowhere in site to most fans referee Jamie Koharski allowed play to continue, and all of the sudden the goal light went on as the puck was in the back of the net. Nathan Moon grabbed the second assist.

Moon would make it 5-2 WorSharks at 15:27 as the WorSharks swarmed the Pirates net. Pelech was the original shooter, again trying to jam the puck home after a rush from the blueline. Mannino held the post and the puck bounced into the left wing corner, where Jack Combs was able to retrieve it and throw a nice blind backhand pass into the slot. Moon was able to fight off his checker and deflect it into the net.

The later part of the second stanza got a little chippy, and at 16:50 Mark Louis decided to try and fire his team up by taking on Jimmy Bonneau. What ended up happening was Louis got pounded for his troubles as Bonneau earned the easy TKO victory in his 20th fighting major of the season. A few moments later Moon and Szwarz got together, but the linesmen jumped in before either could drop the gloves. Just before time expired in the period Matt Watkins took a run at Taylor Doherty, but the 6’7″ rookie would have none of it as he threw Watkins to the ice like a rag doll.

Former Sharks prospect Ashton Rome made things a little interesting at 2:45 of the third period with an unassisted tally after converting on a turnover in the WorSharks zone to get the Pirates to 5-3, but a McCarthy break in followed by a nifty drop pass by Mashinter allowed Kennedy to blast one by Mannino to make it 6-3 at 6:44. Rome would add a second tally at 16:59 to make it 6-4 to start WorSharks fans worrying a little. Those worries got a lot worse when Worcester was called for two consecutive late ticky-tack minors to put them down two skaters. Portland pulled Mannino to make it a full six on three advantage, but Sexsmith rose to the occasion with two nice saves–and more importantly, no rebounds–to keep it a two goal victory.

GAME NOTES
Scratches for the WorSharks were Ben Guite, Brian O’Hanley, Frazer McLaren, James Sheppard, Cam MacIntyre, and Andrew Murray. Sheppard was a health scratch due to some roster issues, although what those issues could be were unclear. Word from Bill Ballou of the Worcester Telegram is those issues should be resolved–one way or another–sometime today. Sena Acolatse, who is recovering from facial surgery, played but changed from a “bird cage” to a full face shield. Harri Sateri was the back-up goaltender.

Friday’s game likely would have had a much different outcome had the Pirates capitalized on even a few of the open nets they had. Several times give-and-go passes had a Pirates player facing a yawning net behind Sexsmith but in every single case they either couldn’t control the return pass or missed the net completely with their shots.

Unlike baseball where a pitcher can’t get a loss when he enters a game when his team trails, goaltender wins in hockey are based on who gives up the game winning goal. Pogge gave up three goals on 13 shots, but Mannino gave up Moon’s game winner so he gets saddled with the loss despite stopping 22 of 25 attempts.

In some Pirates news, they lost forward Marc-Antoine Pouliot to the Phoenix Coyotes when he was recalled prior to the game, forcing Portland to skate with 11 forwards and seven defensemen. That did turn out to be an advantage when blueliner Nathan Oystrick skated gingerly to the locker room with about seven minutes remaining in the opening period and did not return. Also, the Pirates reported on their site that Friday’s game was the 1,500th in franchise history. Counting overtime/shootout losses as ties Portland is 716-555-229 in their 19 AHL seasons.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – Kennedy (g,2a)
2. WOR – McCarthy (g,2a)
3. WOR – Gogol (g)

McCarthy was also the #2 Star of the Night in the AHL.

The Sharkspage player of the game was Brandon Mashinter.

BOXSCORE

Portland 2 0 2 – 4
Worcester 3 2 1 – 6

1st Period-1, Worcester, Gogol 5 (Del Monte), 0:28. 2, Worcester, Mashinter 15 (McCarthy, Kennedy), 12:43. 3, Portland, Sterling 24 (Brodeur, Miele), 13:42. 4, Portland, Bloodoff 4 (Hextall, Szwarz), 16:42. 5, Worcester, McCarthy 15 (Kennedy, Sexsmith), 19:23. Penalties-Irwin Wor (slashing), 4:32; Pelech Wor (roughing), 17:17; McArdle Por (interference), 19:58.

2nd Period-6, Worcester, Lucia 5 (Acolatse, Moon), 1:49. 7, Worcester, Moon 10 (Combs, Pelech), 15:27. Penalties-Kennedy Wor (high-sticking), 1:23; Watkins Por (goaltender interference), 13:17; Louis Por (fighting), 16:50; Bonneau Wor (fighting), 16:50; Szwarz Por (unsportsmanlike conduct), 17:55; Moon Wor (unsportsmanlike conduct), 17:55; Petrecki Wor (high-sticking), 17:55.

3rd Period-8, Portland, Rome 4 2:45. 9, Worcester, Kennedy 9 (Mashinter, McCarthy), 6:44. 10, Portland, Rome 5 (McArdle, Brodeur), 16:59. Penalties-Hextall Por (unsportsmanlike conduct), 11:08; Kennedy Wor (unsportsmanlike conduct), 11:08; McCarthy Wor (slashing), 17:23; Kennedy Wor (tripping), 18:11.

Shots on Goal-Portland 13-11-18-42. Worcester 13-14-11-38.
Power Play Opportunities-Portland 0 / 6; Worcester 0 / 2.
Goalies-Portland, Pogge 13-12-3 (13 shots-10 saves); Mannino 4-6-0 (25 shots-22 saves). Worcester, Sexsmith 12-10-7 (42 shots-38 saves).
A-2,984
Referees-Jamie Koharski (84).
Linesmen-Bob Paquette (18), Brian MacDonald (72).

WorSharks not so special in 3-2 loss to Bridgeport

The Worcester Sharks got two even strength goals from Brandon Mashinter but allowed three goals while shorthanded, which turned out to be the difference in a 3-2 loss to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers Tuesday night at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts in front of a intimate crowd in a game delayed over an hour by ice issues.

With the 2012 U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships at the DCU Center over the weekend adding a layer of paint and about an inch and a half of ice on top of the hockey surface some work had to be done to bring the sheet back to playable conditions, and with one of the Zambonis breaking down causing the already tight schedule to fall apart the WorSharks pushed the start time from 7pm up an hour to 8pm. When Sharkspage arrived at 6:30pm there was still some question if the game could be played as the sheet looked more like a frozen river as opposed to an indoor hockey rink.

A one point the trainers for both teams were on the ice surveying the surface, and their body language made it clear it was in tough shape. Just before the original scheduled start time both head coaches, Roy Sommer for the WorSharks and Brent Thompson for Bridgeport, were together on the sheet watching the repairs being made. With no corresponding open dates for the clubs the decision was to attempt to play, and to the credit to the DCU center staff the ice was in playable shape for the start of the game. The same couldn’t be said for Worcester’s special teams, which were atrocious in the contest.

After a power play that saw them generate no scoring chances the WorSharks ended up two men short on very borderline calls. Tony Lucia was whistled for goaltender interference at 5:53 after he was tripped into Sound Tigers netminder Kevin Poulin, and 36 seconds later John McCarthy was sent off for tripping on what looked like a clear dive by the Bridgeport forward. Worcester goaltender Harri Sateri made a great save early in the five on three, but with all the open ice eventually Rhett Rakhshani was eventually able to beat a screened Sateri from the top of the left circle at 7:06.

After two power play chances late in the opening period saw the WorSharks fail to get a shot on goal Worcester would finally connect at 9:28 of the second period at even strength on a nice tip by Mashinter. Matt Irwin’s original shot was blocked by Tomas Marcinko, one of more than a handful of shots blocked by the Sound Tigers on the night. McCarthy picked up the loose puck in the left wing corner and fed it back to Irwin at the point, and his blast on net was deflected by Mashinter and past Poulin to make it 1-1.

Bridgeport would retake the lead with their second power play goal after the WorSharks couldn’t clear the puck out of the zone. Matt Pelech threw a clearing attempt up the boards that was picked off by Aaron Ness, who then fed Marcinko at the near post. Marcinko then tried to pass the puck through the crease to Kael Mouillierat on Sateri’s back side, but the puck deflected off Pelech and into the net at 18:27.

Rakhshani would make it 3-1 Sound Tigers at 3:53 of the third period with Bridgeport’s third power play goal of the game when he picked up a loose rebound after Sateri stopped bids by Calvin de Haan and Micheal Haley.

Mashinter would get the WorSharks back into the game at 5:48 when he deflected Tim Kennedy’s centering feed from the right wing circle to the slot past Poulin, with McCarthy grabbing the second assist on the goal, but Worcester couldn’t convert again and skated off 3-2 losers.

GAME NOTES
Sena Acolatse was the only “healthy” scratch, but he only barely qualifies as healthy as he battles a facial injury suffered some time ago. Worcester official injury list includes Ben Guite, Frazer McLaren, Marek Viedensky, Cam MacIntyre, and Andrew Murray. Tyson Sexsmith was the back-up goaltender.

Brandon Mashinter’s two goals extends his point streak to four games (3g,2a). Tim Kennedy’s assist gives him a three games steak (2g,2a). Matt Irwin has a two game streak going (2a).

Taylor Doherty’s goal scoring drought has reached 51 games, but he came within an inch of breaking that last night when he took a booming slapshot that went through a whole the size of an index card as if winged into a mash of players in front of Sound Tigers goaltender Keven Poulin. The shot beat the netminder clean, but rang hard off the iron and bounced away harmlessly.

How poorly was the game officiated? Irwin, who this writer can not recall ever complaining about a penalty called against him, got a ten minute misconduct for arguing a tripping minor against him at 15:54 of the third period. The video shows he likely got the misconduct for being right.

With two genuine heavyweights on the ice–Jimmy Bonneau for Worcester and Trevor Gillies skating for Bridgeport–everyone was hoping to see a good battle. No such luck as the few times they did get together each time ended with one, or both, of them laughing and skating away.

The three stars of the game were
1. BRI – Rakhshani (2g)
2. WOR – Mashinter (2g)
3. BRI – Romano (2a)

The Sharkspage player of the game was John McCarthy.

BOXSCORE

Bridgeport 1 1 1 – 3
Worcester 0 1 1 – 2

1st Period-1, Bridgeport, Rakhshani 11 (Donovan, Romano), 7:06 (PP). Penalties-Landry Bri (hooking), 1:33; Lucia Wor (goaltender interference), 5:53; McCarthy Wor (tripping), 6:29; DiBenedetto Bri (hooking), 14:03; Mouillierat Bri (high-sticking), 16:30.

2nd Period-2, Worcester, Mashinter 13 (Irwin, McCarthy), 9:28. 3, Bridgeport, Marcinko 7 (Ness, Romano), 18:27 (PP). Penalties-Rakhshani Bri (hooking), 9:43; Gogol Wor (interference), 12:24; Doherty Wor (roughing), 16:57.

3rd Period-4, Bridgeport, Rakhshani 12 (Haley, de Haan), 3:53 (PP). 5, Worcester, Mashinter 14 (Kennedy, McCarthy), 5:48. Penalties-Pelech Wor (holding), 2:48; Frischmon Bri (delay of game), 8:38; Gogol Wor (tripping), 11:38; served by Rakhshani Bri (bench minor – too many men), 15:31; Irwin Wor (tripping, misconduct), 15:54.

Shots on Goal-Bridgeport 6-8-11-25. Worcester 8-13-13-34.
Power Play Opportunities-Bridgeport 3 / 7; Worcester 0 / 6.
Goalies-Bridgeport, Poulin 17-14-1 (34 shots-32 saves). Worcester, Sateri 11-11-0 (25 shots-22 saves).
A-2,131
Referees-Mark Lemelin (41), Tim Mayer (19).
Linesmen-Todd Whittemore (70), Jack Millea (23).

WorSharks announce Clear Day Roster

Courtesy of the Worcester Sharks:

WORCESTER, MA– Worcester Sharks President Michael A. Mudd announced the Worcester Sharks 2011-12 Clear Day roster today, which consists of 20 skaters and two goaltenders.

According to AHL by-laws, only the players listed on a team’s Clear Day roster are eligible to compete in the remainder of the AHL regular season and in the 2012 Calder Cup Playoffs, unless emergency conditions arise as a result of injury, recall or suspension. Teams may also add signed junior players or players on amateur tryout contracts after Clear Day, but only once their respective junior or college seasons are complete.

The Sharks’ Clear Day roster consists of 13 forwards, seven defensemen and two goaltenders.

Forwards: Jimmy Bonneau, Ryan Del Monte, Curt Gogol, Ben Guite, Tim Kennedy, James Livingston, Brandon Mashinter, John McCarthy, Frazer McLaren, Nathan Moon, Andrew Murray, Brodie Reid, Marek Viedensky

Defensemen: Sena Acolatse, Taylor Doherty, Matt Irwin, Mike Moore, Brian O’Hanley, Matt Pelech, Nick Petrecki

Goaltenders: Harri Sateri, Tyson Sexsmith

Players in Residence but not on the Clear Day list: Jack Combs, Tony Lucia, Cam MacIntyre, James Sheppard

A player in residence can only be used during the remainder of the regular season or the playoffs if a combination of three members of the 22-man roster are injured, recalled or suspended.

This will be old information for those that follow me on twitter (@210Darryl), but players whose Junior seasons are over, along with NCAA players with no remaining collegiate eligibility, can be added to the Clear Day roster at any time. Hang nails and runny noses count as injuries, so for the most part the AHL’s Clear Day list is nothing more than a formality.

WorSharks score enough to steal point in 3-2 shootout loss to Portland

The Worcester Sharks looked to take advantage of some offensive momentum gathered in their Saturday night win in Providence but the scoring doldrums popped right back up again in their contest Sunday afternoon against the Portland Pirates. Luckily for the WorSharks their two goals were enough to grab a point in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Pirates at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, Maine.

While the WorSharks lost a key player just before the NHL trading deadline the Pirates were one of a number of AHL clubs that had deals made for them that bolstered their line-up. Two of those players scored for Portland to put Worcester down 2-0. The first was Kenndal McArdle, who is Winnipeg property but was assigned to the Pirates in an exchange of loans by their parent clubs, when banged home a Alexandre Bolduc pass from behind the goal line to the slot at 8:58 of the opening period. The second was AHL sniper Brett Sterling, acquired by Portland from Peoria, deflecting Brett MacLean’s pass past Worcester goaltender Tyson Sexsmith at 10:30 of the middle stanza.

Down at the other end Pirates netminder Justin Pogge was on autopilot, making the saves he needed to make and not really giving Worcester any quality second chances. Just when it looked like the WorSharks would be heading into the second intermission down a pair of goals Pogge had a brain cramp and fired a clearing attempt right to Tim Kennedy in the left circle. Kennedy, who wears number 22, scored with 22.2 seconds remaining in the period to give Worcester a lift up entering the third period.

For most of the third period the defenses kept alternating in taking scoring chances away from each other’s forwards, but it also lead to some fireworks later in the period after Sterling high sticked Matt Irwin in the Worcester zone. As the play continued a huge brawl broke out deep in the Pirates end to the right of Pogge, and both benches got involved with objects being thrown back in forth.

Late in the contest Worcester would pull Sexsmith for an extra attacker but Pogge stood tall for much of it, saving everything he could get at. The good news for WorSharks fans was with 11.4 seconds remaining Kennedy was able to put the puck to a place Pogge couldn’t get to, off the far post and into the net to force overtime. Brandon Mashinter and Irwin had the assists.

In the extra session the WorSharks had several great chances to grab the bonus point, including a bang-bang play where John McCarthy beat Pogge only to have the puck ring off the crossbar. Matt Pelech then grabbed that loose puck and had all 24 square feet to shoot at but fired it over the net. Mashinter was the only Worcester shooter to beat Pogge in the shootout, while the Pirates beat Sexsmith three times for the 3-2 win.

GAME NOTES
WorSharks scratches were Ben Guite (concussion), Sena Acolatse (banged up), Frazer McLaren (groin), Jimmy Bonneau (healthy), Cam MacIntyre (concussion), and Andrew Murray (concussion). Harri Sateri was the back-up goaltender.

The three stars of the game were
1. POR – Pogge (34 saves)
2. WOR – Kennedy (2g)
3. POR – McArdle (g)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Brandon Mashinter.

BOXSCORE

Worcester 0 1 1 0 – 2
Portland 1 1 0 0 – 3

1st Period-1, Portland, McArdle 8 (Bolduc, Watkins), 8:58. Penalties-Ross Por (tripping), 10:23; Ross Por (tripping), 19:40; Kennedy Wor (high-sticking), 19:54.

2nd Period-2, Portland, Sterling 23 (MacLean, Ross), 10:30 (PP). 3, Worcester, Kennedy 7 19:38. Penalties-Oystrick Por (high-sticking), 0:22; Del Monte Wor (hooking), 3:38; Viedensky Wor (interference), 9:06; Watkins Por (hooking), 11:21.

3rd Period-4, Worcester, Kennedy 8 (Mashinter, Irwin), 19:48. Penalties-Livingston Wor (goaltender interference), 4:59; Del Monte Wor (roughing), 13:49; Gogol Wor (fighting), 13:49; Livingston Wor (fighting, game misconduct – secondary altercation), 13:49; Pelech Wor (roughing), 13:49; Brodeur Por (roughing), 13:49; Louis Por (fighting, game misconduct – secondary altercation), 13:49; Miele Por (fighting), 13:49; Sterling Por (high-sticking), 13:49.

OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties

Shootout – Worcester 1 (Kennedy NG, McCarthy NG, Mashinter G, Reid NG), Portland 3 (Duncan NG, Miele NG, Beaudoin G, Sterling G, Pouliot G).
Shots on Goal-Worcester 9-16-8-3-0-36. Portland 7-6-6-1-1-21.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0 / 4; Portland 1 / 3.
Goalies-Worcester, Sexsmith 11-10-7 (20 shots-18 saves). Portland, Pogge 13-12-3 (36 shots-34 saves).
A-4,022
Referees-Ryan Hersey (46).
Linesmen-Joe Andrews (32), Bob Goodman (90).

WorSharks score early and often, beat Providence 5-2

The Worcester Sharks bussed south down Route 146 to avenge last Friday night’s collapse to the Providence Bruins, and took it to the shorthanded Baby-Bs early with three opening period goals, the first two by captain Mike Moore, and then survived a couple bumps in the road to defeat their Atlantic Division rivals 5-2 at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island in front of a crowd announced at 7,970.

With the Boston Bruins suffering injuries to Tuukka Rask and Daniel Paille in their Saturday matinee loss to the New York Islanders and having a game Sunday afternoon at the New York Rangers the Bruins recalled goaltender Michael Hutchinson and forward Lane MacDermid prior to the start of the contest with Worcester, leaving their AHL affiliate short a skater and with essentially two junior varsity netminders. And the WorSharks took full advantage of the situation.

It didn’t take long for Worcester to get an idea of the type of game Providence wanted to play as even in the opening minute the Baby-Bs were diving all over the ice trying to block shots to keep the WorSharks scoring chances at a minimum. That tactic only works when you expect a shot on goal, and Moore’s first goal was what should have been a harmless attempt that ended up in the back of the net. After Worcester dumped the puck into the Providence zone in the ensuing play Sena Acolatse blocked a clearing attempt at the right point and fired the puck around the boards. James Livingston fought off two defenders at the left wing halfboards and found Moore open at the blueline. Moore’s blast from 60 feet hit a Providence player on its way to the net and beat goaltender Adam Courchaine at 2:51. Jimmy Bonneau is listed as having an assist on the play, but it looks like that point should go to Acolatse.

Moore would connect again at 7:55, this time from about five feet closer after Ryan Del Monte wheeled the net and threw a pass back out to the blue line. Moore passed it across the zone to Acolatse, who then hit Del Monte with a return pass to complete the triangle after the center had moved up toward the blue line. As Del Monte turned toward the net to draw the defense toward him he fed the wide open Moore for a one timer on net. Courchaine was screened by James Sheppard, and the puck deflected off another P-bruin defenseman and into the net. Courchaine would have a great view from the bench of the WorSharks next three goals as he was then lifted for Karel St. Laurent after making five saves on seven shots.

John McCarthy would make it 3-0 Worcester with a booming shot from the top of the left wing circle. Matt Pelech dumped the puck into the Providence zone allowing the WorSharks forwards to change. Brandon Mashinter recovered the loose puck at nearly the exact same spot as Livingston did on Moore’s first goal, and then threw a backhand pass to McCarthy as he streaked into the zone. McCarthy unleashed a bomb that beat St. Laurent high and just under the cross bar at 12:47. Tim Kennedy is listed as having the secondary assist.

Providence tried to pick up the physical play in the second period, but against the WorSharks that’s usually not a good idea. Late in the period Kirk MacDonald jumped into a potential battle between between Jimmy Bonneau and Max Sauve, which drew the ire of Bonneau and several other of the WorSharks. Raising their ire even more was Bonneau getting an extra minor out of the scrum. MacDonald knew that the next time Bonneau was on the ice he would have to answer for butting into the battle, so MacDonald decided to take on Nick Petrecki instead. That didn’t work out as well as MacDonald planned as Petrecki landed several unanswered lefts to win the bout.

Inexplicably the WorSharks would end up shorthanded after the fight with Petrecki getting an extra minor for roughing, and with 11.5 seconds left in the period Sauve would make it 3-1 when he fired a rebound past Worcester netminder Tyson Sexsmith.

Worcester went into their all too familiar “defense first” style trying to protect the two goal lead to start the third period, and Providence turned that into a couple nice scoring chances that Sexsmith was able to turn aside. Just when it looked like the WorSharks were going to suffer another painful collapse Brodie Reid gave the Worcester a little more breathing room at 11:24 of the period when Tony Lucia sent him on a clean breakaway, and Reid beat St. Laurent to the glove side just under the crossbar to make it 4-1.

The goal would loom large as the Baby-Bs would get back within two when Cunningham banged home a rebound off the endboards at 13:15, but Worcester held firm and kept Providence’s scoring chances at a minimum. Lucia would add an empty netter at 18:41 when he collected a Moore pass and cleared the red line before sending the puck toward the Providence net for the 5-2 final.

GAME NOTES
The NHL trade deadline was not kind to the WorSharks as San Jose made a deal that sent Mike Connolly, one of the team’s leading scorers, to Colorado in a multi-player deal. That trade deadline was also the deadline for NHL players to be eligible for the AHL playoffs by being on AHL rosters at 3pm EST, but for some unknown reason San Jose chose not to complete a paper transaction for Tommy Wingels despite several other NHL teams doing so for their otherwise eligible players. The second year forward was the only player on San Jose’s roster that did not need to pass through waivers to play in the AHL, so it should have been automatic that they would assign and then recall him to be eligible. Multiple requests for comment to the San Jose Sharks front office about the situation have gone unanswered.

Just prior to the game WorSharks fans got further bad news when Alex Stalock was loaned to the Peoria Rivermen. With three healthy goaltenders obviously one needed to be loaned elsewhere, but it is a slap in the face of Worcester Sharks fans that General Manager Wayne Thomas did not work out a reciprocal loan agreement to receive a player in exchange. It’s standard procedure in the AHL this time of year, and yet once again San Jose has failed the fan base in Worcester by not doing even the minimum to help the team.

WorSharks scratches were Ben Guite (concussion), Taylor Doherty (healthy), Frazer McLaren (groin), Curt Gogol (concussion), Cam MacIntyre (concussion), and Andrew Murray (concussion). Harri Sateri was the back-up goaltender.

The Saturday home game for Providence was the only one on the schedule for the Baby-Bs, who traditionally play weekend home games on just Fridays and Sundays. It was a rescheduled game originally to be played on January 27, which was a Friday.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – Moore (2g,a,+4)
2. WOR – Sexsmith (21 saves)
3. PRO – Sauve (g,a)

Moore was also the AHL’s #2 Star of the Night.

The Sharkspage player of the game was Brodie Reid.

BOXSCORE

Worcester 3 0 2 – 5
Providence 0 1 1 – 2

1st Period-1, Worcester, Moore 3 (Bonneau, Livingston), 2:51. 2, Worcester, Moore 4 (Acolatse, Del Monte), 7:55. 3, Worcester, McCarthy 14 (Mashinter, Kennedy), 12:47. Penalties-No Penalties

2nd Period-4, Providence, Sauve 7 (Tardif, Bodnarchuk), 19:48 (PP). Penalties-Sauve Pro (roughing), 12:30; Acolatse Wor (roughing), 15:07; Bonneau Wor (roughing, roughing), 15:07; MacDonald Pro (roughing), 15:07; Sauve Pro (roughing), 15:07; Petrecki Wor (roughing, fighting), 18:24; MacDonald Pro (fighting), 18:24.

3rd Period-5, Worcester, Reid 8 (Lucia), 11:24. 6, Providence, Cunningham 14 (Cohen, Sauve), 13:15. 7, Worcester, Lucia 4 (Moore), 18:41 (EN). Penalties-Cohen Pro (tripping), 19:46.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 10-5-10-25. Providence 6-9-8-23.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0 / 2; Providence 1 / 2.
Goalies-Worcester, Sexsmith 11-10-6 (23 shots-21 saves). Providence, Courchaine 0-1-0 (7 shots-5 saves); St. Laurent 1-1-0 (17 shots-15 saves).
A-7,970
Referees-Darcy Burchell (42).
Linesmen-Bob Paquette (18), Brian MacDonald (72).

WorSharks powerless in Connecticut, lose in shootout 2-1

The Worcester Sharks went into Hartford to take on the Connecticut Whale Tuesday morning hoping to wipe away the taste of a couple of poor weekend outings that saw them choke away another third period lead to Providence and then play a total flop of a game against Portland, but their continued inability to puck the puck into the net carried on into the Nutmeg State where the WorSharks dropped a 2-1 shootout final at the XL Center Veterans Memorial Coliseum in front of 1,583 fans.

The WorSharks would actually get the first goal of the game, just missing out on it being a power play tally with Brendan Bell’s holding minor expiring as the puck went into the net. The play began with Brandon Mashinter’s shot from the top of the left wing circle being blocked by a Whale penalty killer. The puck went right to Mike Moore, who fired it right back on net. Connecticut goaltender Chad Johnson made the save on Nathan Moon’s tip attempt but Mashinter, who had moves to the top of the crease, was there to bang it home at 9:15.

The Whale would tie the game at 19:10 of the first period as the teams skated four aside, with Worcester defenseman Matt Pelech being in the box after a clean huge hit on Ryan Bourque that Jonathan Audy-Marchessault took exception to that earned him a trip to the sin bin. Mats Zuccarello would get the goal when he tipped Kris Newbury’s centering feed past WorSharks netminder Tyson Sexsmith.

Worcester’s power play–or more correctly, lack of one–went 0-6 in the game, including having two short chances with a two man advantage. In each case the WorSharks were really not able to get any sort of offense going, and on the rare occasion they had a scoring chance Johnson was there to make the save. The game would stay locked at 1-1 through overtime, where Mashinter was the lone WorSharks player to score, while Zuccarello and Newbury connected to send Worcester home 2-1 losers.

GAME NOTES
Prior to the NHL’s trade deadline the WorSharks lost Mike Connolly as San Jose made a deal with Colorado. At least in the short term he will be replaced on the roster by James Sheppard, who was assigned to Worcester on a conditioning stint. Scratches for the WorSharks were Ben Guite (concussion), Andrew Murray (concussion), Frazer McLaren (groin), Curt Gogol (concussion), Cam MacIntyre (concussion), Brian O’Hanley (healthy), and Harri Sateri (healthy). Alex Stalock was the back-up goaltender.

It was the first AHL game in Sheppard’s pro career having made the NHL right out of juniors in 2007, and his first game at any level since the end of the 2009-10 season. He looked very rusty, and in the third period was noticeably slower than earlier in the contest. He finished the game with four shots on goal and took a hooking minor. He also missed in his shootout attempt.

The three stars of the game were
1. CT – Johnson (33 saves)
2. CT – Newbury (SO gwg)
3. WOR – Moon (a)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Brandon Mashinter.

BOXSCORE

Worcester 1 0 0 0 – 1
Connecticut 1 0 0 0 – 2

1st Period-1, Worcester, Mashinter 12 (Moon, Moore), 9:15. 2, Connecticut, Zuccarello 12 (Newbury, Vernace), 19:10. Penalties-Bell Ct (holding), 7:15; Pelech Wor (roughing), 17:32; Audy-Marchessault Ct (slashing), 17:32.

2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Valentenko Ct (boarding), 6:22; Zuccarello Ct (high-sticking), 7:36; Vernace Ct (hooking), 9:11; Sheppard Wor (hooking), 12:12.

3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Newbury Ct (high-sticking), 0:58; Grant Ct (hooking), 8:33.

OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties

Shootout – Worcester 1 (Reid NG, Sheppard NG, Combs NG, Mashinter G, Lucia NG), Connecticut 2 (Zuccarello G, Wellman NG, Bell NG, Audy-Marchessault NG, Newbury G).
Shots on Goal-Worcester 7-14-9-4-0-34. Connecticut 5-8-8-1-1-23.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0 / 6; Connecticut 0 / 1.
Goalies-Worcester, Sexsmith 10-10-6 (22 shots-21 saves). Connecticut, Johnson 17-11-5 (34 shots-33 saves).
A-1,583
Referees-Ryan Hersey (46), Jon McIsaac (39).
Linesmen-Paul Simeon (66), Kevin Redding (16).

WorSharks let another one slip away, get Crunched by Syracuse 4-2

The Worcester Sharks went into Syracuse looking to get back to even on their four game road trip and improve on their playoff aspirations, but sloppy play in their own zone and the continued inability to put the puck in the net sent them home loser 4-2 to the Syracuse Crunch at the Onondaga County War Memorial at Oncenter in Syracuse, New York in front of a crowd of 5,030.

The lack of a true goal scorer on the team was most evident in the early minutes of the first period when the WorSharks jumped out to a 7-0 lead in shots on goal but couldn’t find the back of the net. It took until the 9:30 mark of the period for Syracuse to get its first shot, and it wasn’t long until the Crunch were near to even in the shots department.

Lately the WorSharks have been giving up goals in bunches, and that continued in Syracuse when the Crunch turned two turnovers into goals just 34 seconds apart late in the opening period. John Mitchell had the first goal at 17:57 with an unassisted tally after he stole the puck right off the stick of Worcester defenseman Brian O’Hanley and beat WorSharks goaltender Tyson Sexsmith five hole. A few seconds later Worcester turnover in the neutral zone sent Syracuse rushing into the WorSharks zone, where Kyle Palmieri made Worcester captain Mike Moore look like a traffic cone and Palmieri’s shot beat Sexsmith to the stick side at 18:31.

A late penalty to Ryan O’Marra would give the WorSharks a chance to get within one, and not only did they do so they managed to get back to even just a handful of seconds later. Worcester’s first goal was scored by Tim Kennedy, who hit a yawning net after a rebound landed right at his feet. The play began with Matt Irwin blazing a shot on net, but the puck never reached Crunch netminder Iiro Tarkki and instead hit the traffic out in front of the net. John McCarthy grabbed the loose puck, but Tarkki made a nice save on the bid. The rebound went right to Kennedy who didn’t miss just 37 seconds into the second stanza.

Brian O’Hanley got the WorSharks even when he took a Brandon Mashinter pass and fired a laser from the face-off circle that beat Tarkki at 1:24. Nathan Moon had the second assist. The goal is O’Hanley’s first on the season, leaving just Taylor Doherty as the only Worcester “regular” without a goal in the current campaign.

One play late in the second period earned the WorSharks a two man advantage to start the third period when Mike Moore crashed the net and was crosschecked by Matt Smaby, and in the ensuing fracas Jean-Francois Jacques was hit with an additional roughing minor. Due to a penalty time keeper’s error the second period was actually ended twice–this writer cannot adequately explain how messed up that whole situation was–but with a fresh sheet of ice Worcester was looking to take their first lead of the night. Instead what they got was very few shots on goal and the ones they did take Tarkki was there to keep the game even.

The momentum of the penalty kill lit a fire under the Crunch, who swarmed the WorSharks zone. Sexsmith made several nice saves but the Crunch were able to capitalize at 6:36 when Andrew Gordon lit the lamp while the Worcester defense stood around and failed to clear out the front of Sexsmith’s net. Palmieri added a back breaker, his 30th of the season, at 11:07 while the Worcester defense again stood around in their own zone.

Worcester would get one more chance to make a game of it with a late power play, but with Sexsmith pulled to an extra attacker for a six on four advantage the WorSharks somehow managed to not even get a shot on goal. The trip ended with Worcester going 1-3, with all three losses being games the team should have won.

GAME NOTES
Worcester’s scratches were Ben Guite (concussion),Tony Lucia (concussion), Sena Acolatse (facial injury), Frazer McLaren (groin), Curt Gogol (concussion), Cam MacIntyre (concussion), Mike Connolly (ill), Ryan Del Monte (family issues), and Alex Stalock (healthy). Connolly was scheduled to play, and at one point was even listed int he boxscore, but was unable to take the ice due to an illness. Del Monte was away due to a death in his family. Harri Sateri was the back-up netminder.

The Onondaga County War Memorial at Oncenter in Syracuse is a very old building, so old that it has an ice surface smaller the the standard 200’x85′. Word is it’s closer to 190′ long. It also wasn’t built with TV in mind, as the video from the building is at suck a steep angle it’s hard to identify the player with the puck.

The three stars of the game were
1. SYR – Palmieri (2g)
2. SYR – Tarkki (42 saves)
3. SYR – Gordon (gwg)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Nathan Moon.

BOXSCORE

Worcester 0 2 0 – 2
Syracuse 2 0 2 – 4

1st Period-1, Syracuse, Mitchell 5 17:57. 2, Syracuse, Palmieri 29 (Holzapfel, Jacques), 18:31. Penalties-O’Marra Syr (hooking), 18:51.

2nd Period-3, Worcester, Kennedy 6 (McCarthy, Irwin), 0:37 (PP). 4, Worcester, O’Hanley 1 (Mashinter, Moon), 1:24. Penalties-Pelech Wor (slashing), 4:48; Moon Wor (roughing, fighting), 7:01; Bodie Syr (kneeing, fighting), 7:01; Holzapfel Syr (holding), 8:31; Moore Wor (holding), 16:49; Carle Syr (tripping), 17:55; Moore Wor (fighting), 19:34; Jacques Syr (roughing, fighting), 19:34; Smaby Syr (cross-checking), 19:34.

3rd Period-5, Syracuse, Gordon 3 (Carle, McMillan), 6:36. 6, Syracuse, Palmieri 30 (Maroon, Fraser), 11:07. Penalties-Doherty Wor (fighting), 5:47; Bodie Syr (fighting), 5:47; Clark Syr (tripping), 13:54; Mitchell Syr (tripping), 18:12.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 12-15-17-44. Syracuse 9-6-11-26.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 1 / 7; Syracuse 0 / 2.
Goalies-Worcester, Sexsmith 10-10-5 (26 shots-22 saves). Syracuse, Tarkki 11-13-4 (44 shots-42 saves).
A-5,030
Referees-Graham Skilliter (48).
Linesmen-Peter Feola (33), Dan Murphy (21).

WorSharks celebrate Alex Stalock’s return with 2-1 win over Springfield

The Worcester Sharks drove an hour west down the Massachusetts Turnpike to take on the Springfield Falcons with a couple of players that haven’t been around in some time, and while John McCarthy was held off the scoresheet returning goaltender Alex Stalock looked like he hadn’t missed a beat and made the WorSharks two first period goals stand up in a 2-1 win Sunday afternoon at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Massachusetts in front of a crowd of 3,888.

After two bad losses in a row the WorSharks came flying out of the gate with the intent of playing all 60 minutes and not giving up any good scoring chances. For the most part, they accomplished both tasks. Early in the opening period Worcester was all over the Falcons, but has been the case too often this season they couldn’t put one into the net. Andrew Murray would beat Falcons netminder Manny Legace in the opening minutes, but his shot rang hard off the near post and bounced away harmlessly.

Murray would get his revenge a little later when he took a feed from Marek Viedensky into the Springfield zone and unleashed a booming shot from the top of the left wing circle that somehow snuck under Legace and into the net 7:56. Brain O’Hanley had the second assist on the goal. Worcester would have three power play chances, including 36 seconds of five on three play, to increase their lead but couldn’t generate any real offensive pressure.

Murray, along with linemates Ryan Del Monte and James Livingston, had an incredible shift later in the first period where they kept the Falcons hemmed into their own zone for over a full minute as they blocked several clearing attempts and controlled play along the boards. The one clear they didn’t gain control of was picked off at the left point by Nick Petrecki, who fired it back on net. The puck banked in off a Falcons player and past Legace at 17:46 for a goal that says unassisted on the scoresheet but was the direct result of the play of the forwards in front of him.

Worcester then had to kill five consecutive minor penalties running from the end of the first period through the middle of the second stanza. Springfield would get a two man advantage of their own when the WorSharks were called for two very borderline minors in quick succession, and a broken play while skating five on three would get the Falcons within a goal. After a couple nice saves by Stalock Alexandre Giroux fired one into traffic that bounced around until it reached Dane Byers all alone in front of a yawning net at 9:53. Springfield continued to pressure the WorSharks in the remainder of the middle period, but the Worcester defense did a great job of keeping the play along the outside and away from Stalock.

After blowing two third period leads in a row the WorSharks did everything they could to make certain that wasn’t going to happen a third time, and clamped down on the Falcons offense limiting them to just two shots on goal in the period with nonstop forechecking and hard physical play. The Falcons best chance was when Giroux was inexplicably awarded a penalty shot for being hooked down from behind despite not being in possession of the puck. The hockey gods were on the side of the WorSharks as Giroux fired his attempt wide of the goal.

The WorSharks hard play continued, and forced Legace to stay in the net for significantly longer than the Falcons would have liked. When he finally was lifted for an extra attacker Worcester calmly held the puck along the boards and out of harm’s way to win Stalock’s return game. But before the team could celebrate Matt Pelech and Byers dropped the gloves right outside the crease as all the players matched up. Cooler heads prevailed around them as Pelech and Byers exchanged blows, and after the battle Stalock’s ear to ear grin could clearly be seen under his mask.

GAME NOTES
Worcester’s scratches were Ben Guite (concussion), Tony Lucia (concussion), Sena Acolatse (facial injury), Frazer McLaren (groin), Curt Gogol (concussion), Cam MacIntyre (concussion), Ian O’Connor (healthy) and Harri Sateri (healthy). Tyson Sexsmith was the back-up netminder.

The goal by Nick Petrecki was his first since November 26, 2010 (95 games). He doesn’t score many but when he does they really count, as his last three goals have all been game winners.

Worcester’s next game is Tuesday night, where they will take on Antero Niittymaki and the Syracuse Crunch. The WorSharks will head to Syracuse Monday afternoon for what will be their last overnight stay of the regular season.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – Murray (g,+2)
2. WOR – Petrecki (gwg)
3. SPR – Legace (27 saves)

As if there was any doubt, the Sharkspage player of the game is Alex Stalock.

BOXSCORE

Worcester 2 0 0 – 2
Springfield 0 1 0 – 1

1st Period-1, Worcester, Murray 2 (Viedensky, O’Hanley), 7:56. 2, Worcester, Petrecki 1 17:46. Penalties-Cullity Spr (elbowing), 8:22; Amadio Spr (cross-checking), 9:46; Kubalik Spr (hooking), 14:18; Doherty Wor (high-sticking), 18:40.

2nd Period-3, Springfield, Byers 13 (Giroux, Atkinson), 9:35 (PP). Penalties-Irwin Wor (delay of game), 2:42; served by Combs Wor (bench minor – too many men), 5:16; Connolly Wor (interference), 8:56; Kennedy Wor (cross-checking), 9:23; Garlock Spr (holding), 12:55.

3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Bonneau Wor (delay of game), 8:06; Mair Spr (goaltender interference), 14:31; Pelech Wor (cross-checking, fighting), 20:00; Byers Spr (roughing, fighting), 20:00.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 12-6-11-29. Springfield 4-10-2-16.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0 / 5; Springfield 1 / 6.
Goalies-Worcester, Stalock 1-0-0 (16 shots-15 saves). Springfield, Legace 11-17-1 (29 shots-27 saves).
A-3,888
Referees-Chris Ciamaga (24), Tim Mayer (19).
Linesmen-Glen Cooke (6), Rich Patry (52).

WorSharks let another one slip away, lose 3-1 to Connecticut

The Worcester Sharks went into Hartford looking to eliminate the bad taste in their mouths they got from losing a third period lead Wednesday in Portland, but the WorSharks instead took a second helping from the same plate when they coughed up another third period lead to drop a 3-1 contest to the Connecticut Whale Saturday night at the XL Center Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Hartford, Connecticut in front of a crowd announced at 9,166.

Tyson Sexsmith, who did everything but score a goal, was the hard luck loser for the WorSharks. And maybe WorSharks head coach Roy Sommer should have let him try to score as Worcester’s forward simply can’t put the puck in the net enough times to give the WorSharks a legitimate chance to win many nights. Worcester is 6th in the AHL in shots per game (32.51) and 23rd in goals scored (2.69). That’s a whole lot of pucks not going into the net.

Saturday night the WorSharks made Whale back-up goaltender Cam Talbot, who had lost his last five starts, look like Mike Liut with many shots that simply were not good enough to beat even a high school goalie. Talbot did have to make a handful of great saves, most of which came toward the end of the game when Worcester poured on the effort trying to get a game tying goal. But for the most part if was the WorSharks offense, or lack of one, that was the problem.

After a scoreless first period that saw the WorSharks outshoot the Whale 14-6 and Sexsmith making what may be the highlight save of the year on a Casey Wellman bid Worcester would get the opening goal of the game at 6:59 of the middle stanza when enforcer Jimmy Bonneau collected a Matt Irwin feed and skated down the right wing side. Bonneau was holding the puck looking for someone to pass to but with Worcester changing behind the play he was pretty much on his own, so with no better option available he flipped the puck on net, only to hit Whale defenseman Wade Redden. Bonneau was able to out-muscle Redden to backhand the puck out of the air and off the Whale’s other defenseman Sam Klassen. It then deflected over Talbot and just inside the crossbar for the 1-0 lead. Marek Viedensky had the second assist.

Despite Bonneau’s goal the period belonged to Sexsmith, who made 19 saves in the stanza and most of those were of the highlight variety. First Sexsmith stoned Tommy Grant on a breakaway bid, and then just after the Bonneau tally Sexsmith was forced to make several consecutive big saves on a couple bids by Jonathan Audy-Marchessault and a point blank shot by Kris Newbury.

The third period began a lot like the second, with the Whale carrying the play and Sexsmith holding them at bay. Just when it looked like Sexsmith might steal the win for the WorSharks Connecticut would connect twice with the Worcester defense standing around to grab the lead. The Whale’s first goal was by Andreas Thuresson at 8:52, who banged a rebound of Grant’s shot past Sexsmith and into a yawning net after the WorSharks failed to pick Thuresson up in the slot. Just 57 seconds later Newbury gave the Whale the lead when he converted on a two on one rush that had the Worcester defense spinning in circles.

Worcester had a couple good chances late to tie it, the best being Jack Combs with a high quality bid right at the top of the crease, but Talbot was there to keep his team in the lead. With Sexsmith pulled for an extra attacker Connecticut was given a rare awarded goal when Tim Kennedy hauled Wellman down from behind in the neutral zone while on a breakaway for the 3-1 final.

GAME NOTES
Worcester’s scratches were Ben Guite (concussion), Tony Lucia (concussion), Sena Acolatse (facial injury), Frazer McLaren (groin), Curt Gogol (concussion), Cam MacIntyre (concussion), and Harri Sateri (healthy). Alex Stalock was the back-up goaltender, and he is expected to make the start for Worcester on Sunday in Springfield.

There were three transactions during the week, with Chad Costello being released from his PTO and sent back to Colorado (ECHL) and Ian O’Connor being signed to a PTO from Stockton (ECHL). This is O’Connor’s second stint with the WorSharks, although he didn’t get into any games in his first stay. He is from New Hampshire, and played four seasons for Providence College in Hockey East. In a slightly humorous tale, O’Connor’s mom couldn’t be at the game because she was in Stockton with plans to see O’Connor play for the Thunder in three games this weekend. Hopefully he’ll be around the east coast long enough for his family to catch him in a game. The third transaction was John McCarthy being reassigned from San Jose to Worcester yesterday. It’s unknown if he will be in the line-up Sunday.

It was another strong game for defenseman Matt Pelech, who has played with renewed vigor since his return to the blueline after a handful of game at forward. Pelech took on Jared Nightingale late in the opening period and won the battle with a fast beginning and some great counter punches late in the contest. Between the two quick Connecticut goals Pelech also destroyed Tommy Grant with a huge open ice hip check.

The three stars of the game were
1. CT – Newbury (gwg)
2. CT – Talbot (34 saves)
3. WOR – Sexsmith (35 saves)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Tyson Sexsmith.

BOXSCORE

Worcester 0 1 0 – 1
Connecticut 0 0 3 – 3

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Del Monte Wor (slashing), 10:03; Pelech Wor (fighting), 14:42; Nightingale Ct (fighting), 14:42.

2nd Period-1, Worcester, Bonneau 2 (Irwin, Viedensky), 6:59. Penalties-Sexsmith Wor (roughing), 2:08; Newbury Ct (hooking, unsportsmanlike conduct), 10:45; Moon Wor (hooking), 16:35.

3rd Period-2, Connecticut, Thuresson 11 (Grant, Redden), 8:52. 3, Connecticut, Newbury 19 (Deveaux), 9:49. 4, Connecticut, Wellman 17 (Audy-Marchessault, Valentenko), 19:23 (EN). Penalties-No Penalties

Shots on Goal-Worcester 14-12-9-35. Connecticut 6-19-13-38.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0 / 2; Connecticut 0 / 3.
Goalies-Worcester, Sexsmith 10-9-5 (37 shots-35 saves). Connecticut, Talbot 11-11-0 (35 shots-34 saves).
A-9,166
Referees-Jean Hebert (43).
Linesmen-Brent Colby (7), Jim Briggs (83).

WorSharks can’t put Pirates away, lose 4-3

The Worcester Sharks came back from a two goal deficit but then fell asleep late in the third period and gave up two goals in 33 second to drop a 4-3 contest to the Portland Pirates Wednesday night at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, Maine.

Portland would get on the board first after a couple of borderline calls had the WorSharks skating down two men. Pirates defenseman David Rundblad took a booming shot from about 40 feet out that was just tipped at the last second by Alexandre Bolduc over the right shoulder of WorSharks netminder Harri Sateri and inside the top corner at 7:16 of the opening period. Just after Curt Gogol was boarded by Nathan Oystrick, which both referees chose to ignore despite Gogol bleeding from the impact with the boards, the Pirates would make it 2-0 when Andy Miele connected after a nice pass from behind the goal from Brett MacLean. Sateri had no chance at all on the shot at 14:59.

Worcester would get one back with a power play tally of their own when Jack Combs connected at 16:49 with a shot that banked off Pirates netminder Marc Cheverie and went into the net. The goal, which was Combs team leading eighth first period tally and the fourth straight game he notched a goal, was assisted by Tim Kennedy and Matt Irwin.

Nathan Moon would get the WorSharks back to even just after Worcester failed to score on a two man advantage that also included a borderline call that went in the favor of Worcester. Portland had just gotten a skater back but a penalty killer was without a stick giving Worcester an additional advantage. Brodie Reid blasted a shot on net that Moon was able to gather the rebound and push it into an empty net at 3:01. Irwin had the second assist.

Ryan Del Monte gave the WorSharks a 3-2 lead when he jammed home a rebound that was laying in the crease. Brandon Mashinter wheeled the net and tried to slip the puck inside the far post, but Cheverie was there to make the save. The netminder though he had the puck covered but the Worcester forwards crashing the net could see the loose puck, and Del Monte was able to put the puck in the net at 14:25. Based on the video there may be a scoring change on the tally. Right after the goal a scrum broke out in front of the Pirates net that resulted in a Portland power play, but Sateri made several nice saves to keep Worcester in the lead.

The Pirates would get back to even in the third period when Worcester got caught running around in their own zone and a bouncing puck ended up on the stick of Jordan Szwarz in the slot. His shot beat Sateri at 14:43 to swing the momentum in Portland’s direction. 33 seconds later Tyler Eckford buried one past a sleeping Worcester defense to take a 4-3 lead.

From there is was all Cheverie, who stopped about a half dozen high quality chances to keep Portland in the lead. The WorSharks had almost 30 seconds of six on gout play but again Cheverie came up big.

GAME NOTES
Scratches for the WorSharks were Alex Stalock, Ben Guite, Tony Lucia, Frazer McLaren, Sena Acolatse, and Jimmy Bonneau. Tyson Sexsmith was the back-up goaltender. In a pregame interview with Roy Sommer broadcasted on WTAG Sommer gave no hints as to when Stalock was going to play, but he did note that Stalock wasn’t here just to ride the bus.

The AHL announced a couple of suspensions Tuesday from Saturday’s WorSharks game with Hershey. Bears captain Boyd Kane was suspended three games for boarding Curt Gogol, and Joel Rechlicz was suspended one game for cross checking Matt Pelech in the face.

The three stars of the game were:
1. POR – Rundblad (g,a)
2. POR – Cheverie (32 saves)
3. WOR – Moon (g,a)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Matt Irwin

BOXSCORE

Worcester 1 2 0 – 3
Portland 2 0 2 – 4

1st Period-1, Portland, Rundblad 6 (O’Sullivan, Bolduc), 7:16 (PP). 2, Portland, Miele 10 (MacLean, Beaudoin), 14:59. 3, Worcester, Combs 12 (Kennedy, Irwin), 16:49 (PP). Penalties-Oystrick Por (slashing), 1:09; Viedensky Wor (slashing), 6:18; Doherty Wor (slashing), 6:58; MacIntyre Wor (fighting), 14:34; Oystrick Por (fighting), 14:34; Rundblad Por (holding), 16:14.

2nd Period-4, Worcester, Moon 7 (Reid, Irwin), 3:01 (PP). 5, Worcester, Del Monte 6 (Mashinter, Moon), 14:25 (PP). Penalties-O’Sullivan Por (tripping), 0:55; Bolduc Por (hooking), 1:36; Moon Wor (hooking), 8:43; Rome Por (roughing), 12:38; Del Monte Wor (roughing), 14:25; Gogol Wor (unsportsmanlike conduct), 14:25; Szwarz Por (roughing), 14:25; Del Monte Wor (cross-checking, fighting), 19:06; Arsene Por (fighting), 19:06.

3rd Period-6, Portland, Szwarz 5 (Rundblad), 14:43. 7, Portland, Eckford 7 (Miele, Beaudoin), 15:16. Penalties-Bolduc Por (tripping), 0:30; Stone Por (high-sticking), 16:01; Oystrick Por (unsportsmanlike conduct, slashing), 19:36; Kennedy Wor (cross-checking), 20:00.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 8-12-15-35. Portland 12-8-7-27.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 3 / 8; Portland 1 / 5.
Goalies-Worcester, Sateri 11-9-0 (27 shots-23 saves). Portland, Cheverie 3-1-0 (35 shots-32 saves).
A-3,738
Referees-Mark Lemelin (41), Jean Hebert (43).
Linesmen-Landon Bathe (80), Joe Andrews (32).

WorSharks sink Pirates 5-2

The Worcester Sharks carried the momentum of a shootout win Saturday night against the Hershey Bears on their six hour bus ride home early in Sunday morning and took it to the Portland Pirates, beating their Atlantic Division rivals 5-2 at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts in front of 6,859 fans in the “PINK in the RINK” game where the WorSharks wore pink jerseys and skated on pink ice.

With both teams making the trek to Worcester from Pennsylvania during the overnight hours fans were uncertain what to expect from teams that should have been dead tired. What the home crowd saw was a pretty entertaining game with neither team showing rubbery legs in the opening minutes. Just after the WorSharks killed off a tripping penalty to captain Mike Moore they themselves went on the power play, and it took just 13 seconds for them to get on the board when Jack Combs gathered a loose puck from–where else?–behind the goal line to the left of Pirates netminder Justin Pogge after a missed shot by Tim Kennedy. Combs fired the puck off Pogge and into the net at 6:29 for his team leading seventh opening period goal. Mike Connolly had the second assist.

Portland would get the equalizer at 7:29 of the second period when Patrick O’Sullivan rushed down the left wing side and somehow managed to get the puck past WorSharks goaltender Harri Sateri and into the net.

Kennedy would get Worcester its lead back with their second power play goal of the game when he picked up a loose puck at the right wing halfboards and skated in on Pogge, beating the netminder between his stick arm and body with a wrist shot from the right circle. Matt Irwin and Connolly assisted on the play at 11:18. Brandon Mashinter would make it a two goal advantage at 16:15 with an absolute laser from the left side circle after a feed from James Livingston during an odd man rush into the Pirates zone. Ryan Del Monte would have the second assist on the goal that chased Pogge from the game.

Seconds later Worcester would beat the Pirates newly inserted goaltender Marc Cheverie, but the puck rang off the iron and bounced away harmlessly. Del Monte would beat Cheverie with one that counted as the clocked ticked down on the second period after he, Livingston, and Mashinter worked the circle play to perfection to give Del Monte a wide open shot from the slot with just 23.6 seconds remaining in the period.

Brock Trotter would give the Pirates a little bit of hope when he beat Sateri at 5:16 of the third period, but from there on Sateri and the WorSharks defense shut the door. Portland would pull Cheverie for an extra attacker late, but after twice preventing empty net goals by onrushing Worcester forwards the WorSharks would prove the third time is the charm when Andrew Murray hit the empty net from the Pirates blueline for the 5-2 final. Kennedy and Combs, who each had bids foiled by Portland, had the assists.

GAME NOTES
WorSharks scratches were Ben Guite, Tony Lucia, Sena Acolatse, Chad Costello, Marek Viedensky, and Frazer McLaren. This was a “planned” day off for Acolatse, who is playing with a full face cage after an injury last weekend in St John’s. Had Curt Gogol been unable to play after being boarded Saturday night in Hershey Acolatse would have been available. Tyson Sexsmith was the back-up netminder.

Prior to the opening puck drop the WorSharks played a video in tribute to head coach Roy Sommer’s 500th career coaching victory and, Worcester Sharks President Michael Mudd presented him a road Worcester jersey with “500” on the back as Sommer received a standing ovation from fans and players alike.

The start of the game was delayed about five minutes due to a pane of glass behind the Worcester net being broken in warm-ups.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – Del Monte (g,a)
2. WOR – Kennedy (g,2a)
3. WOR – Sateri (32 saves)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Brandon Mashinter

BOXSCORE

Portland 0 1 1 – 2
Worcester 1 3 1 – 5

1st Period-1, Worcester, Combs 11 (Kennedy, Connolly), 6:29 (PP). Penalties-Moore Wor (tripping), 4:04; Eckford Por (roughing), 6:16; Del Monte Wor (roughing), 11:59; MacLean Por (tripping), 18:00.

2nd Period-2, Portland, O’Sullivan 8 7:29. 3, Worcester, Kennedy 5 (Irwin, Connolly), 11:18 (PP). 4, Worcester, Mashinter 9 (Livingston, Del Monte), 16:15. 5, Worcester, Del Monte 5 (Livingston, Pelech), 19:36. Penalties-Eckford Por (tripping), 10:46.

3rd Period-6, Portland, Trotter 14 (Pouliot, Werek), 5:16. 7, Worcester, Murray 1 (Kennedy, Combs), 19:20 (EN). Penalties-MacIntyre Wor (hooking), 6:26; Petrecki Wor (high-sticking), 9:32.

Shots on Goal-Portland 8-11-15-34. Worcester 8-7-7-22.
Power Play Opportunities-Portland 0 / 4; Worcester 2 / 3.
Goalies-Portland, Pogge 11-10-3 (13 shots-10 saves); Cheverie 2-1-0 (8 shots-7 saves). Worcester, Sateri 11-8-0 (34 shots-32 saves).
A-6,859
Referees-Brett Montsion (80), Chris Cozzan (18).
Linesmen-Todd Whittemore (70), Bob Bernard (42).

WorSharks get Sommer his 500th career AHL win with 3-2 shootout victory over Hershey

The Worcester Sharks bussed six hours west right after Friday night’s debacle against Manchester to take on the Hershey Bears Saturday night in the Keystone State, and for most of the game skated stride for stride with the cream of the crop in the AHL but still needed a late extra attacker goal to send the game into overtime and a shootout where the WorSharks only scored once but goaltender Tyson Sexsmith stopped all seven Bears attempts against him to lead his team to a 3-2 victory at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania in front of 10,739 fans for head coach Roy Sommer’s 500th career AHL victory.

The Bears and WorSharks are one/two in the American Hockey League in penalty minutes, so there was little doubt the game would be physical and that special teams would play a huge roll. It took just 4:21 for the rough stuff to begin, although checking the boxscore it looks like just a “too many men” minor on Hershey. What it really happened was after a big Matt Pelech hit Bears tough guy Joel Rechlicz jumped over the boards to go after Pelech. Referee Chris Brown chose to ignore why Rechlicz was on the ice and instead assigned the bench minor.

The next time Rechlicz and Pelech were on the ice things were a little different as Rechlicz skated over to Pelech in the corner to the left of Sexsmith and crosschecked the defenseman in the face when Pelech indicated he wasn’t interested in fighting as Worcester was rushing the puck up ice. The two did drop the mitts, and inexplicably referee Brown just gave Rechlicz an extra minor for high sticking instead of the match penalty Rechlicz deserved at 9:12. This writer is positive the WorSharks will be sending the tape of that incident to the AHL for review.

While the AHL is reviewing the circumstances that lead up to the first fight they will also be looking at the Boyd Kane boarding major that led to fight number two. In the same corner as the first incident Kane skated up behind WorSharks forward Curt Gogol and drove the rookie head first into the glass like he was trying to drive a spike through the pane. Jimmy Bonneau skated right over to Kane and never gave him the chance to drop the gloves as Bonneau unleashed several hard shots as the two went to the ice almost on top of Gogol. Kane received a double major and a game misconduct while Bonneau got a fighting major and a roughing minor instead of what looked to be an obvious instigator minor. Gogol eventually skated off on his own but did not return.

After is was all said and done the WorSharks ended up with a rare three minute major power play, and Jack Combs would connect for his tenth of the year in just 23 games with Worcester. The WorSharks had rotated around so that Chad Costello was at the right point, and his shot on goal was saved by Bears netminder Dany Sabourin. Worcester crashed the net, with Nathan Moon being the first to it and he put it back on net. The rebound of that shot was in the pile of players in front, where Combs calmly reached out to collect it and with his feet behind the goal line to the right of the net threw a tough angle shot between Sabourin and the post that lit the lamp at 17:09.

Hershey has the best power play in the AHL, and they showed why on their first chance when Taylor Doherty was in the penalty box for an automatic delay of game minor for flipping the puck over the glass in the defensive zone. The Bears swarmed all over the Worcester zone, twice blocking clearing attempts. The second time turned out to be the killer when Chris Bourque picked off Mike Moore’s clearing attempt and fired it back on goal, beating Sexsmith high blocker side and just under inside the corner at 18:52.

The second period saw Bonneau and Rechlicz duke it out at 2:52 of the period, with Bonneau landing a couple of good shots but Rechlicz getting the overall edge in the battle. After the fight Rechlicz threw his elbow pad at the Worcester bench, although he was saved a potential misconduct by referee Brown’s “boys will be boys” attitude. The fight was the WorSharks 82nd on the season, setting a team record in just 46 games. The period saw Hershey get three power play chances, but thanks to Sexsmith and the crossbar the score was still 1-1 after two periods.

The two teams would exchange power play chances in the first half of the third period, with the WorSharks generating the better of the chances on their try but both Sabourin and Sexsmith kept the game even with key saves. When Taylor Doherty was sent off on a double minor for high sticking at 10:16 WorSharks fans had premonitions of what was to come next, but again Worcester came up big skating a man down and kept the Bears from taking the lead.

When you play a team as offensively gifted as the Bears the one thing you can’t do is turn the puck over deep in your own zone, but the WorSharks did just that late in the third period and Hershey made them pay for it when Kyle Greentree fired a puck from between the face-off dots that Sexsmith saved and thought he had control of. He didn’t, and Cody Eakin batted the puck from behind Sexsmith into the net at 17:59 to give Hershey a 2-1 lead.

Worcester threw everything they had at the Bears trying to get the equalizer, and caught a break when Mike Carman was called for a tripping minor late in the period. Sommer called his timeout and sent six skaters into the Bears zone for the face-off, and while it likely wasn’t as he drew it up Tim Kennedy made sure the result was the same at 18:44. Kennedy cleanly won the draw back to Moore, who passed it along the blueline to Matt Irwin. His blast went wide of the net but Combs, who really plays well behind the goal line, gathered the lose puck and fired it through the crease and a maze of players right to Kennedy all alone in the low left circle. Kennedy had all 24 square feet to shoot at and didn’t miss. Moore is credited with the second assist but the video shows it should be Irwin’s.

The two teams would go to overtime where Combs had the best chance, but his backhander missed a yawning net from a bad angle. The shootout would go to a seventh round scoreless when Brodie Reid would finally beat Sabourin, and when Sexsmith made the save on Patrick McNeill’s attempt the WorSharks departed on another six hour bus ride home, only this time in a much better mood than the last one.

GAME NOTES
Worcester scratches were Ben Guite, Tony Lucia, Brian O’Hanley, Frazer McLaren, and Cam MacIntyre. Hopefully Curt Gogol will not be an addition to that list. Harri Sateri was the back-up netminder.

Roy Sommer juggled his lines after Friday’s loss to Manchester. How they went out in Hershey at even strength was:
Murray/Kennedy/Combs
Connolly/Moon/Costello
Mashinter/Viedensky/Del Monte
Bonneau/Reid/Gogol

It’s tough to tell who butchers names more, the intermission sports guy on WTAG or the Hershey PA announcer. Both were not even close sometimes on easy ones. It’s inexcusable.

The three stars of the game were:
1. WOR – Reid (shootout game winner)
2. HER – Sabourin (the losing goalie in a shootout gets 2nd star? Really Hershey?)
3. HER – Bourque (g)

The Sharkspage player of the game is Jack Combs.

BOXSCORE

Worcester 1 0 1 0 – 3
Hershey 1 0 1 0 – 2

1st Period-1, Worcester, Combs 10 (Moon, Costello), 17:09 (PP). 2, Hershey, Bourque 23 18:52 (PP). Penalties-served by Mink Her (bench minor – too many men), 4:21; Pelech Wor (fighting), 9:12; Rechlicz Her (high-sticking, fighting), 9:12; Bonneau Wor (roughing, fighting), 12:54; Kane Her (major – boarding, fighting, game misconduct – boarding), 12:54; Doherty Wor (delay of game), 18:11.

2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Bonneau Wor (fighting), 2:52; Rechlicz Her (fighting), 2:52; Moore Wor (interference), 7:02; Moon Wor (clipping), 16:37.

3rd Period-3, Hershey, Eakin 10 (Greentree, Micflikier), 17:59. 4, Worcester, Kennedy 4 (Combs, Moore), 18:44 (PP). Penalties-Petrecki Wor (tripping), 4:59; Collins Her (slashing), 7:59; Doherty Wor (double minor – high-sticking), 10:16; Carman Her (tripping), 18:37.

OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties

Shootout – Worcester 1 (Costello NG, Mashinter NG, Kennedy NG, Combs NG, Irwin NG, Connolly NG, Reid G), Hershey 0 (Bourque NG, Micflikier NG, Eakin NG, Potulny NG, Greentree NG, Mitchell NG, McNeill NG).
Shots on Goal-Worcester 13-10-5-3-1-32. Hershey 6-11-7-0-0-24.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 2 / 6; Hershey 1 / 6.
Goalies-Worcester, Sexsmith 10-8-5 (24 shots-22 saves). Hershey, Sabourin 10-7-3 (31 shots-29 saves).
A-10,739
Referees-Chris Brown (86).
Linesmen-Francis Trempe (56), Jud Ritter (34).

WorSharks outmatched by Manchester, lose 3-1

The Worcester Sharks were totally dominated by the Manchester Monarchs in every possible aspect of the game, including being held without a shot on goal for over 22 minutes of game time, en route to dropping a 3-1 decision Friday night at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts in front of a crowd of 4292 fans, most of whom left before the final horn sounded.

It wouldn’t be a WorSharks/Monarchs game without Jimmy Bonneau and Justin Johnson going at it, and the two didn’t disappoint the crowd with a pretty even battle 2:32 into the contest. What disappointed the WorSharks fans in attendance was when Stefan Legein jammed home the rebound of Patrick Mullen’s shot from the right point at 8:54 on the power play. This writer’s view of the puck going over the goal line was blocked by Worcester goaltender Harri Sateri, but both the goal judge and referee Terry Koharski signaled goal at almost the exact same time even though Worcester defenseman Taylor Doherty had swept the puck away, so there was little doubt it was a good goal.

A little later in the opening period Curt Gogol and Richard Clune went at it, with Gogol taking several hard shots while waiting for an opening to develop to throw a haymaker. One never opened as Clune earned the easy win. Manchester would go on to outshoot the WorSharks 13-8 in the period.

Worcester, who can’t seem to score at all against the Monarchs, dug themselves a deeper hole in the opening moments of the second period when Brandon Kozun beat Sateri to the blocker side just 53 seconds into the period. To make matters worse, as the period moved along fans began to notice that while the Monarchs were piling up shots the number under Worcester on the scoreboard remained at eight.

There were a couple of big hits in the period. The first was the WorSharks hitting the post to the right of Monarchs goaltender Jeff Zatkoff–which does not count as a shot on goal–and the second was Matt Pelech absolutely destroying Manchester captain Marc-Andre Cliche right in front of the Monarchs penalty box. Jordan Hill went after Pelech and the WorSharks defenseman pummeled Hill for his troubles. But for most of the period, with through good defensive plays by Manchester or total ineptness by the WorSharks, Worcester simply could not put the puck on net.

Andrew Murray, assigned to the WorSharks during the week, would finally get the shot total to click to nine with what looked to be a harmless 40 foot wrist shot on the power play that Zatkoff saw all the way with 1:21 remaining in the second period. As WorSharks fans were letting out a mock cheer for the shot Jack Combs grabbed the loose puck and backhanded it past Zatkoff to light the lamp at 18:42. Nathan Moon had the second assist on the goal.

Murray had two great chances in the third period to get the WorSharks to even, but as has been the case in every game against Manchester Worcester just can’t seem to put the puck into the net. Any chance of a comeback was squashed when Legein converted while shorthanded at 7:07, and two late penalties against the WorSharks prevented what tiny chance they had of tying the game.

GAME NOTES
The Worcester Shuttle dropped off Tyson Sexsmith and Andrew Murray earlier this week, and the made an unusual stop in taking Antero Niittymaki from Worcester and bringing him to Syracuse where he was assigned to the Anaheim Ducks AHL affiliate. Jack Combs became a full-time WorSharks when he signed an AHL contract with the team. Worcester’s scratches were Ben Guite (concussion),Tony Lucia (concussion), Brian O’Hanley (healthy; skated in warm-ups), Frazer McLaren (groin), and Chad Costello (healthy). Cam MacIntyre played for the first time in 23 games after suffering a “lower body” injury. Sexsmith was the back-up netminder.

The WorSharks were awarded a penalty shot in the first period when Tim Kennedy was hauled down from behind on a breakaway at 11:47, but his bid was stopped by a good glove save by Monarchs goaltender Jeff Zatkoff.

In preparation for Sunday’s “Pink in the rink” game the ice was already colored pink, and the DCU Center crew did a great job in making it look very nice. Other than the pink color the surface played well, perhaps even a little better than normal in a building known for a pretty good sheet. The interesting part is with the pink base you can easily see all the snow that’s generated as a period goes on. The amount is a lot more than I was thinking it was, so it’s no wonder the dry scrape before shootouts.

Bryan Marchment joined head coach Roy Sommer and assistant coach David Cunniff behind the bench for the game.

The three stars of the game were:
1. MCH – Legein (2g)
2. MCH – Zatkoff (17 saves)
3. MCH – Cliche (2a)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Harri Sateri.

BOXSCORE

Manchester 1 1 1 – 3
Worcester 0 1 0 – 1

1st Period-1, Manchester, Legein 7 (Mullen, Cliche), 8:54 (PP). Penalties-Johnson Mch (fighting), 2:32; Bonneau Wor (fighting), 2:32; Pelech Wor (high-sticking), 8:16; Hudson Mch (interference), 9:09; Irwin Wor (interference), 9:51; Muzzin Mch (interference), 12:23; Clune Mch (fighting), 14:40; Gogol Wor (fighting), 14:40; Mullen Mch (hooking), 16:29.

2nd Period-2, Manchester, Kozun 13 (Vey, Czarnik), 0:53. 3, Worcester, Combs 9 (Murray, Moon), 18:42 (PP). Penalties-Moon Wor (interference), 2:31; Hill Mch (fighting), 11:29; Pelech Wor (fighting), 11:29; Clune Mch (unsportsmanlike conduct), 13:32; Viedensky Wor (unsportsmanlike conduct), 13:32; Kennedy Wor (high-sticking), 13:46; Clune Mch (boarding), 17:01; Acolatse Wor (cross-checking), 19:29.

3rd Period-4, Manchester, Legein 8 (Cliche), 7:07 (SH). Penalties-Czarnik Mch (hooking), 1:59; Muzzin Mch (high-sticking), 6:49; Moon Wor (tripping), 15:46; Reid Wor (hooking), 18:12.

Shots on Goal-Manchester 13-9-6-28. Worcester 8-2-8-18.
Power Play Opportunities-Manchester 1 / 7; Worcester 1 / 6.
Goalies-Manchester, Zatkoff 15-9-1 (18 shots-17 saves). Worcester, Sateri 10-8-0 (28 shots-25 saves).
A-4,292
Referees-Terry Koharski (10), Jarrod Ragusin (54).
Linesmen-Scott Whittemore (96), Brian MacDonald (72).

WorSharks pound IceCaps on ice and on scoreboard, win 4-2

The Worcester Sharks played like kittens on Friday night but on Saturday came out of the gate like lions and took it straight to the St John’s IceCaps, and on the strength of Brandon Mashinter’s Gordie Howe hat trick punched their way to a 4-2 win in snowy St John’s, Newfoundland at the Mile One Centre.

With no fights on Friday but certainly some scores to settle WorSharks fans knew it wouldn’t take long for some fisticuffs to break out, and it certainly didn’t when just three seconds into the contest Sena Acolatse and Garth Murray dropped the mitts. After a minute or so of skating around Acolatse caught the veteran with several rights to win the battle.

While Worcester was skating around trying to drive every IceCaps player into the fifth row St John’s was trying to play their game of wide open offense, so WorSharks netminder Harri Sateri had to come up just as big on Saturday as in his incredible Friday night performance. Sateri showed he was unfazed by the loss 24 hours earlier with a nice save on Jason King’s bid from the far circle a few minutes in. It was a good thing Sateri was sharp because like Friday most of the early scoring chances were in the IceCaps favor.

With the WorSharks continuing their physical play in the period it was inevitable that another altercation would break out, and a huge hit by Curt Gogol on IceCaps winger Carl Klingberg behind the St John’s net resulted in the game’s second fight when Patrice Cormier jumped to his teammate’s defense. Both threw some punches but it was mostly a nothing battle as they ended up on the ice rather quickly at 17:11. Fight number three was under similar circumstances, only this time it was a high stick by Murray on Mike Connolly that drew the ire of Brandon Mashinter. Murray didn’t get an extra minor for the high stick; what he got instead was pounded by Mashinter at 18:36.

The first period would end scoreless, but with the IceCaps on a power play that straddled intermission the new sheet of ice in period number two was the little edge St John’s would need as they connected on a fluky goal just 55 seconds into the stanza. IceCaps defenseman Paul Postma unleashing a bombing slapshot that went wide of the net to the left of Sateri, and while Sateri scrambled back to his crease after coming out to cut down the angle the netminder lost sight of the puck. While looking over his right shoulder the puck slid along the ice into the crease to his left and the rookie accidentally kicked the puck into his own net. On the other end of the sheet Worcester, who weren’t getting many good chances, couldn’t put the ones they did get behind IceCaps goaltender David Aebischer. With great saves on quality bids by Jack Combs and Tim Kennedy it was looking like it might be another long night for the WorSharks offense.

There were more fisticuffs at 9:59 of the second period when Kenndal McArdle took Brodie Reid hard into the boards with clean hit. Gogol went after McArdle and got beat up for his trouble. While that fight was going on Nathan Moon and Murray dropped the gloves in a bout that should have given Murray a rare hat trick of game misconducts–one for three fights in a game, one for a secondary altercation, and one for losing his jersey in the Moon battle–but referee Marcus Vinnerborg just tossed the veteran with one, saving him from what would be an automatic suspension.

Worcester would finally solve Aebischer when two players had a chance at an open net. Nick Petrecki started the play with a booming blast that Aebischer easily turned aside. Frazer McLaren chased the puck into the far corner and fired it back into the maze of bodies in front of the net. The puck somehow bounced through the traffic and out in the open right in front of James Livingston and Ryan Del Monte. Both players swept at the puck but it was Livingston who got to it first to light the lamp at 16:26. What Del Monte got for his near goal was being dumped by the IceCaps while celebrating the goal as both teams got together just outside the crease.

The fresh sheet of ice to start the third period would again be to the WorSharks detriment as the IceCaps swarmed the Worcester zone. After a couple of nice saves by Sateri the puck ended up on the stick of defenseman Postma at the point. His blast was going well wide until Klingberg extended his stick out to deflect the puck and it slid past Sateri at 1:04.

Del Monte would get some revenge on the IceCaps for interrupting the WorSharks celebrating their earlier goal when he took a feed from Gogol and skated into the slot between the two face-off dots. Del Monte threw a backhander on net that seemed to fool Aebischer and beat him to the stick side at 5:57. Before the public address announcer could finish announcing their second goal the WorSharks would stun the IceCaps with a third just 18 seconds later when Mike Connolly flipped a lose puck past Aebischer after Aebischer stopped Tim Kennedy’s bid. Brandon Mashinter had the second assist on the play.

Tempers would flare again moments later when Arturs Kulda jumped Del Monte at center ice. Del Monte was holding his own in the battle but McLaren had seen enough of the IceCaps attacking Del Monte and jumped into the fray. Inexplicable referee Vinnerborg did not give McLaren a game misconduct for beijng the third man into the battle, and even more head scratching was Del Monte getting an extra minor for roughing.

After the WorSharks killed a minor to Petrecki for slashing–considering the stuff let go by referee Vinnerborg it was a borderline call at best–tempers would flare again after a rush up ice resulted in Aebischer losing his mask. Play was correctly stopped but for some reason Aebischer chose to go after Petrecki in the crease who had nothing to do at all with Aebischer being bowled over, and the defenseman simply shrugged off the netminder as both were called for roughing minors. On his next shift on the ice Petrecki was called for goaltender interference on a play where he was pushed into Aebischer and barely touched the goaltender.

Late in the game the IceCaps were called for holding forcing them to pull Aebischer just to remain five on five, and Mashinter completed his Gordie Howe hat trick with an empty net power play goal at 19:54, assisted by Kennedy and Connolly.

GAME NOTES
Worcester scratches were Cam MacIntyre, Ben Guite, Tony Lucia, Brian O’Hanley, and Jimmy Bonneau. With O’Hanley being scratched Matt Pelech returned to his normal spot on defense. Tyson Sexsmith was reassigned to the WorSharks but did not meet the team in St John’s and will instead join the team when they return to Worcester Sunday evening. Sena Acolatse took a puck up high in the first period and didn’t return. There was no word on his condition after the game. Antero Niittymaki was the backup goaltender for Worcester.

The six fighting majors in the game for each club appears to be the season high in the American Hockey League so far. The two teams combined for 112 penalty minutes. Worcester claimed 64 of them. It was a terrible officiated game by referee Marcus Vinnerborg, and hopefully the AHL (and NHL) will be looking at the game video and will discipline the official for his obvious errors in the rules and many non-calls that could have easily resulted in players being injured.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – Livingston (g)
2. STJ – Cormier (a)
3. WOR – Connolly (gwg)

The Sharkpage player of the game was Brandon Mashinter

BOXSCORE

Worcester 0 1 3 – 4
St. John’s 0 1 1 – 2

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Acolatse Wor (fighting), 0:03; Murray Stj (fighting), 0:03; Gogol Wor (interference), 10:06; Acolatse Wor (cross-checking), 14:14; Gogol Wor (fighting), 17:11; Cormier Stj (fighting), 17:11; Mashinter Wor (fighting), 18:36; Murray Stj (fighting), 18:36; Livingston Wor (roughing), 18:51.

2nd Period-1, St. John’s, Postma 9 0:55. 2, Worcester, Livingston 5 (McLaren, Petrecki), 16:26. Penalties-Kulda Stj (interference), 1:36; Gogol Wor (fighting), 9:59; Moon Wor (fighting, game misconduct), 9:59; McArdle Stj (fighting), 9:59; Murray Stj (fighting, game misconduct), 9:59; Festerling Stj (cross-checking), 13:05.

3rd Period-3, St. John’s, Klingberg 12 (Postma, Cormier), 1:04. 4, Worcester, Del Monte 4 (Gogol), 5:57. 5, Worcester, Connolly 10 (Kennedy, Mashinter), 6:15. 6, Worcester, Mashinter 8 (Kennedy, Connolly), 19:54 (PP EN). Penalties-Del Monte Wor (roughing, fighting), 6:47; McLaren Wor (misconduct – unsportsmanlike conduct), 6:47; Kulda Stj (fighting), 6:47; Petrecki Wor (slashing), 9:51; Petrecki Wor (roughing), 12:05; Aebischer Stj (roughing), 12:05; Petrecki Wor (goaltender interference), 14:34; Holzapfel Stj (hooking), 17:55.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 3-11-9-23. St. John’s 10-8-11-29.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 1 / 3; St. John’s 0 / 6.
Goalies-Worcester, Sateri 10-7-0 (29 shots-27 saves). St. John’s, Aebischer 13-6-1 (22 shots-19 saves).
A-6,287
Referees-Marcus Vinnerborg (45).
Linesmen-Joe Maynard (24), Matt MacPherson (83).

WorSharks struggle in St John’s, lose 3-2

The Worcester Sharks traveled to St. John’s, Newfoundland on Thursday but apparently left their game back in the Bay State as the IceCaps totally dominated Friday night’s contest and only the incredible play by WorSharks goaltender Harri Sateri kept them even close, but close doesn’t earn any points as Worcester dropped a 3-2 decision at the Mile One Centre.

Right from the opening puck drop it was all IceCaps, which hemmed the WorSharks into their own zone for huge stretches of time. It was so persistent that Sena Acolatse, who started the game with defensive partner Mike Moore, got stuck on the ice for the first 1:55 of the contest until St John’s ended up offside to draw a whistle. It didn’t get much better for Worcester throughout the period as at one point the IceCaps had an 8-0 shots on goal advantage, and many of those eight shots were labeled. Sateri made several nice saves to keep Worcester from being blown out of the building early, including great stops on breakaway bids by Shawn Wellar and Ben Maxwell inside the first seven minutes of the game.

Worcester’s best bids in the opening period came while shorthanded. With Nathan Moon sitting in the box after showing some frustrations by throwing several gloved punches at an unwilling dance partner Marek Viedensky had the puck knocked away from him while on a partial breakaway in the IceCaps zone. Viedensky followed the puck into the far corner and swung back to the net, hitting the near post with a backhand spin-o-rama after St John’s netminder Edward Pasquale stopped his return bid. The WorSharks crashed the net and thought they had pushed the puck over the goal line but referee Marcus Vinnerborg, who was in pretty good position, ruled they had not and that was it for the play.

Soon after Moon’s minor was up the IceCaps would finally beat Sateri when Arturs Kulda blasted one from the blue line into traffic that hit a WorSharks stick in front and deflected off the near post and past the goaltender at 17:44.

Newcomer Tim Kennedy showed he’s already developing some chemistry with his new teammates with a nice feed from behind the IceCaps’s goal line. After stealing the puck Kennedy found Mike Connolly moving from the right wing halfboards toward the slot. Connolly held the puck through traffic and as soon as an opening developed fired a laser to the low stick side that beat Pasquale clean to knot the game 1-1 at 3:50 of the second period.

The IceCaps would retake the lead at 5:25 with a booming laser of their own while on the power play when Paul Postma smoked one past Sateri from about 40 feet out just above the left wing circle. St. John’s would make it 3-1 when Jason Gregoire fired a shot on goal that Sateri made an easy save on. Unfortunately for Worcester Nick Petrecki lost sight of Kevin Clark, and the winger flew in and gathered the rebound to beat the hapless Sateri for the goal at 15:35.

The WorSharks got back to within a goal on a play that proves you should play until you hear the whistle. After a Jack Combs bid was turned aside by Pasquale James Livingston took IceCaps center John Albert into the boards from behind on a play that could have very easily been called as boarding. As play continued three IceCaps players went into the corner to challenge Livingston, but because referee Vinnerborg wasn’t calling a penalty on the original hit he allowed the Worcester advantage to continue. Combs fed Chad Costello from behind the goal line to the slot, and as Combs moved to the near post Costello returned the favor with a nice easy pass that Combs batted into a wide open net at 18:51.

That was a close as it would get as the IceCaps and Pasquale fended off several WorSharks challenges. Any real chance of a late goal was diminished when Frazer McLaren took two consecutive minors in the second half of the period, one borderline and one boneheaded, to keep Worcester in their own zone defending. The WorSharks were able to get Sateri off for an extra attacker very late in the period, but it was far too little far too late.

The two clubs face off again Saturday with a 6pm EST start.

GAME NOTES
Prior to the game the Worcester Shuttle picked up Tyson Sexsmith, who was needed to back up Thomas Greiss against Dallas when Antti Niemi was slightly injured and was not available. Rumor is Sexsmith is heading back to join the WorSharks as of this posting. Antero Niittymaki was loaned to Worcester and backed up Harri Sateri. The scratches for Worcester were Cam MacIntyre, Ben Guite,Tony Lucia, Ryan Del Monte, and Curt Gogol.

If the WorSharks are looking for more success on the powerplay the tactic of using a backward pass just as the puck carrier reaches the opponent’s blueline has to stop. It leaves four attackers standing flatfooted waiting for the fifth to gain possession and skate into the zone, and actually leads to more missed opportunities than it generates. On top of that the number of shorthanded breakaways because of fumbled passes that results is totally unacceptable.

The three stars of the game were
1. STJ – Postma (g)
2. WOR – Sateri (28 saves)
3. STJ – Clark (gwg)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Jack Combs

BOXSCORE

Worcester 0 2 0 – 2
St. John’s 1 2 0 – 3

1st Period-1, St. John’s, Kulda 4 (Holzapfel), 17:44. Penalties-Moon Wor (roughing), 15:16; McArdle Stj (high-sticking), 18:14.

2nd Period-2, Worcester, Connolly 9 (Kennedy), 3:50. 3, St. John’s, Postma 8 (Redmond, Klingberg), 5:25 (PP). 4, St. John’s, Clark 8 (Gregoire), 15:35. 5, Worcester, Combs 8 (Costello, Livingston), 18:51. Penalties-Petrecki Wor (delay of game), 5:02; Petrecki Wor (hooking), 6:34; Cormier Stj (hooking), 6:44.

3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-McLaren Wor (boarding), 12:25; McLaren Wor (high-sticking), 14:45.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 10-8-7-25. St. John’s 12-13-6-31.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0 / 2; St. John’s 1 / 5.
Goalies-Worcester, Sateri 9-7-0 (31 shots-28 saves). St. John’s, Pasquale 11-6-0 (25 shots-23 saves).
A-6,287
Referees-Marcus Vinnerborg (45).
Linesmen-Jim Vail (5), Matt MacPherson (83).