Harri Sateri made 37 saves and stopped all five shots he faced in the shootout as the Worcester Sharks defeated the Portland Pirates 2-1 Saturday night at Cumberland County Civic Center. Sebastian Stalberg had the lone Sharks goal in regulation while Marek Viedensky was the only player to score in the shootout. With the win, the Sharks jumped to ninth place in the AHL Eastern Conference standings and trail the Connecticut Whale by one point for the eighth seed.
Stalberg put the Sharks up 1-0 at 17:42 of the first period when he slammed home a loose rebound past Pirates goaltender Chad Johnson, who was making his first start since suffering an injury back on February 15, for a power play goal. Sharks defensemen Adam Comrie and Matt Tennyson were credited with the assists on the goal, which was Stalberg’s eighth of the season and second in his last three games.
The Pirates tied the game at 4:19 of the second period when right winger Phil Lane finished off a 3-on-1 rush by blasting a one-timer off an across-the-crease pass from linemate Darian Dziurzynski past Sateri for his eighth goal of the season. The Pirates had a golden opportunity to runaway with the game as they went on four consecutive power plays in the period following Lane’s goal but Sateri stood tall in net by making 15 saves as the Sharks were outshot 16-7.
Sateri remained in the zone in the third period as he turned aside all 12 Pirates shots on goal to force overtime. In overtime, the Sharks outshot the Pirates 5-0 and had a chance to win the game with a power play opportunity at 2:54 but couldn’t get the puck past Johnson.
In the shootout, Viedensky scored the first goal in the fourth round to put the Sharks up 1-0. Pirates captain Alexandre Bolduc had a chance to extend the shootout but wasn’t able to get the puck past Sateri.
NOTES: Shots were 38-33 in favor of the Pirates… The Sharks went 1-for-4 on the power play and 5-for-5 on the penalty kill… Sateri won his ninth road game of the season and is now 11-11-2 with a 2.61 goals-against-average and .912 save percentage… Sharks rookie Daniil Tarasov had a game high nine shots on goal… Stalberg’s goal was his fourth power play goal of the season… The win was the Sharks’ first in Portland since a 3-2 overtime win back on Dec. 26, 2011… Mike Brennan (inj), Brodie Reid (inj), Tommy Grant (scr) and Denny Urban (scr) did not dress for the Sharks… This was the 11th of 12 meetings between the teams this season… The Sharks are 5-5-0-1 against the Pirates this season, 12-11-1-4 against the Atlantic Division, 16-12-0-2 on the road and 26-22-1-5 with 58 points overall.
Three Stars
1. Harri Sateri – Sharks (37 saves, 5-for-5 in the shootout, WIN)
2. Chad Johnson – Pirates (31 saves, loss)
3. Marek Viedensky – Sharks (Shootout GWG)
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