SHARKSPAGE

WorSharks sleepwalk through 8-2 loss to Providence

The Worcester Sharks ended their five game road trip with a Sunday afternoon contest against the Providence Bruins. Or, maybe more correctly, the schedule said there was a game in Providence because for the most part the WorSharks acted like their road trip was already over as they pulled a virtual no show in a 8-2 loss to the Baby-Bs at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island in front of 8,692 fans.

Worcester Sharks rookie defenseman Dylan DeMelo scored his first professional goal Sunday afternoon,
but it was far too little to help as the WorSharks dropped an 8-2 contest to the Providence Bruins.
File photo courtesy of TEAMSHRED

Post time is long before the highlight packages are available from AHLlive.com. There’s nothing worth watching anyway.

Scratches for Worcester were Konrad Abeltshauser (healthy), Matt Pelech (hand), and Lane Scheidl (knee). Troy Grosenick was the back-up goaltender. Despite their being no official announcement by the WorSharks of the signing of Yanni Gourde, it’s expected he’ll be in town tomorrow. Just after the WorSharks game ended San Jose reassigned center Freddie Hamilton to Worcester.

DeMelo’s goal broke a scoreless streak for Worcester of 174:43 against Providence, by far the team record for longest scoreless streak against a single opponent in WorSharks team history. The eight goal allowed by Worcester ties the most in WorSharks franchise history. They also gave up eight in an 8-3 loss to the Portland Pirates on January 15th, 2011. This writer vividly remembers that loss to the Pirates as several of us walked about a mile and a half from the Cumberland Country Civic Center in frigid temperatures to go to a brew pub. It was 3-3 entering the third when the wheels fell off for Carter Hutton. We never went back to that brew pub. That showed ’em.

The three stars of the game were
1. PRO – 15 Anthony Camara (2g,a)
2. PRO – 2 Ben Youds (g,2a)
3. PRO – 5 David Warsofsky (2a)

The Sharkspage player of the game is Marek Viedensky.

BOXSCORE

Worcester 0 1 1 – 2
Providence 3 2 3 – 8

1st Period-1, Providence, Johnson 14 (Khokhlachev, Warsofsky), 2:33. 2, Providence, Camper 8 (Florek, Youds), 4:45. 3, Providence, Camara 5 (Cherniwchan, Casto), 5:46. Penalties-DaSilva Wor (slashing), 0:26; Trotman Pro (hooking), 13:27; Cherniwchan Pro (tripping), 17:47.

2nd Period-4, Providence, Cunningham 13 (Griffith, Florek), 6:34 (PP). 5, Worcester, DeMelo 1 (Viedensky, Comrie), 16:10 (PP). 6, Providence, Youds 2 (Johnson, Khokhlachev), 18:58. Penalties-Reid Wor (tripping), 4:34; DaSilva Wor (tripping), 7:43; Robins Pro (delay of game), 14:56; Moore Pro (delay of game), 15:05; DaSilva Wor (delay of game – faceoff violation), 16:42.

3rd Period-7, Providence, Casto 2 (Camara, Robins), 5:59. 8, Providence, Camara 6 (Camper, Youds), 7:21 (PP). 9, Providence, Flick 1 (Casto, Warsofsky), 13:32 (PP). 10, Worcester, Oleksuk 4 (DaSilva, Viedensky), 16:30. Penalties-Bonneau Wor (goaltender interference), 2:54; Acolatse Wor (tripping), 7:07; DeMelo Wor (interference), 12:52; Gogol Wor (high-sticking), 18:19.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 11-12-12-35. Providence 9-17-13-39.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 1 / 4; Providence 3 / 8.
Goalies-Worcester, Sateri 8-12-1 (39 shots-31 saves). Providence, Subban 6-6-2 (35 shots-33 saves).
A-8,692
Referees-Ryan Hersey (8), Jarrod Ragusin (54).
Linesmen-Kevin Keenan (22), Jack Millea (23).

WorSharks break the curse of Hartford, beat Wolf Pack 3-2

The Worcester Sharks, playing with a roster even shorter than they had in their lackluster effort in Providence Friday night, showed just enough signs of life to take advantage of a couple of mental errors made by the Hartford Wolf Pack by scoring two power play goals, and goaltender Harri Sateri was near flawless in one of his best outings in recent memory as the WorSharks defeated the Wolf Pack 3-2 Saturday night at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut. The win was Worcester’s first in Hartford since Al Stalock outdueled Chad Johnson in a 4-3 contest in October 10, 2010.

The WorSharks celebrate a hard earned 3-2 victory over the Hartford Wolf Pack Saturday night.
Goaltender Harri Sateri led them to their first victory at the XL Center in over three years.
Photo courtesy of Joey Nereu | Yeahmop.com

For video highlights, we point to AHLlive.com. The Wolf Pack have a YouTube channel with video highlights, except for some reason they seem to forget there are two teams on the ice when putting that package together.

Scratches for Worcester were Matt Pelech (hand), Lane Scheidl (knee), and Daniil Tarasov (foot). Troy Grosenick was the back-up goaltender. The WorSharks had no healthy scratches and again went with eight defensemen in the line-up. In the second period Hartford defenseman Bretton Stamler kneed Dan DaSilva in the open ice in the neutral zone, and while DaSilva did return to action he was obviously hampered. Just prior to post time Sharkspage learned the WorSharks signed Yanni Gourde to a PTO.

With Sebastian Stalberg scoring his first goal of the season just three everyday skaters for Worcester are still goalless: Dylan DeMelo, Riley Brace, and captain Rob Davison. Only two players that would be considered “regulars” have gone an entire season scoreless for the WorSharks; Joe Loprieno (46 games in 2009-10) and Taylor Doherty (63 games in 2011-12).

It was a tough night for referees Chris Brown and Jean-Philippe Sylvain. In addition to giving Stamler only two minutes for kneeing DaSilva and then somehow giving Nick Petrecki an additional roughing minor in the altercation that followed (watch the video, where’s that roughing minor?) they also stopped a Travis Oleksuk shorthanded breakaway with a mystery whistle and then set the next faceoff in the Hartford end. In the last 17 minutes or so of the game neither one thought any of the various high sticks, slashes, or trips were penalties.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 22 Dan DaSilva (g)
2. WOR – 35 Harri Sateri (30 save win)
3. HFD – 17 Darroll Powe (g,a)

The Sharkspage player of the game, because we don’t select players that were the #1 or #2 stars, is Curt Gogol.

Even strength lines
DaSilva/Oleksuk/Viedensky (Oleksuk/Viedensky/DaSilva was also used)
Stalberg/Schwartz/Reid
Gogol/Brace/Livingston
Bonneau/lots of guys/Comrie

Davison/Tennyson
Petrecki/Doherty
Acolatse/DeMelo
Abeltshauser rotated with everyone

BOXSCORE

Worcester 2 1 0 – 3
Hartford 1 0 1 – 2

1st Period-1, Worcester, DaSilva 3 (Comrie, DeMelo), 2:44 (PP). 2, Worcester, Stalberg 1 (Tennyson, Abeltshauser), 17:19 (PP). 3, Hartford, Bourque 5 (Powe, Klassen), 19:44 (SH). Penalties-Marcou Hfd (interference), 2:10; Noreau Hfd (high-sticking), 5:35; Gogol Wor (goaltender interference), 11:41; Haley Hfd (unsportsmanlike conduct), 17:12; Haley Hfd (charging), 17:51.

2nd Period-4, Worcester, Gogol 3 (Reid), 10:31. Penalties-Petrecki Wor (roughing, fighting), 5:37; Stamler Hfd (kneeing, fighting), 5:37; Livingston Wor (delay of game), 6:56; Lindberg Hfd (delay of game), 11:43; Hughes Hfd (hooking), 16:30.

3rd Period-5, Hartford, Powe 4 (Dupont), 2:15. Penalties-Doherty Wor (interference), 2:34.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 11-16-13-40. Hartford 16-6-10-32.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 2 / 6; Hartford 0 / 3.
Goalies-Worcester, Sateri 8-11-1 (32 shots-30 saves). Hartford, Missiaen 2-9-1 (40 shots-37 saves).
A-4,712
Referees-Chris Brown (86), Jean-Philippe Sylvain (16).
Linesmen-Jim Briggs (83), Luke Galvin (2).

Blanking WorSharks, Providence wins 3-0

The Worcester Sharks, hampered by injures and recalls and forced to dress 8 defensemen, played most of the game like 18 guys that would rather have been somewhere else and it showed on the ice as the Providence Bruins easily defeated the WorSharks 3-0 at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island in front of 8996 fans. The WorSharks wasted another good effort by rookie goaltender Troy Grosenick, who made 27 saves on 30 shots against while being alone on the ice most of the night.

Prior to the start of Friday's Worcester Sharks game Eriah Hayes was recalled by San Jose.
Hayes is expected to make his NHL debut Saturday in Colorado against the Avalanche.
File photo courtesy of TEAMSHRED

No idea why anyone would want to watch the highlights, but for those that are bored you can head over to AHLlive.com and kill a couple of minutes.

Scratches for Worcester were Jimmy Bonneau, Lane Scheidl (knee), and Daniil Tarasov (foot). Harri Sateri was the back-up goaltender. Just prior to game time Eriah Hayes was recalled to San Jose–technically to Colorado where he’ll meet up with the Sharks–because Tyler Kennedy has the flu and didn’t travel with the team. Hayes wore sweater number 76 in preseason, so one could expect him to have that number on Saturday.

With Bonneau having more goals, one, than four of the skaters for the WorSharks Friday night one has to wonder why WorSharks head coach Roy Sommer went to eight defensemen. Riley Brace, Rob Davison, Dylan DeMelo, and Sebastian Stalberg all have none on the season, and while all have better offensive skills than Bonneau I would think that perhaps he’s a better choice than a couple that were out there.

Should Worcester dip into the ECHL for a forward, they have one under contract with the San Francisco Bulls in Chris Crane. The Ohio State University alum isn’t considered a goal scorer, notching just seven in 32 games this season. Crane is known more for his grinding style, meaning he’ll fit right in here in Worcester in working hard and having nothing to show for it. The WorSharks could also sign any free agent player out of the ECHL they chose (that’s how they got Dan DaSilva), so it seems most likely that if they were to sign a forward or two it would be from ECHL teams a little closer to New England.

The WorSharks scoreless streak against Providence has reached 138:33, which after some recalculations of this writer’s spreadsheet to track thinks like that makes it the longest such streak against a single opponent in franchise history, breaking the previous record of 120:43 set against the Lowell Devils at the tail end of the 2008-09 season and going briefly, 43 seconds worth, into the 09-10 season. Friday night was just the second time in franchise history the Worcester Sharks were shutout in consecutive meetings by the same opponent, the first being against the aforementioned Devils.

The Nor’easter that struck New England Thursday and Friday not only caused some issues for the WorSharks–they had no morning skate and left the DCU Center far earlier than usual for the normal one hour trek south down route 146–it also played havoc with the AHL’s on-ice officials. Referee Jean-Philippe Sylvain was supposed to work the game alone, but because Jarrod Ragusin couldn’t get to Hartford for the Penguins/Wolf Pack tilt he was reassigned to the PBruins/Worcester game. On Saturday both the WorSharks and Sylvain are headed to Hartford, although likely in different vehicles. Ragusin is supposed to be in Adirondack for the Devils/Phantoms game, but who knows where he’ll ultimately land.

As occasionally happens in Providence, the Baby-Bs were in their gold third jerseys and Worcester was in their standard teal road jersey for a color-on-color game. Other than indicating teams should wear contrasting colors the AHL plays no role in determining what colors teams wear in games–believe it or not that’s generally up to each teams equipment manager–but it would be nice if it were possible to have more teams play with dark jerseys on. They key, so they say, is the helmet color. Providence wears gold helmets with their gold jerseys while Worcester wears black. If more teams have combinations of dark jerseys and light helmets it would take nothing to have more color-on-color games.

The three stars of the game were
1. PRO – 47 Malcolm Subban (shutout win)
2. PRO – 32 Nick Johnson (g,a)
3. PRO – 13 Alexander Khokhlachev (g,a)

The Sharkspage player of the game is Troy Grosenick.

BOXSCORE

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

1st Period-1, Providence, Johnson 12 (Khokhlachev, Warsofsky), 16:42. Penalties-Pelech Wor (interference, fighting), 13:42; Robins Pro (fighting), 13:42.

2nd Period-2, Providence, Khokhlachev 7 (Johnson, Cunningham), 1:11. 3, Providence, Florek 9 (Camper, Knight), 13:12. Penalties-Robins Pro (cross-checking), 7:36.

3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Khokhlachev Pro (hooking), 4:29; Viedensky Wor (tripping), 13:19; Gogol Wor (misconduct – unsportsmanlike conduct), 18:09; Viedensky Wor (hooking), 18:09.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 10-7-8-25. Providence 14-10-6-30.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0 / 2; Providence 0 / 3.
Goalies-Worcester, Grosenick 6-5-0 (30 shots-27 saves). Providence, Subban 5-6-2 (25 shots-25 saves).
A-8,996
Referees-Jean-Philippe Sylvain (16), Jarrod Ragusin (54).
Linesmen-Brian MacDonald (72), Todd Whittemore (70).

WorSharks end year on a down note, lose 2-1 to Phantoms

The Worcester Sharks ended 2013 the same way they began it, on the road and not being able to put the puck in the net. Unlike their first game of the year the WorSharks did light the lamp once, but a late goal against killed any potential happy ending as Worcester dropped a 2-1 decision to the Adirondack Phantoms Tuesday night at the Glens Falls Civic Center in Glens Falls, New York in front of 3,381. The WorSharks finished 2013 with a less than impressive record of 27-35-6-5.

WorSharks forward Marek Viedensky had Worcester's lone goal in a 2-1 New Year's Eve loss
to the Adirondack Phantoms. Goaltender Harri Sateri had 29 saves in a losing effort.
File photo courtesy of TEAMSHRED

For the last time in 2013 we’ll point to AHLlive.com for highlights.

Scratches for the WorSharks were Konrad Abeltshauser, Sena Acolatse, Matt Pelech, and Lane Scheidl (knee). Troy Grosenick was the backup goaltender. Earlier this week the Worcester Shuttle once again made a stop on the east coast to pick up Freddie Hamilton. Just as the injury list for the WorSharks was clearing up it looks like captain Rob Davison could be added to it. Davison was injured late in the second period after he threw a monster check against Phantoms’ defenseman Mark Alt. Both were shaken up on the play but Alt returned to start the third period. If there was any way Davison could have played the final period he would have as Worcester was already down a defenseman due to Taylor Doherty’s game misconduct penalty for being in a secondary altercation in the first period.

Barring a post season meeting this was the last trip to Glens Falls to play the Phantoms the WorSharks will be making. Staring next season the Phantoms will be playing in Allentown, Pennsylvania as the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. As the Glens Falls Civic Center is one of the great older arenas in the northeast hopefully they will get another AHL team to take up residence there.

The three stars of the game were
1. ADK – 35 Cal Heeter (24 saves)
2. ADK – 23 Ben Holmstrom (g)
3. ADK – 11 Kris Newbury (gwg)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Marek Viedensky.

BOXSCORE

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

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Gogol Wor (fighting), 2:49; Mangene Adk (fighting), 2:49; Newbury Adk (elbowing), 8:07; Bonneau Wor (fighting), 11:15; Doherty Wor (fighting, game misconduct), 11:15; Delisle Adk (fighting, game misconduct), 11:15; FitzGerald Adk (fighting), 11:15; Gogol Wor (unsportsmanlike conduct, fighting), 11:22; Clarkson Adk (unsportsmanlike conduct, fighting), 11:22; Viedensky Wor (tripping), 18:55.

2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Newbury Adk (hooking), 3:19; Gogol Wor (cross-checking), 6:59; FitzGerald Adk (roughing), 6:59; Hayes Wor (interference), 15:22.

3rd Period-1, Adirondack, Holmstrom 6 (McGinn, Manning), 8:09 (PP). 2, Worcester, Viedensky 4 (Tennyson, Reid), 14:38. 3, Adirondack, Newbury 7 (Akeson), 18:47. Penalties-Newbury Adk (misconduct – unsportsmanlike conduct), 3:21; Brace Wor (holding), 6:24; Alt Adk (tripping), 12:36.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 8-9-8-25. Adirondack 9-11-11-31.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0 / 3; Adirondack 1 / 3.
Goalies-Worcester, Sateri 7-11-1 (31 shots-29 saves). Adirondack, Heeter 11-10-0 (25 shots-24 saves).
A-3,381
Referees-Chris Ciamaga (24).
Linesmen-Steeve Lemay (64), Frank Murphy (29).

Mental errors hurt WorSharks in 3-2 OT loss in Hartford

The Worcester Sharks have a tendency to fall behind early in games and they did it again Saturday night in Hartford, and while goaltender Harri Sateri kept Team Teal in the game a nice goal by Dan DaSilva and a third period strike by Freddie Hamilton got the WorSharks into extra time where the Wolf Pack converted on another WorSharks mistake. Worcester grabbed a point in the 3-2 overtime loss at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut in front of a crowd humorously listed in the boxscore at 4,724. The loss was the eighth straight for Worcester at the XL Center.

Worcester Sharks forward Dan DaSilva connected on a late first period highlight reel goal,
but mental errors by the WorSharks couldn't be overcome in losing 3-2 in overtime in Hartford
File photo courtesy of TEAMSHRED

For highlights, and of course in Hartford they miss most of the ones featuring their opponent, we point to AHLlive.com.

Scratches for the WorSharks were Sena Acolatse, Riley Brace, Nick Petrecki (back), Lane Scheidl (knee), and Sebastian Stalberg. Troy Grosenick was the back-up goaltender. Prior to the start of the game the Worcester Shuttle made a stop on the east coast to pick up Bracken Kearns. It’s expected that Kearns will play for San Jose Sunday night in their game against the Anaheim Ducks.

All three Hartford goals came off of mental mistakes made by the WorSharks. Kyle Beach’s goal just 18 seconds into the game was because Daniil Tarasov turned the puck over at his own blue line, Arron Asham’s goal off a clean faceoff win happened because Eriah Hayes had a brain cramp and iced the puck while under no pressure whatsoever, and in overtime Matt Tennyson let Oscar Lindberg get behind him and Lindberg ended up all alone in front of the net. Those weren’t the only three mistakes Worcester made, but luckily Sateri was able to cover up for his teammates. Unfortunately when Sateri wasn’t able to do that the puck ends up in the net. The WorSharks just aren’t good enough offensively to overcome many mental errors like they made Saturday.

Worcester will practice Monday morning and then made the three-ish hour trek to Glens Falls to take on the Adirondack Phantoms on New Year’s Eve. The Glens Falls Civic Center is one of the great places in the AHL to see a game, and historically the WorSharks have done pretty well in the building, going 2-1-0-1 in four previous visits. The timing of the trip makes it unlikely this writer will be making the trip, although remembrances of a nice sports bar around the corner from the civic center make the effort a little more tempting.

The three stars of the game were
1. HFD – 16 Oscar Lindberg (OT gwg)
2. HFD – 1 Dov Grumet-Morris (34 saves)
3. HFD – 45 Arron Asham (apparently the Hartford folks don’t know how to spell “Harri Sateri”)

The Sharkspage player of the game, because in Hartford there’s only one team on the ice, is Sateri.

There’s no way the lines I’ve jotted down are correct, so we’ll skip them for today.

BOXSCORE

Worcester 1 0 1 0 – 2
Hartford 2 0 0 1 – 3

1st Period-1, Hartford, Kristo 12 (Fast, Hughes), 0:18. 2, Hartford, Asham 1 (Dupont), 13:51. 3, Worcester, DaSilva 2 (Schwartz, Reid), 19:01. Penalties-Beach Hfd (high-sticking), 5:29.

2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Lindberg Hfd (high-sticking), 3:55; Klassen Hfd (interference), 8:13; Bonneau Wor (interference), 12:00.

3rd Period-4, Worcester, Hamilton 11 (Tarasov, DeMelo), 4:02. Penalties-Reid Wor (high-sticking), 0:39.

OT Period-5, Hartford, Lindberg 7 (Johnson, Nash), 3:15. Penalties-No Penalties

Shots on Goal-Worcester 17-8-11-0-36. Hartford 11-11-7-2-31.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0 / 3; Hartford 0 / 2.
Goalies-Worcester, Sateri 7-10-1 (31 shots-28 saves). Hartford, Grumet-Morris 3-8-3 (36 shots-34 saves).
A-4,724
Referees-Fred Leblanc (30).
Linesmen-Jim Briggs (83), Glen Cooke (6).

WorSharks streak into record book but still defeat IceCaps 5-2

The Worcester Sharks hit the ice Friday night after being shutout in their two previous games, and ran that scoreless streak up all the way to a new franchise record of 163:13 before Freddie Hamilton finally nabbed one that counted, and then the WorSharks added two more in the span of 3:16 on their way to a 5-2 win over the St. John’s IceCaps at the DCU Center in front of 3,698 fans. The second period was the first time since the third period on Friday, April 19, 2013 at Wilkes-Barre that Worcester had three goals in a single period.

Worcester's Freddie Hamilton ended his team's franchise record goalless streak
at 163:13 Friday night. The WorSharks would go on to win 5-2 over St. John's
Photo courtesy of the WORCESTER SHARKS

For video highlights we point to AHLlive.com. When you’re watching the video pay close attention to the WorSharks third goal and what Curt Gogol does with the puck before Marek Viedensky bangs it home into the yawning net. It’s essentially a pass off the opposing goaltender, and something Worcester doesn’t do often enough.

Scratches for the WorSharks were Jimmy Bonneau, Riley Brace, Travis Oleksuk, Nick Petrecki (back), Lane Scheidl (knee), and Matt Tennyson. Troy Grosenick was the back-up goaltender, but was pressed into action with seven minutes remaining in the third period when starter Harri Sateri couldn’t continue after a collision in front of his cage. Sateri looked no worse for wear in coming out to congratulate his teammates after the win.

Worcester had two goals disallowed prior to Hamilton’s streak ender, the first as a result of an alleged hand pass and the second when the referees indicated the WorSharks had interfered with IceCaps goaltender Jussi Olkinuora. The first goal was going to be reviewed, but due to issues with the replay system it was unavailable. Since hand passes aren’t reviewable in the American Hockey League your guess is as good as mine as to what they would be reviewing. The second was just a flat out bad call as there was no contact with Olkinuora, nor anyone really that close to him, until the puck was already in the net.

After Sateri went down and Grosenick was headed in to replace him by rule Grosenick isn’t allowed a warm-up, so many were wondering why Worcester head coach Roy Sommer didn’t use his timeout there. Being up 4-1 and about to begin a penalty kill one would think you’d want to give your new goaltender as much time as you could to prepare, but Sommer chose not to and the IceCaps scored on their second shot on Grosenick. That timeout must have been very valuable as Sommer took it into the dressing room with him when the game ended.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 35 Harri Sateri (34 saves, win)
2. WOR – 25 Marek Viedensky (gwg)
3. WOR – 4 Taylor Doherty (g)

The Sharkspage player of the game was James Livingston.

Even strength lines
Hayes/Kearns/Tarasov
Reid/Schwartz/DaSilva
Stalberg/Viedensky/Livingston
Gogol/Hamilton/Pelech

Davison/Acolatse
Abeltshauser/Doherty
Comrie/DeMelo

BOXSCORE

St. John’s 1 0 1 – 2
Worcester 0 3 2 – 5

1st Period-1, St. John’s, Lipon 5 (Klingberg, Lowry), 5:18. Penalties-Redmond Stj (interference), 6:17; O’Neill Stj (roughing, unsportsmanlike conduct), 9:54; Pelech Wor (boarding, unsportsmanlike conduct), 9:54; Lipon Stj (hooking), 16:05; Jaffray Stj (roughing), 18:45; Kearns Wor (roughing), 18:45; Comrie Wor (cross-checking), 19:14.

2nd Period-2, Worcester, Hamilton 10 (Comrie, DeMelo), 15:25 (PP). 3, Worcester, Doherty 2 (Abeltshauser, Livingston), 15:57. 4, Worcester, Viedensky 3 (Gogol, Livingston), 18:41. Penalties-Doherty Wor (slashing), 1:00; Riley Stj (slashing), 8:50; Hill Stj (cross-checking), 14:13; Acolatse Wor (cross-checking), 14:13; O’Neill Stj (hooking), 14:30.

3rd Period-5, Worcester, Reid 3 (DaSilva, Schwartz), 11:11. 6, St. John’s, Redmond 5 (Jaffray, Gordon), 14:06 (PP). 7, Worcester, Hayes 5 (Hamilton, DeMelo), 18:58 (EN). Penalties-DeMelo Wor (hooking), 13:00; Livingston Wor (tripping), 15:43; Chiarot Stj (interference), 19:16.

Shots on Goal-St. John’s 16-13-9-38. Worcester 10-11-12-33.
Power Play Opportunities-St. John’s 1 / 4; Worcester 1 / 5.
Goalies-St. John’s, Olkinuora 4-3-1 (32 shots-28 saves). Worcester, Sateri 7-9-1 (35 shots-34 saves); Grosenick 6-4-0 (3 shots-2 saves).
A-3,698
Referees-Trevor Hanson (47), Ryan Murphy (5).
Linesmen-Brian MacDonald (72), Todd Whittemore (70).

WorSharks blanked again, lose 4-0 to Providence

The Worcester Sharks picked right up from where they left off in Hershey just before the Christmas break, but that wasn’t a good thing as for the second game in a row the WorSharks were whitewashed after dropping a 4-0 Boxing Day contest to the Providence Bruins Thursday night at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts in front of a loud crowd of 5,186. Worcester has now gone 127:48 without scoring a goal.

Worcester Sharks forward Riley Brace can't convert in close in Thursday's 4-0 loss to Providence.
Bruins goaltender Niklas Svedberg had 34 saves in the win.
Photo courtesy of STEVE LANAVA | Worcester T&G

For a video package of the game–in no way could they be called “highlights”–we point to AHLlive.com. Save yourself some time and don’t bother.

Scratches for the WorSharks were Konrad Abeltshauser, Matt Pelech (shoulder), Nick Petrecki (back), Brodie Reid, Lane Scheidl (knee), and Sebastian Stalberg. Harri Sateri was the backup goaltender.

With Worcester’s goalless streak at 127:48 they are within a period of the longest streak in team history at 144:48. As the WorSharks have scored the fewest first period goals in the American Hockey League this season their scoreless record is unfortunately likely in jeopardy. Amazingly the longest scoreless streak took place in the WorSharks inaugural year with a roster that contained three 30-goal scorers (Mathieu Darche, 35; Graham Mink, 31; and Mike Iggulden, 30). Worcester hasn’t had a thirty goal scorer since.

The WorSharks record in games after being shutout is just about even as they are 14-13-1-4. Three times they were blanked again after being shutout the first game.

One other thing a tad irksome about Worcester being unable to score Thursday night was P-Bruins goaltender Niklas Svedberg looked less than a hundred percent throughout most of the game after it seemed like he injured himself during warm-ups. But unlike the shutout loss to Hershey where Bears netminder David Leggio looked like a sheet of plywood Thursday’s loss was due primarily to the WorSharks just being totally disinterested in the game. Thursday night was a very winnable game against a division opponent that Worcester just flat out failed to show up for.

The Worcester Sharks Booster Club announced their October and November players of the month prior to the game, with Daniil Tarasov winning for October and Troy Grosenick winning November’s award. Each was presented with a small trophy at center ice after the ceremonial puck drop.

WorSharks beat writer Bill Ballou of the Worcester Telegram and Gazette was not in his usual perch in press row for the game, with his seat being taken by correspondent Carl Setterlund. This writer doesn’t keep track of the WorSharks record when Ballou is not in attendance at the DCU Center, but one would bet it’s not very good as he always seems to miss the stinkers. Perhaps he knows something the rest of us don’t.

The three stars of the game were
1. PRO – 1 Niklas Svedberg (34 saves)
2. PRO – 19 Carter Camper (g,a)
3. PRO – 7 Joe Morrow (no idea why)

The Sharkspage player of the game, only because he got into his first pro fight and won the battle against a more experienced player, was Marek Viedensky.

BOXSCORE

Providence 2 1 1 – 4
Worcester 0 0 0 – 0

1st Period-1, Providence, Camper 5 (Griffith, Florek), 3:33. 2, Providence, Campbell 1 17:55 (SH). Penalties-Robins Pro (fighting), 1:31; Acolatse Wor (fighting), 1:31; Viedensky Wor (high-sticking), 9:33; Flick Pro (high-sticking), 14:18; Flick Pro (fighting), 16:58; Viedensky Wor (fighting), 16:58; Camara Pro (hooking), 17:30.

2nd Period-3, Providence, Camara 3 (Cunningham), 6:16. Penalties-Flick Pro (high-sticking, roughing, fighting, misconduct – abuse of officials, game misconduct – abuse of officials), 6:54; Brace Wor (interference), 6:54; Gogol Wor (fighting), 6:54; Moore Pro (interference), 11:07; Miller Pro (cross-checking), 19:41.

3rd Period-4, Providence, Griffith 7 (Cunningham, Camper), 13:02 (PP). Penalties-Tarasov Wor (goaltender interference), 1:33; Cross Pro (interference), 3:46; Livingston Wor (hooking), 10:52; Acolatse Wor (double minor – high-sticking), 12:54.

Shots on Goal-Providence 14-10-8-32. Worcester 9-14-11-34.
Power Play Opportunities-Providence 1 / 5; Worcester 0 / 6.
Goalies-Providence, Svedberg 11-5-3 (34 shots-34 saves). Worcester, Grosenick 6-4-0 (32 shots-28 saves).
A-5,186
Referees-Mark Lemelin (41), Keith Kaval (40).
Linesmen-Bob Bernard (42), Jack Millea (23).

WorSharks blanked by Bears 4-0

The Worcester Sharks went into Sunday afternoon’s contest on a two game winning streak and were looking for a hard earned six point weekend, but despite firing 44 shots on Hershey goaltender David Leggio the WorSharks couldn’t get one past him that counted and were defeated 4-0 by the Bears at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania in front of a crowd announced at 8,986. It was the first time this season Worcester was blanked in a game.

WorSharks defenseman Adam Comrie is checked by Bears forward Ryan Stoa as Worcester goaltender
Harri Sateri guards the goal line during the WorSharks 4-0 loss to Hershey on Sunday.
Photo courtesy of HARVEY LEVINE | Special to PennLive

For the highlights, such as they are, we’ll look toward the Hershey Bears and their YouTube upload.

Scratches for Worcester were Konrad Abeltshauser, Dan DaSilva, Matt Pelech (shoulder), Nick Petrecki (back), Lane Scheidl (knee), and Sebastian Stalberg. Troy Grosenick was the backup goaltender. San Jose Sharks scout Bryan Marchment once again joined coaches Roy Sommer and Dave Cunniff behind the bench.

It was the fourth time this season that the WorSharks registered 40 or more shots in a game, but oddly enough the only win Worcester has of the four was the 8-2 shellacking of Portland earlier this month. In the other three contests Worcester has lost and has been outscored 12-2. In Sunday’s case more than a handful of the WorSharks shots were high quality bids, but Bears netminder David Leggio was doing a great impression of a sheet of plywood. It also didn’t hurt that on more than a couple occasions the Hershey net would be “accidentally” knocked off the pegs.

This writer would love to see another angle of the goal Daniil Tarasov “scored” that was waved off by referee Brett Iverson. The AHL rulebook mentions the following in rule 63.6…

In the event that the goal post is displaced, either deliberately or accidentally, by a defending player, prior to the puck crossing the goal line between the normal position of the goalposts, the Referee may award a goal. In order to award a goal in this situation, the goal post must have been displaced by the actions a defending player, the puck must have been shot (or the player must be in the act of shooting) at the goal prior to the goal post being displaced, and it must be determined that the puck would have entered the net between the normal position of the goal posts.

…and it would be interesting to see if the net is actually off the pegs when Tarasov shoots the puck. It looks like it might be off in the angle shown, but the actual rule states that as long as the peg is in the hole and touching the post the net is considered still in position even if it’s off the goal line. That goal would have made it a 2-1 game, so who knows what might have transpired afterward.

Looking at the video you’ll be hard pressed to find Curt Gogol’s two minute roughing minor that allegedly took place during the Matt Tennyson/Dane Byers fight. Gogol can been clearly seen twice trying to intervene on Tennyson’s behalf, but not once does he do anything that would, according to the rules as written, cause a roughing minor to be called.

In some odd AHL news, in the span of 24 hours Rod Pelley (Albany), Denver Manderson (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton), and Mike Keenan (Bridgeport) all got minors for playing with a broken stick. You could go all season and not get three of those called.

The three stars of the game were
1. HER – 30 David Leggio (44 saves)
2. HER – 24 John Mitchell (2g)
3. HER – 32 Nicolas Deschamps (g)

The Sharkspage player of the game is Matt Tennyson.

Even strength lines
Tarasov/Hamilton/Kearns
Schwartz/Oleksuk/Hayes
Gogol/Viedensky/Livingston
Bonneau/Brace/Reid

Davison/Tennyson
Acolatse/Doherty
Comrie/Demelo

BOXSCORE

Worcester 0 0 0 – 0
Hershey 1 1 2 – 4

1st Period-1, Hershey, Brittain 3 (LeBlanc, Kolomatis), 19:04. Penalties-Schmidt Her (delay of game), 5:31; Gogol Wor (delay of game), 11:34; Hayes Wor (kneeing), 15:23.

2nd Period-2, Hershey, Mitchell 2 (Walker), 3:35. Penalties-Hayes Wor (elbowing), 4:58; Mitchell Her (tripping), 11:08; Strachan Her (hooking), 11:34.

3rd Period-3, Hershey, Deschamps 8 (Stoa, Segal), 1:41. 4, Hershey, Mitchell 3 (Watkins), 16:30 (SH EN). Penalties-Comrie Wor (roughing), 5:07; Gogol Wor (roughing, game misconduct – third man in, game misconduct – abuse of officials), 12:59; Tennyson Wor (fighting), 12:59; Byers Her (instigating, fighting, misconduct – instigating), 12:59; Wellman Her (roughing), 12:59; Wellar Her (tripping), 16:23; Hayes Wor (slashing), 18:03.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 7-22-15-44. Hershey 13-6-15-34.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0 / 5; Hershey 0 / 5.
Goalies-Worcester, Sateri 6-9-1 (33 shots-30 saves). Hershey, Leggio 7-8-2 (44 shots-44 saves).
A-8,986
Referees-Tom Chmielewski (43), Brett Iverson (51).
Linesmen-Tom George (61), Jud Ritter (34).

Hamilton, WorSharks chomp Bears, win 3-2

The Worcester Sharks continued their pre-Christmas swing through Pennsylvania with a 90 or so minutes trek south from Wilkes-Barre to Hershey, and for at least 24 hours the WorSharks turned it from Chocolatetown to Sharks Territory as Freddie Hamilton netted two goals sandwiched around a Matt Tennyson tally to defeat the Bears 3-2 at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania in front of a crowd of 8,744. The two squads will meet again Sunday afternoon as Worcester goes for a rare “Pennsylvania Sweep”.

Worcester's Freddie Hamilton scored two goals in the WorSharks 3-2 road win over the
Hershey Bears Saturday night. Hamilton now has a five game points streak (6g-3a-9pts).
File photo courtesy of TEAMSHRED

For game highlights instead of our normal look at AHLlive we’ll use the video supplied by the Hershey Bears.

Scratches for the WorSharks were Sena Acolatse, Matt Pelech (shoulder), Nick Petrecki (back), Lane Scheidl (knee), Sebastian Stalberg, and Daniil Tarasov (groin). Harri Sateri was the back-up goaltender. Once again Worcester has Petrecki listed as a healthy scratch, but based on comments told to Sharkspage Saturday morning we will, at least for now, continue to list him as an injury scratch.

This writer was otherwise occupied last night and didn’t see any of the game other than the highlights package. With Bill Ballou not making the trip to the Keystone State we’re left with Tim Leone of The Patriot News supplying some of the in-game details. His game story and notes column can be found at their respective links. As per usual, the WorSharks and Bears each have their unique perspective on the game.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 12 Freddie Hamilton (2g,a)
2. WOR – 5 Matt Tennyson (g,a)
3. HER – 32 Nicolas Deschamps (g,a)

Just looking at the score sheet we’ll pick Troy Grosenick as the Sharkspage player of the game.

BOXSCORE

Worcester 2 0 1 – 3
Hershey 0 1 1 – 2

1st Period-1, Worcester, Hamilton 8 15:16. 2, Worcester, Tennyson 2 (Kearns, Hamilton), 16:59 (PP). Penalties-Byers Her (roughing), 4:17; Tennyson Wor (delay of game), 7:52; DaSilva Wor (holding), 13:01; Rechlicz Her (charging), 16:23.

2nd Period-3, Hershey, Brouillette 5 (Schmidt, Deschamps), 8:04 (PP). Penalties-Doherty Wor (double minor – high-sticking), 4:10; Byers Her (hooking), 5:28; DeMelo Wor (cross-checking), 6:12; Davison Wor (delay of game), 6:39; Schmidt Her (tripping), 13:53.

3rd Period-4, Worcester, Hamilton 9 (Tennyson, Hayes), 12:12 (PP). 5, Hershey, Deschamps 7 (Mitchell, Watkins), 15:49. Penalties-Segal Her (cross-checking), 10:49; Strachan Her (delay of game), 11:05; Davison Wor (holding), 19:41.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 12-9-16-37. Hershey 10-11-10-31.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 2 / 5; Hershey 1 / 7.
Goalies-Worcester, Grosenick 6-3-0 (31 shots-29 saves). Hershey, Leggio 6-8-2 (37 shots-34 saves).
A-8,744
Referees-Ryan Fraser (14), Jamie Koharski (84).
Linesmen-Scott Adams (20), Bob Goodman (90).

WorSharks feast on Penguins, win 4-1

The Worcester Sharks are using this weekend’s road trip to the Keystone State to do some “team building” with every roster player, including those that are injured, making the jaunt out west. With the trip just one third over it looks like the team building is working as the WorSharks took down the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, one of the top teams in the American Hockey League, 4-1 Friday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania in front of a crowd announced at 4,121.

WorSharks defenseman Taylor Doherty levels Penguins center Dominik Uher
during Worcester's 4-1 win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Friday night.
Photo courtesy of THETIMES-TRIBUNE.COM

For video highlights we once again point to AHLlive.com. Listen carefully at the WorSharks goals because Worcester broadcaster Eric Lindquist can be heard shouting over Penguins play by play man Mike O’Brien.

Scratches for the WorSharks were Adam Comrie, Matt Pelech (shoulder), Nick Petrecki (back), Lane Scheidl (knee), Sebastian Stalberg, and Daniil Tarasov (groin). Troy Grosenick was the back-up goaltender. Add Comrie’s name to what appears to be a growing number of people in Roy Sommer’s dog house, joining Stalberg and Petrecki. Comrie, Worcester’s leading blueliner in points, was benched in the WorSharks 5-1 loss to Portland for reasons currently unknown as he was far from the worst playing defenseman that evening. What’s funny is a Petrecki/Comrie pairing, despite them both usually playing the same side, might not be all that bad together. San Jose Sharks scout Bryan Marchment joined Sommer and Dave Cunniff behind the bench, maybe in an attempt to get Roy to stop benching the players actually putting points on the board.

The empty net tally was the first AHL goal on the season for Dan DaSilva, making it 1005 days between goals for Worcester for the former Crazed Rat member. That’s the third longest stretch in WorSharks team history between goals, with Derek Joslin leading the pack at 1096 days and Danny Groulx coming in at 1051 for his “streak”. In an interesting twist there, in the 2012-2013 season Groulx and Joslin were traded for each other with Joslin gaining the “advantage” of coming to Worcester later in the season. As with almost all Worcester pro hockey records, the longest stretch between goals is held by Terry Virtue, who went over four seasons between markers for the IceCats. Former WorSharks (and IceCats) defenseman Patrick Traverse would have easily had the record as his stints in Worcester were nine seasons apart, but Traverse failed to score goals in any of his 24 IceCats games in the 1996-97 campaign.

Count this writer as shamed: WorSharks enforcer Jimmy Bonneau has scored four goals for Worcester in his tenure here, and somehow I have missed seeing each of them live. The one at the DCU Center was on the February weekend I historically take off from anything hockey related, and the other three took place in games I was watching online but had for a moment walked away from the monitor to do something else. Look for Bonneau to connect again Saturday night as this writer will be attending a holiday function and won’t be able to watch the game live.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 25 Marek Viedensky (g,a)
2. WOR – 35 Harri Sateri (24 saves)
3. WBS – 10 Nick Drazenovic (penalty shot goal)

The Sharkspage player of the game is Jimmy Bonneau.

Even strength lines
Hayes/Hamilton/Kearns
Schwartz/Oleksuk/DaSilva
Gogol/Viedensky/Livingston
Bonneau/Brace/Reid

Davison/Tennyson
Abeltshauser/Doherty
Acolatse/Demelo

BOXSCORE

Worcester 1 1 2 – 4
W-B/Scranton 0 0 1 – 1

1st Period-1, Worcester, Hamilton 7 (Kearns, Tennyson), 6:35 (PP). Penalties-Mikkelson Wbs (slashing), 0:14; Severyn Wbs (high-sticking), 6:14.

2nd Period-2, Worcester, Bonneau 1 (Viedensky, Abeltshauser), 2:41. Penalties-Doherty Wor (roughing), 5:43; Sylvester Wbs (high-sticking), 9:38; Acolatse Wor (roughing), 13:57; Carman Wbs (boarding), 13:57; Thompson Wbs (roughing), 13:57.

3rd Period-3, Worcester, Viedensky 2 (Acolatse, Livingston), 9:36. 4, W-B/Scranton, Drazenovic 4 17:30 (PS). 5, Worcester, DaSilva 1 19:49 (EN). Penalties-Bonneau Wor (boarding), 10:45; Davison Wor (checking to the head), 14:05.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 10-4-6-20. W-B/Scranton 3-5-17-25.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 1 / 4; W-B/Scranton 0 / 3.
Goalies-Worcester, Sateri 6-8-1 (25 shots-24 saves). W-B/Scranton, Hartzell 4-2-0 (19 shots-16 saves).
A-4,121
Referees-Jamie Koharski (84).
Linesmen-Leo Boylan (97), Jud Ritter (34).

WorSharks ice cold in Maine, lose 5-1 to Portland

The Worcester Sharks made the long trek north to the Pine Tree State with a huge winter storm following close behind them, and then played the game like they were already snowblind as once again they could not put the puck in the net with any consistency in dropping a 5-1 contest to the Portland Pirates Saturday night at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston, Maine in front of 1,860. Rylan Schwartz had the only goal for the WorSharks.

WorSharks defenseman Sena Acolatse (#14) tries to bang home a loose puck as Eriah Hayes (#18) fights
for position in front of the Portland net Saturday night. Worcester would lose 5-1 to the Pirates.
Photo courtesy of the PORTLAND PIRATES

For the highlights, such as they are, you can head over to AHLlive.com to watch.

Scratches for Worcester were Konrad Abeltshauser, Nick Petrecki (back), Brodie Reid, Lane Scheidl (knee) Daniil Tarasov (groin), and Marek Viedensky. Troy Grosenick was the back-up goaltender. The WorSharks injury list looks like it will be growing again as in the first period Matt Pelech appeared to injure his left arm. He did not return.

Another player that missed most of the game was Adam Comrie, although he was on the bench the entire time. Either Comrie was injured or ill–if he was unable to play then why was he on the bench?–or Worcester heard coach Roy Sommer benched him. At the start of the third period Matt Tennyson was (-3) and captain Rob Davison was (-2) so the player Sommer apparently benches is Comrie? And he does it while already short a skater? Considering Comrie leads the blue liners in points one has to wonder if Comrie’s play was so bad–and it didn’t appear to be any worse than anyone else Saturday night–that Sommer had no choice but to bench him because if Sommer was doing it to “send a message” then it’s about time San Joe Sharks General Manager Doug Wilson sends Roy a message.

Speaking of cluelessness, no one can figure out why referee Ryan Hersey initially waved off Andy Miele’s first goal. On top of that, no can also figure out what referee Hersey was reviewing when he looked at the replay. The play was clearly a good goal from the get-go, and as he was the official to wave it off it’s not like he wouldn’t have known if the whistle blew or not because, well, he’d have been the one blowing the whistle. It should be noted that in the AHL the video replay has no sound. In the AHL all video reviews result in an incident report being filed by the referee. This writer would love get a gander at it, but alas, the AHL most certainly will be filing that one away never to be seen again.

Worcester had two goals on 71 shots this weekend for a slightly less than impressive .028 shooting percentage. The WorSharks are shooting just .067 for the season, which as near as this writer can tell is the worst in the AHL. The way the AHL handles shootout wins (it adds a goal and shot to team stats) makes figuring out teams actual shooting percentages more work that it’s usually worth, but as no team has a lower combined percentage and Worcester has five additional goals and shots added to their total it’s a safe bet they’re last. They also went oh-fer-12 on the power play this weekend, with that percentage being pretty easy to figure out. The WorSharks are 26th in the AHL on the power play this season (13.7%).

It’s amazing that as few goals as Worcester scores they haven’t been shutout yet this season. The WorSharks were blanked five times last season.

In the “that can’t possibly be true but is” department, the last three road games WorSharks broadcaster and PR man extraordinaire Eric Lindquist has mentioned that he wanted Chinese food this writer was eating Chinese food. Perhaps next weekend he could mention winning lottery tickets?

The three stars of the game were
1. POR – 21 Andy Miele (hat trick, 2a)
2. POR – 11 Chris Brown (2a)
3. POR – 29 Mark Visentin (30 saves)

The Sharkspage player of the game is Rylan Schwartz.

BOXSCORE

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

1st Period-1, Portland, Miele 8 15:47 (SH). Penalties-Gormley Por (interference), 5:38; Todd Por (holding), 15:13; Comrie Wor (roughing), 16:32.

2nd Period-2, Portland, Klesla 1 (Miele, Yip), 7:49. 3, Portland, Miele 9 (Brown, Werek), 11:26. Penalties-Gormley Por (tripping), 8:34; Bonneau Wor (unsportsmanlike conduct, fighting), 16:17; Louis Por (unsportsmanlike conduct, fighting), 16:17.

3rd Period-4, Worcester, Schwartz 3 (Oleksuk, Hamilton), 1:12. 5, Portland, Miele 10 (Todd, Visentin), 4:26 (PP). 6, Portland, Martinook 4 (Brown, Miele), 10:30 (PP). Penalties-Kearns Wor (hooking), 3:05; Veilleux Por (holding), 5:41; Brace Wor (goaltender interference, unsportsmanlike conduct), 7:21; Gogol Wor (unsportsmanlike conduct, fighting), 12:04; Veilleux Por (unsportsmanlike conduct, fighting), 12:04; Kearns Wor (slashing), 13:44; Davison Wor (roughing, roughing), 19:06.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 12-8-11-31. Portland 4-12-10-26.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0 / 4; Portland 2 / 6.
Goalies-Worcester, Sateri 5-8-1 (26 shots-21 saves). Portland, Visentin 8-8-2 (31 shots-30 saves).
A-1,860
Referees-Ryan Hersey (8), Geno Binda (22).
Linesmen-Joe Andrews (32), Jeremy Lovett (78).

WorSharks stumble and bumble way into 3-1 loss to Manchester

The Worcester Sharks came into Friday night’s contest with the Manchester Monarchs as one of the hottest teams in the American Hockey League with points in six straight games, but unfortunately Worcester looked colder than the frigid temperatures outside in dropping a 3-1 contest to the Monarchs at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts in front of a crowd of 3,355.

WorSharks forward Bracken Kearns screens Manchester goalie Jean-Francois Berube as Daniil Tarasov's shot goes
five-hole for a 1-0 Worcester lead. The WorSharks would eventually fall 3-1 to the Monarchs.
Photo courtesy of T&G Staff/STEVE LANAVA

For video highlights, which despite the loss are pretty much a “must see” just to check out Daniil Tarasov’s first period goal, we point to AHLlive.com

Scratches for Worcester were Jimmy Bonneau, Dylan Demelo, Nick Petrecki (back, day to day), Lane Scheidl (knee), and Sebastian Stalberg. The Worcester Shuttle was dispatched from San Jose to the east coast to drop off forward Freddie Hamilton. He did not dress but should be available Saturday against Portland. Harri Sateri was the back-up goaltender. Just as the team was getting healthy the WorSharks may have taken a major hit when Tarasov, their leading goal scorer, reaggravated his groin. It’s the second time this season Tarasov has had groin issues.

Prior to the start of the game Dan DaSilva, who was signed to a try-out contract about a month ago, had his contract upgraded to a standard player’s deal for the remainder of the season. It’s a smart move as despite his not scoring a goal yet the team flat out plays better when he’s out there. His two for three in shootout attempts doesn’t hurt either.

The WorSharks didn’t do themselves any favors last night on the power play, going just one for eight with the man advantage. It seems so odd to watch a team fire shots from all over the ice at even strength suddenly not shoot the puck on the power play. Way too much passing looking for the perfect and not enough getting the puck to the net. If Worcester can fix the power play they would have a pretty formidable team. On a related note, with all the power plays in the game (13 total) it took until 17:26 remaining in regulation for the first icing of the game.

Every player except Travis Oleksuk had a shot on goal for the WorSharks. The fact Oleksuk didn’t have one is a bit troubling considering he often plays the point on the first power play unit and he took Tarasov’s spot on the top line in the third period. Seeing as you can’t score if you don’t shoot having a player play those roles and not shooting is an issue.

The three stars of the game were
1. MCH – 35 Jean-Francois Berube (39 saves)
2. MCH – 17 A.J. Gale (2g)
3. MCH – 2 Andrew Campbell (g)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Daniil Tarasov.

BOXSCORE

Manchester 0 1 2 – 3
Worcester 1 0 0 – 1

1st Period-1, Worcester, Tarasov 9 (Tennyson, Comrie), 19:04 (PP). Penalties-Bishop Mch (hooking), 3:28; Pearson Mch (slashing), 5:34; Gogol Wor (goaltender interference), 8:01; Bodnarchuk Mch (hooking), 13:50; Weal Mch (slashing), 17:46; Forbort Mch (holding), 19:39.

2nd Period-2, Manchester, Campbell 1 (Shore, O’Brien), 16:04. Penalties-Tennyson Wor (interference), 0:25; Campbell Mch (cross-checking), 7:16; Andreoff Mch (holding, unsportsmanlike conduct), 16:45.

3rd Period-3, Manchester, Gale 2 (Sabourin), 3:28. 4, Manchester, Gale 3 (Sabourin, Bodnarchuk), 6:49. Penalties-Tennyson Wor (tripping), 11:47; Livingston Wor (holding), 14:38; DaSilva Wor (tripping), 19:48.

Shots on Goal-Manchester 4-8-13-25. Worcester 13-15-12-40.
Power Play Opportunities-Manchester 0 / 5; Worcester 1 / 8.
Goalies-Manchester, Berube 8-4-2 (40 shots-39 saves). Worcester, Grosenick 5-3-0 (25 shots-22 saves).
A-3,355
Referees-Mark Lemelin (41).
Linesmen-Bob Bernard (42), Chris Millea (33).

Grosenick stellar in WorSharks 2-1 shootout win over Manchester

The Worcester Sharks took their five game point streak an hour north to the Granite State, and while Troy Grosenick’s 31 save performance kept the WorSharks in the game rookie defenseman Konrad Abeltshauser’s first professional goal got them back to even and into a shootout where Worcester defeated the Manchester Monarchs 2-1 Sunday afternoon at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire in front of a crowd listed at 3,758.

WorSharks rookie goaltender Troy Grosenick improved his record to 5-2-0 with a
2-1 shootout win Sunday at Manchester. Grosenick has 3 shootout wins so far this season.
File photo courtesy of TEAMSHRED

Scratches for Worcester were Jimmy Bonneau, Adam Comrie, Dylan Demelo, Lane Scheidl (knee), and Sebastian Stalberg. Harri Sateri was the backup netminder. Mike Ricci spent his third game of the weekend behind the bench with coaches Roy Sommer and David Cunniff. The game was Nick Petrecki’s 254th in a Worcester uniform, surpassing former captain Mike Moore for most ever by a WorSharks player. Petrecki now sits 4th all time in Worcester hockey history behind three Worcester IceCats: Jame Pollock (270), Marc Brown (303), and Worcester Hockey Hall of Fame inaugural member Terry Virtue (455).

The six game points steak for Worcester is their best in two years going back to an eight game streak that ran from December 2nd to the 17th, 2011. That eight game streak was the second time the WorSharks had done that, and is the current team record. Worcester will have some work to do to get this streak to eight with their next game being another tilt vs Manchester on Friday.

Daniil Tarasov went from potential goat to hero in the span of about 20 minutes Sunday afternoon. First, in overtime, Tarasov slashed Monarchs winger Tanner Pearson 38 seconds into the extra session when Pearson crashed the Worcester net. It wasn’t like Tarasov was trying to be coy about it either, and with their being two referees for the game there was little to no chance it wasn’t going to be called. After the WorSharks killed that minor Tarasov then accidentally flipped the puck out of play from the Worcester defensive end to earn himself another trip to the sin bin. Tarasov did redeem himself with a nice backhander in the shootout that beat Manchester netminder Jean-Francois Berube for the eventual game winner. Over the radio WorSharks radio broadcaster Eric Lindquist exclaimed, “Tarasov went from being in the dog house to eating the prime rib dinner”.

The Monarchs refer to the Verizon Wireless Arena as “The Jungle”, and in seasons past it was one of the loudest arenas in the AHL in terms of fan participation. Sunday’s game was more like a funeral than a jungle, so much so that with the significant amount of Worcester Sharks fans in attendance (three bus loads of season ticket holders plus another couple dozen fans who traveled up on their own) cheering on Team Teal several times it almost seemed like a home game for the WorSharks. That was noticed by many players after the game, as many gave a stick wave to the fans high up in sections 219 and 220 and when Grosenick was announced as the #1 star he skated directly over to the far side of the ice toward the Worcester faithful.

On a related note, the loudest cheer in the building took place during the second intermission when Monarchs and WorSharks fans alike crowded around TVs on the concourse of the Verizon Wireless Arena to watch a potential a potential game winning 58 yard field goal by the Cleveland Browns Billy Cundiff fall short to give the New England Patriots a stunning 27-26 come from behind win. And a not-so-related note, if you ever visit the Verizon Wireless Arena to see the Monarchs play get the soft serve ice cream from the Carvel stands. Best deal in the building.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 1 Troy Grosenick (31 saves)
2. MCH – 35 Jean-Francois Berube (36 saves)
3. WOR – 10 Konrad Abeltshauser (gtg)

For the second game in a row the Sharkspage player of the game is Bracken Kearns.

Even strength lines
Tarasov/Kearns/ DaSilva
Hayes/Viedensky/Schwartz
Reid/Oleksuk/Livingston
Gogol/Brace/Pelech

Davison/Tennyson
Petrecki/Doherty
Acolatse/Abeltshauser

BOXSCORE

Worcester 0 0 1 0 – 2
Manchester 0 1 0 0 – 1

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-LoVerde Mch (tripping), 6:44; Brace Wor (tripping), 9:33.

2nd Period-1, Manchester, O’Brien 3 (Backman, Forbort), 0:57. Penalties-Weal Mch (tripping), 5:55; Gogol Wor (roughing), 9:07; Andreoff Mch (roughing), 9:07; Kozun Mch (goaltender interference), 9:07; Davison Wor (unsportsmanlike conduct), 13:00; Sabourin Mch (interference), 13:00.

3rd Period-2, Worcester, Abeltshauser 1 (Tarasov, Kearns), 5:47. Penalties-Sabourin Mch (holding), 1:45; Shore Mch (hooking), 15:15.

OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Tarasov Wor (slashing), 0:38; Tarasov Wor (delay of game), 3:16.

Shootout – Worcester 2 (Livingston NG, DaSilva G, Tarasov G, Reid NG), Manchester 1 (O’Brien NG, Weal G, Andreoff NG, Kozun NG, Pearson NG).
Shots on Goal-Worcester 9-9-17-2-1-38. Manchester 9-8-12-3-0-32.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0 / 5; Manchester 0 / 3.
Goalies-Worcester, Grosenick 5-2-0 (32 shots-31 saves). Manchester, Berube 7-4-2 (37 shots-36 saves).
A-3,758
Referees-Trent Knorr (44), Geoff Miller (28).
Linesmen-Joe Andrews (32), Landon Bathe (80).

WorSharks can’t hold two goal lead, lose 4-3 to Providence in shootout

The Worcester Sharks took a one goal second period lead and a two goal third period advantage and failed to hold on to either en route to dropping a 4-3 shootout contest to the Providence Bruins Saturday night at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts on Jimmy Bonneau bobblefist night in front of a crowd of 5,210. It was the first shootout loss for the WorSharks this season after winning their first four bonus rounds.

Worcester's Dylan DeMelo tries to lift a backhander past Providence goaltender Malcolm Subban
during Saturday's 4-3 WorSharks shootout loss to the Baby Bruins.
Photo courtesy of JOHN FERRARONE, WORCESTER T&G

For video highlights we, as we usually do, point at AHLlive.com.

Scratches for the WorSharks were Konrad Abeltshauser, Sena Acolatse, Lane Scheidl (knee), and Sebastian Stalberg. Troy Grosenick was the backup goaltender. The Worcester Shuttle made a stop on the east coast last Friday night to pick up Matt Nieto and Freddie Hamilton. Matt Pelech was assigned to the WorSharks but did not arrive for game time. Mike Ricci joined coaches Roy Sommer and Dave Cunniff behind the Worcester bench.

There was a scary moment in the second period when a Dan DaSilva wrist shot hit Travis Oleksuk square in the face. Oleksuk was down for just a short while and started skating to the bench before Worcester trainer Matt White could get to him. Even with a towel on his face Oleksuk left a trail of blood behind him that was fairly significant, so much so that the linesmen couldn’t scrape up all of it and in the next stoppage of play the ice crew was summoned to do the job. As one might guess DaSilva was shaken up for causing the injury and several of his teammates could be seen consoling him. The first thing Oleksuk did after returning to the bench was pat DaSilva on the head. Despite being across the ice from the Worcester bench you could easily see the relief in DaSilva’s face.

This writer is guessing Oleksuk didn’t miss a shift as his time missed was shortened by a media timeout and an extended time when the ice crew was on the ice scraping up the blood trail. Based on the timestamps of the tweet where he got hurt and the time he returned to the bench just seven minutes of actual time elapsed. No matter how you look at it, that’s impressive.

Speaking of DaSilva, the former “Crazed Rats” winger was brought back a couple weeks ago to add some scoring punch to the WorSharks lineup. After having just three assists in his first six games one might be tempted to say the experiment has failed, but just looking at how differently the team has played since he arrived it’s hard to call it anything but a success. Hopefully the sentiment is the same for the folks who decide if he stays of goes.

Nick Petrecki has had several real strong games in a row. Are we finally seeing the player Petrecki was projected to develop into? It sometimes takes years for physical, shutdown defensemen to mature and Petrecki has been close to looking ready before. This time it looks like it might be, well, his time.

The three stars of the game were
1. PRO – 24 Ryan Spooner (g,2a)
2. WOR – 21 Travis Oleksuk (g)
3. PRO – 13 Alexander Khokhlachev (SO game winner)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Bracken Kearns.

Even strength lines
Tarasov/Kearns/DaSilva
Schwartz/Viedensky/Hayes
Gogol/Oleksuk/Livingston
Bonneau/Brace/Reid

Davison/Tennyson
Comrie/Doherty
Petrecki/DeMelo

BOXSCORE

Providence 0 1 2 0 – 4
Worcester 0 1 2 0 – 3

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties

2nd Period-1, Worcester, Hayes 4 (Doherty, Brace), 10:05. 2, Providence, Spooner 5 (Youds, Moore), 18:30. Penalties-Hayes Wor (kneeing), 4:54; Trotman Pro (holding), 7:24; Youds Pro (delay of game), 10:20; Fraser Pro (roughing), 12:26; Doherty Wor (roughing), 12:26.

3rd Period-3, Worcester, Oleksuk 3 3:10. 4, Worcester, Kearns 5 (DaSilva, Tennyson), 6:27. 5, Providence, Fraser 16 (Spooner, Youds), 10:56 (PP). 6, Providence, Trotman 1 (Morrow, Spooner), 17:15. Penalties-Moore Pro (interference), 0:53; Tennyson Wor (delay of game), 9:26.

OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties

Shootout – Providence 2 (Spooner G, Khokhlachev G, Cunningham NG, Camara NG, Johnson NG), Worcester 1 (Livingston G, Tarasov NG, Reid NG, DaSilva NG, Oleksuk NG).
Shots on Goal-Providence 9-6-10-3-1-29. Worcester 11-17-7-2-0-37.
Power Play Opportunities-Providence 1 / 2; Worcester 0 / 3.
Goalies-Providence, Subban 4-5-0 (37 shots-34 saves). Worcester, Sateri 5-7-1 (28 shots-25 saves).
A-5,210
Referees-Trent Knorr (44), Ryan Murphy (5).
Linesmen-Chris Millea (33), Brian MacDonald (72).

Eight is enough for WorSharks in record setting win over Portland

The WorSharks Sharks went into Friday night’s contest with the Portland Pirates not having scored four goals in a game yet this season, but when the night was over the line of Matt Nieto, Freddie Hamilton, and Daniil Tarasov combined for five goals on their own as the WorSharks cruised to an 8-2 drubbing of the Pirates at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts in front of 2,088 fans to get Worcester over the .500 mark for the first time this season. The win also gives Worcester its first four game winning streak in almost two years (December 9th through the 17th, 2011).

Jimmy Bonneau, Adam Comrie, and the WorSharks celebrate Eriah Hayes' first period goal
during Worcester's 8-2 win over the Portland Pirates Friday night
Photo courtesy of the WORCESTER SHARKS

For highlights of the game, and there were a lot of them, we go to AHLlive.com.

Scratches for Worcester were Konrad Abeltshauser, Sena Acolatse (lower body), Riley Brace, Curt Gogol (unknown injury), Brodie Reid, and Lane Scheidl (knee). The backup netminder was Troy Grosenick. Mike Ricci joined coaches Roy Sommer and Dave Cunniff behind the Worcester bench.

The eight goals were the most ever the WorSharks have scored at home. It falls one short of the all-time team record of nine, set in a 9-2 win over the Hartford Wolf pack on April 7, 2010. In a startling comparison, the WorSharks had eight goals in their previous five games.

Nieto’s five points (2g,3a) ties the team mark for points in a game. Nieto was also among a group of five players, the others being Hamilton, Tarasov, Taylor Doherty, and Adam Comrie to finish the game at +4. That’s the most players at +4 or better ever in a single game for the WorSharks. The previous best was four when John McCarthy, Mike Moore, Andrew Desjardins, and Dan DaSilva did it on March 10th, 2010. As near as this writer can tell the team record for plus/minus in a game is Moore’s +5 on the day after Christmas in 2009 vs Springfield.

Not to nitpick over a single call in a blowout, but it would be interesting to hear referee Kendrick Nicholson explain how when Portland’s Brett Hextall slashed Bracken Kearns legs out from under him that there was any chance Kearns dove on the play. Referee Nicholson, working his first WorSharks game, had a good view of the action so it does make one wonder. The boxscore incorrectly lists Kearns’ penalty as a ten minute misconduct.

Referee Nicholson did get two notable calls correct, the first being on Eriah Hayes’ tally in opening period when Nicholson signaled goal and then went to video review to make sure the net was still on the pegs when the puck crossed the line. The second was awarding the Pirates Brendan Shinnimin a penalty shot midway through the second period after he was hauled down from behind by Rob Davison on a breakaway bid. WorSharks goaltender Harri Sateri stopped the penalty shot, making him a perfect three for three in his pro career.

In the waning seconds of the game the laugher almost took a tragic note when Portland defenseman Daine Todd was hit in the head by an Adam Comrie slapshot. All the players stopped on the ice even before referee Nicholson could blow the whistle, with the WorSharks Hayes being the closest to him and went to make sure Todd was not injured. Luckily Todd was up before the Pirates trainer could get to him and skated off unassisted. After the next faceoff, in sort of “enough is enough” moment, the puck ended up in the near corner where both the WorSharks and Portland players stood over it waiting for time to expire.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 17 Matt Nieto (2g,3a)
2. WOR – 12 Freddie Hamilton (2g,a)
3. WOR – 19 Daniil Tarasov (g,2a)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Marek Viedensky.

Even strength lines
Nieto/Hamilton/Tarasov
Schwartz/Kearns/DaSilva
Stalberg/Oleksuk/Livingston
Bonneau/Viedensky/Hayes

Davison/Tennyson
Comrie/Doherty
Petrecki/DeMelo

BOXSCORE

Portland 0 1 1 – 2
Worcester 2 3 3 – 8

1st Period-1, Worcester, Hamilton 5 (Nieto), 14:29. 2, Worcester, Hayes 3 (Viedensky, Bonneau), 15:28. Penalties-Davison Wor (interference), 7:12; Brisebois Por (interference), 8:53; Hextall Por (slashing), 9:39; Kearns Wor (misconduct – unsportsmanlike conduct), 9:39.

2nd Period-3, Worcester, Nieto 1 (Hamilton, Comrie), 1:15. 4, Worcester, Tarasov 8 (Nieto, Doherty), 3:10. 5, Worcester, Oleksuk 2 (DaSilva, DeMelo), 5:25. 6, Portland, Brule 7 (Todd, Shinnimin), 19:10 (PP). Penalties-Dziurzynski Por (misconduct – unsportsmanlike conduct), 7:12; Comrie Wor (misconduct), 18:23; Doherty Wor (cross-checking), 18:23; Dziurzynski Por (boarding), 19:30.

3rd Period-7, Worcester, Nieto 2 (Tarasov, DeMelo), 0:49 (PP). 8, Worcester, Hamilton 6 (Tarasov, Nieto), 6:45. 9, Portland, Shinnimin 3 (Klesla, McMillan), 7:17. 10, Worcester, Viedensky 1 (Bonneau), 18:03. Penalties-Summers Por (slashing), 0:16; Davison Wor (interference), 3:29.

Shots on Goal-Portland 5-14-12-31. Worcester 16-15-10-41.
Power Play Opportunities-Portland 1 / 3; Worcester 1 / 3.
Goalies-Portland, Visentin 6-8-1 (23 shots-19 saves); Lee 0-2-1 (18 shots-14 saves). Worcester, Sateri 5-7-0 (31 shots-29 saves).
A-2,088
Referees-Kendrick Nicholson (76).
Linesmen-Brian MacDonald (72), Luke Galvin (2).

WorSharks back to even after 3-1 win over Portland

The Worcester Sharks finally won a game the way they drew it up on paper after taking a two goal lead on tallies by Bracken Kearns and James Livingston and then holding on to take a 3-1 decision over the Portland Pirates Friday night at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston, Maine in front of a crowd of 2,793. The WorSharks win puts them at .500 (8-8-1-0) for the first time this season.

Worcester forward Dan DaSilva is stoned by Portland goaltender Mark Visentin
during Friday's 3-1 WorSharks victory over the Pirates.
Photo courtesy of the PORTLAND PIRATES

For video highlights of the game we once again look to AHLlive.com

Scratches for the WorSharks were Konrad Abeltshauser, Sena Acolatse (lower body), Curt Gogol (unknown injury), Brodie Reid, Lane Scheidl (knee), and Marek Viedensky (unknown injury). Troy Grosenick was the backup goaltender. The Worcester Shuttle made a stop on the east coast to pick up Matt Pelech and drop off Matt Nieto. The Pelech recall is expected to be temporary but the Nieto assignment will be for the foreseeable future as San Jose begins to get some of the longer-term injured players back. Worcester coaches Roy Sommer and David Cunniff were joined by scout Bryan Marchment behind the bench.

The win on Black Friday moved the WorSharks to 5-2-1 on the day after Thanksgiving, and have points in five straight (4-0-1). All of those games have been on the road. Another plus for Worcester, the WorSharks record with Jimmy Bonneau in the line-up this season is 5-2-0. Without him Worcester is 3-6-1. Not bad for a guy with no points on the campaign, although Bonneau isn’t out there to be Mario Lemieux.

Another stat, although an unofficial one: during Taylor Doherty’s second period holding minor Freddie Hamilton and Nieto had more odd man rushes while shorthanded (two) than Worcester had the entirety of their game last Sunday against Manchester, in which they didn’t have any.

Every WorSharks forward had at least one shot in the game with only defensemen Doherty, Nick Petrecki, and Adam Comrie not having one in the contest. Hamilton led Worcester with five shots. It’s the first time this season Comrie was held without a shot.

The NHL and AHL have instituted a new rule this season to protect players engaging in fisticuffs by making it an additional two minute minor for removing their helmets while fighting. All this rule has done is added two minutes in penalties to players because we’re seeing many “established” enforcers continuing to remove their helmets before they engage. We can add this rule to the unfortunately ever growing list of dumb rules that needs to be taken out of the game. Oh, one other silly thing about the rule–it’s listed as “unsportsmanlike conduct”. Can you think of anything more “sportsmanlike” than making sure your opponent doesn’t break his hand on your helmet?

It wasn’t a good night for the men in stripes in Lewiston last night as the linesmen made more than a handful of errors on offside and icing calls. The vast majority of times linesmen get those right, so the errors stand out a lot. All you need to know about the night referee Ryan Hersey comes in matching penalties he handed out at 11:08 of the third period: WorSharks captain Rob Davison got two minutes for elbowing and Pirates winger Darian Dziurzynski received two minutes for being elbowed (officially “embellishment”). Davison got his two minutes worth; Dziurzynski, not so much.

Previously on twitter this writer erroneously stated the last time the Worcester Sharks had taken five out of six points in a game was the end of the calendar year 2012. That factoid was fixed for Sharkspage but apparently the fix wasn’t noticed by another blogger who used my tweeted stat in their blog. This time we have it right: the WorSharks win Friday it gives them their first three game winning streak since, you guessed it, the end of the 2012 calendar year.

Speaking of twitter, my followers yesterday were inundated with tweets about Holy Cross College (located just a couple miles from the DCU Center) and their shocking 5-4 upset over national power house Boston College, on the Eagle’s home ice no less. It was just the second win in 17 tries for the Crusaders over BC, the first coming in 1946 when ice hockey wasn’t even an official NCAA varsity sport. WorSharks head coach Sommer’s son Castan plays for Holy Cross, who had a goal and an assist for the Crusaders in the game.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 16 Bracken Kearns (g)
2. POR – 24 Brett Hextall (g)
3. WOR – 3 Rob Davison (a, great defensive game)

The Sharkspage player of the game is Harri Sateri.

WorSharks even strength lines
Schwartz/Kearns/DaSilva
Tarasov/Hamilton/Nieto
Stalberg/Oleksuk/Livingston
Bonneau/Brace/Hayes

Davison/Tennyson
Comrie/Doherty
Petrecki/Demelo

BOXSCORE

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

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Tarasov Wor (goaltender interference), 3:39; Lessio Por (high-sticking), 6:11; Bonneau Wor (unsportsmanlike conduct, fighting), 9:41; Hagel Por (unsportsmanlike conduct, fighting), 9:41; Brace Wor (fighting), 12:47; Miele Por (fighting), 12:47; Tarasov Wor (fighting), 13:25; Brown Por (fighting), 13:25; McMillan Por (hooking), 18:03.

2nd Period-1, Worcester, Kearns 4 (DaSilva, Davison), 3:55. 2, Worcester, Livingston 3 (Stalberg, Demelo), 9:04. Penalties-Doherty Wor (holding), 14:04.

3rd Period-3, Portland, Hextall 3 (Shinnimin, Martinook), 5:55. 4, Worcester, Hamilton 4 (Tennyson), 18:10 (EN). Penalties-Hayes Wor (interference), 2:57; Davison Wor (elbowing), 11:08; Dziurzynski Por (diving/embellishment), 11:08.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 15-8-11-34. Portland 9-7-10-26.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0 / 2; Portland 0 / 3.
Goalies-Worcester, Sateri 4-7-0 (26 shots-25 saves). Portland, Visentin 6-6-1 (33 shots-31 saves).
A-2,793
Referees-Ryan Hersey (8).
Linesmen-Landon Bathe (80), Joe Andrews (32).

WorSharks take two in 3-2 shootout win over Manchester

The Worcester Sharks have had issues putting the puck in the net this season, so after falling behind 2-0 to the stingy Manchester Monarchs on a great goal and a “not so great” goal things didn’t look so good for the WorSharks, but two quick third period strikes by Matt Tennyson and Rylan Schwartz got Team Teal back to even and into a shootout where once again rookie goaltender Troy Grosenick took charge and led the team to a 3-2 victory Sunday afternoon at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts in front of 2,711 fans.

Worcester Sharks forward Bracken Kearns broke out of a scoring slump with
two assists Sunday to lead the WorSharks to a 3-2 win over Manchester.
File photo courtesy of TEAMSHRED

For video highlights we once again point at AHLlive.com

Scratches for the WorSharks were Konrad Abeltshauser, Sena Acolatse (lower body), Brodie Reid, Lane Scheidl (knee), Daniil Tarasov (groin), and Marek Viedensky (unknown injury). Harri Sateri was the backup goaltender.

Not shown on the highlight video was an incredible defensive play by Nick Petrecki in the waning seconds of overtime when Manchester had a three on one rush against him. Petrecki could not have played it more perfectly, forcing the puck carrier toward the left side while still preventing a cross ice pass and allowing Grosenick a great view of any shot from the outside. When the puck carrier made the move to pass Petrecki blocked the ice between the Monarchs players and forced a saucer pass that was behind the onrushing Manchester player. Petrecki then cleared out the player and that was it for the scoring chance.

Early in the first period Taylor Doherty, all 6’7″ of him, was called for checking the head of a Manchester player. No one this writer spoke to could identify the player, which includes people sitting right on the glass where the penalty allegedly occurred. Doherty did throw a check just previously to the penalty being called, but it was clean and the head wasn’t primary point of contact. Despite there being no evidence that anyone can uncover Doherty is still subject to supplementary discipline, which many fans say will be suspension simply because Doherty plays for Worcester. We’ll all find out soon enough.

Anecdotally, the Maxim Kitsyn score from 90′ feet out was the farthest away an opponent was from the Worcester goal and scored while the goaltender was still in the net. It is not, however, the longest goal scored against a goaltender at the DCU Center. That honor belongs to Aris Brimanis of the Worcester IceCats when he beat, ironically enough, the Monarchs Travis Scott just after Scott had come into the game in relief of Jeff Sanger. While Scott was still stretching the officials dropped the puck and after Greg Day’s clean faceoff win Brimanis fired the puck past a startled Scott from 115′ away. That March 30, 2003 game is also the biggest comeback in Worcester pro hockey history as the IceCats trailed Manchester 6-1 entering the third period and won it 7-6 in overtime.

Bill Ballou has dubbed the Riley Brace, Matt Pelech and Jimmy Bonneau combination as the “Mayhem Line”. It’s not as catchy as “Crazed Rats” was, but if the three play as well together as they did Saturday and Sunday “Mayhem Line” may start rolling off the tongue a little better.

When George Brown, the PA announcer at the DCU Center, called out Riley Brace’s name as the third shootout shooter for the WorSharks more than a few people were scratching their heads. Someday this writer might be able to tell an amusing story that came out afterward concerning one fan’s reaction. Perhaps at “award time” it will get a mention.

Something else head scratching: Worcester has only scored nine goals in their last six games but have gone 4-1-1-0, all four wins in shootout. And not to put the cart before the horse, but as the first playoff tiebreaker is non-shootout wins the WorSharks really need to start getting some wins outside the skills competition.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 27 Rylan Schwartz (g)
2. WOR – 16 Bracken Kearns (2a)
3. WOR – 8 Sebastian Stalberg (SO game winner)

The Sharkspage player of the game is Matt Tennyson.

Even strength lines
Schwartz-Kearns-DaSilva
Hayes-Hamilton-Stalberg
Gogol-Oleksuk-Livingston
Bonneau-Brace-Pelech

Davison-Tennyson
Comrie-Doherty
Petrecki-Demelo

BOXSCORE

Manchester 1 1 0 0 – 2
Worcester 0 0 2 0 – 3

1st Period-1, Manchester, Sabourin 6 (Andreoff, Schultz), 19:33. Penalties-Doherty Wor (checking to the head), 3:01; Burt Mch (holding), 7:10; Backman Mch (holding the stick), 9:31; Weal Mch (hooking), 13:38; Demelo Wor (tripping), 16:13.

2nd Period-2, Manchester, Kitsyn 1 (Bishop, Bodnarchuk), 12:41. Penalties-Campbell Mch (tripping), 8:15; Kearns Wor (interference), 9:05.

3rd Period-3, Worcester, Tennyson 1 (Kearns, Comrie), 4:11 (PP). 4, Worcester, Schwartz 2 (Kearns, Demelo), 6:54. Penalties-Weal Mch (double minor – high-sticking), 0:47.

OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties

Shootout – Manchester 1 (Andreoff NG, Kozun G, Weal NG, Deslauriers NG, Sabourin NG), Worcester 2 (DaSilva G, Livingston NG, Brace NG, Stalberg G).
Shots on Goal-Manchester 5-10-5-0-0-20. Worcester 8-14-8-1-1-32.
Power Play Opportunities-Manchester 0 / 3; Worcester 1 / 6.
Goalies-Manchester, Berube 4-2-1 (31 shots-29 saves). Worcester, Grosenick 4-2-0 (20 shots-18 saves).
A-2,711
Referees-Jarrod Ragusin (54), Pierre Lambert (39).
Linesmen-Robert St. Lawrence (10), Scott Whittemore (96).

WorSharks silence Sound Tigers with 2-1 shootout win

The Worcester Sharks outhit, outshot, outfought, and basically out-everythinged the Bridgeport Sound Tigers but still found themselves outscored until Taylor Doherty blasted an absolute bomb that found the back of the net early in the third period to get the WorSharks back to even, where rookie goaltender Troy Grosenick kept them with several big saves and then was perfect in the shootout as Worcester defeated Bridgeport 2-1 in front of 3,305 fans.

WorSharks defenseman Taylor Doherty notched the WorSharks only goal in regulation
but it led the way to a 2-1 shootout victory over Bridgeport on Saturday
File photo courtesy of TEAMSHRED

For video highlights we point to AHLlive.com, mostly because the YouTube videos have the audio of the Sound Tigers, and WorSharks radioman Eric Lindquist’s call of the fights is great.

Scratches for the WorSharks were Konrad Abeltshauser, Sena Acolatse (lower body), Lane Scheidl (knee), Sebastian Stalberg, Daniil Tarasov (groin), and Marek Viedensky. Harri Sateri was the backup goaltender.

If there’s anyone out there that thinks extending the current five minute overtime period to ten minutes won’t result in less shootouts all they need to do is check out the following stat: The WorSharks and Sound Tigers combined for 13 shots in the 20 minute third period and 12 in the five minute four-on-four overtime stanza. If it wasn’t for several big saves by Grosenick and Bridgeport netminder Kenny Reiter in overtime there would have been a winner in the extra period. Five more minutes would have most certainly led to a game winning goal.

In hockey, there’s a time to fight and a time to just take a number. Bridgeport rookie defenseman Scott Mayfield hopefully learned that lesson last night when after deciding he’d had enough Eriah Hayes dropped the gloves with Hayes along the far half boards in the Sound Tigers zone. The only problem with that was 130 feet away Bridgeport winger Kirill Kabanov was heading in all alone on Grosenick for a breakaway. Not only did referee Trevor Hanson’s whistle stop that scoring chance but it also put the Sound Tigers down a man when Mayfield picked up an extra two for roughing.

For the first time since their 4-3 loss to Abbotsford on February 27, 2010 Worcester wasn’t shorthanded in a game as despite handing out 52 minutes in penalties referee Hanson didn’t call a single WorSharks player for a power play educing penalty despite Team Teal having too many men on the ice more than a couple times. Worcester was 0-3 with the man advantage. (Because this writer was unable to dig up the last time Worcester didn’t to kill a penalty Ian Healy of hockeyfights.com jumped into the breach and found the info.)

As this writer also noted on twitter (@210Darryl), I can’t recall a game where so many pucks were laying in the crease and no one could put it in the net. It was easily half a dozen. It also a good think that none appeared to go in and out of the net because the video replay system in apparently not working at the DCU center. That’s something that needs to be fix pronto.

Bracken Kearns started the season on fire, relatively speaking, but has gone pointless in his last six games and still doesn’t have an even strength goal in the current campaign. It looks to this writer like Kearns is trying too hard out there knowing he’s one of the very few legitimate goal scorers on the team. He really needs to just go out and play his game and not try to carry the entire squad on his back.

Even strength lines (courtesy of Michael Fornabaio of the Connecticut Post)
Schwartz-Kearns-DaSilva
Reid-Hamilton-Hayes
Gogol-Oleksuk-Livingston
Bonneau-Brace-Pelech

Davison-Tennyson
Comrie-Doherty
Petrecki-Demelo

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 4 Taylor Doherty (g)
2. BRI – 35 Kenny Reiter (37 saves)
3. WOR – 15 Brodie Reid (SO game winner)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Troy Grosenick.

BOXSCORE

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

1st Period-1, Bridgeport, Jackson 2 (Cornell, Strome), 13:58. Penalties-Johnson Bri (unsportsmanlike conduct, fighting), 2:07; Bonneau Wor (unsportsmanlike conduct, fighting), 2:07; Gallant Bri (unsportsmanlike conduct, fighting), 2:09; Pelech Wor (unsportsmanlike conduct, fighting), 2:09; Mayfield Bri (roughing, fighting), 3:37; Hayes Wor (fighting), 3:37; Halmo Bri (roughing), 8:56; Brace Wor (slashing), 8:56; Cornell Bri (holding), 15:46.

2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Kabanov Bri (hooking), 4:14.

3rd Period-2, Worcester, Doherty 1 (Schwartz, Hamilton), 4:47. Penalties-Diamond Bri (unsportsmanlike conduct), 3:11; Brace Wor (unsportsmanlike conduct), 3:11.

OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties

Shootout – Bridgeport 0 (Sim NG, Strome NG, Diamond NG, Sundstrom NG), Worcester 2 (DaSilva NG, Reid G, Livingston G).
Shots on Goal-Bridgeport 4-7-4-5-0-20. Worcester 13-9-9-7-1-39.
Power Play Opportunities-Bridgeport 0 / 0; Worcester 0 / 3.
Goalies-Bridgeport, Reiter 1-3-2 (38 shots-37 saves). Worcester, Grosenick 3-2-0 (20 shots-19 saves).
A-3,305
Referees-Trevor Hanson (47).
Linesmen-Todd Whittemore (70), Jack Millea (23).

WorSharks can’t get it done again in Manchester, lose 4-1

The Worcester Sharks took their modest three game points streak an hour north to the Granite State where they have had little success in the recent past, and in a game that was slightly less than the irresistible force meeting the immovable object the WorSharks dropped a 4-1 contest to the Manchester Monarchs at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire in front of 3,741 fans. Worcester has only a single point in its last seven games against Manchester.

Scratches for Worcester were Sena Acolatse, Jimmy Bonneau (leg), Lane Scheidl (knee), Matt Pelech, Nick Petrecki, and Daniil Tarasov (groin). Troy Grosenik was the backup goaltender. Earlier this week the WorSharks dipped into the ECHL and signed former “Crazed Rats” winger Dan DaSilva to a PTO. DaSilva is expected to add some scoring punch to the otherwise lackluster Worcester lineup. Friday night he was lined up with Bracken Kearns and Freddie Hamilton, and it was a “not so good” night for the line as they were pointless and finished a whopping (-3) each.

Speaking of Kearns, a look at the video highlights shows a pretty poor penalty shot attempt. This writer has no idea what Kearns was thinking there, and it might be safe to say Kearns doesn’t know what he was thinking either. If you look at it, that one shot is a microcosm of Worcester’s season so far–full of promise, poor execution, and a slightly less than spectacular outcome.

Giving up goals has been a big issue for Worcester this season, and it happened again in Manchester when Worcester gave up a goal on the Monarchs first shot at 3:54 of the first period. The WorSharks then did it again when Manchester scored on the first shot of the second period (at 1:46) to take a 2-1 lead. Worcester does not have the weapons to come from behind, so perhaps head coach Roy Sommer might want to find a way for his team to stop falling behind early in periods and games?

The three stars of the game were
1. MCH – 25 Scott Sabourin (g,a)
2. MCH – 21 Mike Ullrich (g)
3. MCH – 35 Jean-Francois Berube (22 saves)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Curt Gogol.

BOXSCORE

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

1st Period-1, Manchester, Backman 3 (Sabourin, Burt), 3:54. 2, Worcester, Gogol 2 (Brace, Hayes), 7:22. Penalties-No Penalties

2nd Period-3, Manchester, Ullrich 1 (Bishop, Bodnarchuk), 1:46. Penalties-Davison Wor (roughing), 7:19; Burt Mch (roughing), 7:19; Demelo Wor (roughing, fighting), 9:53; Bishop Mch (boarding, fighting), 9:53; Deslauriers Mch (double minor – high-sticking), 19:03.

3rd Period-4, Manchester, Sabourin 3 (Campbell, Forbort), 7:21. 5, Manchester, Kozun 5 (Deslauriers), 17:20. Penalties-Oleksuk Wor (hooking), 5:06; Gogol Wor (roughing), 10:07; Andreoff Mch (roughing, unsportsmanlike conduct), 10:07.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 4-12-7-23. Manchester 5-7-9-21.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0 / 3; Manchester 0 / 1.
Goalies-Worcester, Sateri 3-7-0 (21 shots-17 saves). Manchester, Berube 3-2-0 (23 shots-22 saves).
A-3,741
Referees-Trevor Hanson (47).
Linesmen-Joe Andrews (32), Landon Bathe (80).

Sateri wins battle of Finnish goaltenders; WorSharks defeat IceCaps 2-1

The Worcester Sharks didn’t get many pucks past St. Johns IceCaps rookie goaltender Jussi Olkinuora, but for the second game in a row WorSharks netminder Harri Sateri took what little advantage Team Teal could give him and turned it into another two points after grabbing a 2-1 shootout win Saturday night at the Mile One Centre in St. John’s, Newfoundland in front of a sellout crowd of 6,287. The win gave Worcester five of a possible six points in their three game series at The Rock.

Worcester forward Brodie Reid beats IceCaps goaltender Jussi Olkinuora in the fourth round of the shootout.
St. John's captain Jason Jaffray would misfire on the next attempt to give the WorSharks the 2-1 win.
Photo courtesy of the ST. JOHN'S ICECAPS

Scratches for the WorSharks were Konrad Abeltshauser, Jimmy Bonneau (leg), Lane Scheidl (knee), Nick Petrecki, and Daniil Tarasov (unknown). The backup goaltender was Troy Grosenick. Good news from Newfoundland yesterday was Tarasov’s injury was not considered serious and he should be back in the line-up next Friday in Manchester. There are whispers that Bonneau, who suffered a serious skate cut to his leg in Springfield on October 26th, will also be back soon.

The win gave Worcester two wins in a row for the first time since defeating Portland on March 10th and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on March 13th of last season. That was also the last time the WorSharks earned five out of a possible six points as those two wins came after a shootout loss to Providence on March 9th. Sateri was the netminder during that streak.

Not only did Worcester and the IceCaps get to see each other three games in a row, but they also got to see referees David Banfield and Keith Kaval officiate in each game. This writer is not a fan of referees officiating consecutive games for the same team–never mind three in a row–because players are often penalized because of things that transpired in previous games. That happened several times in Saturday’s opening period as only six minutes were played at even strength. We won’t get into the fact that the first five minors were calls against Worcester and then the next six were called on St. John’s because one would think that was almost impossible.

Speaking of penalties, IceCaps pest Blair Riley was called for interference at 3:06 of the third period in what was clearly a check to the back of the head of WorSharks captain Rob Davison. It will be interesting to see if the AHL issues some supplementary discipline to him considering the video of the hit should be very clear.

It was the fourth time in Worcester Sharks history that the team played in three consecutive overtime games, which is one short of the team record four set in January of 2009. It was the first time the IceCaps had ever had three in a row go to the extra session.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 35 Harri Sateri (24 save win)
2. STJ – 31 Jussi Olkinuora (32 saves)
3. WOR – 21 Travis Oleksuk (gtg)

The Sharkspage player of the game was Sebastian Stalberg.

BOXSCORE

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

1st Period-1, St. John’s, Samson 6 (Jaffray, Albert), 3:25 (PP). Penalties-Gogol Wor (cross-checking, fighting), 2:29; Pelech Wor (fighting), 2:29; Chiarot Stj (fighting), 2:29; Riley Stj (fighting), 2:29; Kearns Wor (boarding, unsportsmanlike conduct, misconduct – unsportsmanlike conduct), 5:05; Davison Wor (slashing), 9:16; Acolatse Wor (cross-checking), 11:49; Riley Stj (tripping), 14:20; Lipon Stj (slashing), 16:50.

2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Cormier Stj (slashing), 9:18; Klingberg Stj (holding), 12:14.

3rd Period-2, Worcester, Oleksuk 1 (Stalberg, Comrie), 7:49. Penalties-Riley Stj (interference), 3:06; O’Neill Stj (high-sticking), 15:40.

OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties

Shootout – Worcester 2 (Livingston NG, Oleksuk G, Stalberg NG, Reid G), St. John’s 1 (Samson NG, O’Dell G, Mouillierat NG, Gordon NG, Jaffray NG).
Shots on Goal-Worcester 8-13-7-5-1-34. St. John’s 10-7-7-1-0-25.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0 / 6; St. John’s 1 / 5.
Goalies-Worcester, Sateri 3-6-0 (25 shots-24 saves). St. John’s, Olkinuora 0-2-1 (33 shots-32 saves).
A-6,287
Referees-David Banfield (77), Keith Kaval (40).
Linesmen-Justin Day (79), Joe Maynard (24).