Worcester Sharks goaltender Troy Grosenick made 34 saves, including 15 in the third period, as the Sharks defeated their Atlantic Division rival the Providence Bruins (AHL affiliate of the Boston Bruins) 3-1 Sunday afternoon at the Dunkin Donuts Center.
The Sharks, who are undefeated against Providence this season (5-0-0), got goals from forwards Riley Brace, Jeremy Langlois and Chris Tierney while defenseman Taylor Fedun dished out two assists.
Brace put the Sharks ahead 1-0 at 15:14 of the first period when he found a loose puck on top of the crease and beat Providence goaltender Malcolm Subban with a quick shot for his second goal of the season. Sharks defenseman Matt Taormina had the lone assist on the goal as it was his center point slap shot that hit Brace in front.
Langlois extended the lead to 2-0 at 14:25 of the second period when he finished off a give-and-go with linemate Bryan Lerg by splitting the Providence defense into the slot, skated across the crease and beat Subban with a deke move for his ninth goal of the season. Fedun had the secondary assist on the goal.
Just two-and-a-half minutes later, Tierney made it 3-0 when he found a rebound on top of the crease and fired the puck past Subban for his third goal of the season. Sharks forward Willie Coetzee and Fedun had the assists on the goal, which extended Tierney’s to three games.
Providence ended Grosenick’s shutout bid at 1:09 of the third period when forward Justin Florek skated behind the Sharks net, turned and beat Grosenick with a quick snap shot from deep inside the right circle for his sixth goal of the season.
Though Providence seized momentum for several minutes following Florek’s goal and outshot the Sharks 16-7 in the period, Grosenick made sure there wasn’t an encore of what happened the night before in Springfield.
NOTES… Shots on goal were 35-35 a piece… The Sharks went 0-for-2 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill… Grosenick is now 10-6-3 with a 2.83 goals-against-average and .899 save percentage… Tierney had a team high five shots on goal and has three points (2-1-3) during his three game point streak… Prior to the game, Sharks forward Freddie Hamilton was recalled to San Jose while forward Micheal Haley was reassigned… This was the fifth of 12 meetings between the Sharks and Providence this season… The Sharks are 5-0-0 against Providence, 6-8-2 on the road and 14-14-5 with 33 points overall… The Sharks are back in action Jan. 9 as they host the Binghamton Senators at 7:30pm/et.
THREE STARS
1. Troy Grosenick – Sharks (34 saves, Win)
2. Taylor Fedun – Sharks (0-2-0)
3. Jeremy Langlois – Sharks (1-0-0)
LINES
Lerg (C) / Trupp / Langlois
Tarasov / Tierney / Coetzee
Hanson / Oleksuk / Hayes
Bonneau / Brace / Carpenter
DEFENSE
Taormina (A) / Jones
Abeltshauser / DeMelo
Young / Fedun
GOALIES
Grosenick
Anderson
SCRATCHES
Blazek
Haley (trv)
Burish (inj)
Doherty (inj)
Emanuelsson (inj)
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