Brodie Reid scored the game-winning-goal at 11:56 of the third period, Tim Kennedy had a two point night to extend his point streak to eight games and Harri Sateri made 21 saves for his fourth win in a row as the Worcester Sharks scored two times in the third period to stun the Manchester Monarchs 3-2 Sunday afternoon at the Verizon Wireless Arena. Bracken Kearns added two assists and captain John McCarthy also scored for the Sharks, who took sole possession of first place of the Atlantic Division with the win.
Despite out-shooting the Monarchs 17-8 in the first period, the Sharks found themselves trailing after 20-minutes of play as Monarchs alternate captain Thomas Hickey fired a blast from the point that got through a screen in front and beat Sateri over the glove at 5:24 of the first period for a 5-on-3 power play goal, his first goal of the season.
In the second period, the Sharks outshot the Monarchs 17-5 and tied the game at 15:47 when Kennedy showed off his puck handling skills with a sweet deek and found a wide open McCarthy at the side of the Monarchs net for McCarthy’s third goal of the season. Kearns was credited with the secondary assist on the goal.
With 50-seconds remaining in the period, the Monarchs regained the lead when Dwight King deflected a Bryan Rodney wrist shot from the point past Sateri’s glove for his third goal of the season.
After several huge stops by Sateri early in the third period to keep it a one goal game, highlighted by a breakaway save on Monarchs rookie Tanner Pearson, Kennedy found room at the side of the Monarchs net on a Sharks power play and stuffed home his team leading 12th goal of the season at 8:28. Kearns and Reid were credited with the assists on the goal.
Reid put the Sharks ahead 3-2 with his third goal of the season at 11:56 when he roofed a laser of a snap shot from the right side for his fourth goal of the season. James Sheppard and Mike Brennan were credited with the assists on the goal. The Monarchs pulled goaltender Peter Mannino with 26-seconds remaining in the period for the extra attacker but center Linden Vey was called for tripping at 19:47 to seal a Sharks win.
NOTES: Shots were 43-23 in favor of the Sharks… The Sharks went 1-for-6 on the power play and 3-for-4 on the penalty kill… Sateri is now 4-4-0-1 with a 3.23 goals-against-average and .894 save percentage… Kennedy now has 14 points (7-7-14) during his eight game point streak and is third in AHL scoring with 26 points (12-14-26)… The Sharks won for an AHL leading fifth time when trailing after two periods… The Sharks won for the seventh time in their last eight road games… James Livingston dropped the gloves with Andy Andreoff at 10:36 of the first period for his first fight of the season while Matt Pelech dropped the gloves with Richard Clune nearly eight minutes later for his sixth fight of the season… With the two fights, the Sharks now have 32 through 23 games… Jimmy Bonneau (scr), Brandon Mashinter (scr), Curt Gogol (scr), Taylor Doherty (inj), Nick Petrecki (inj) and Danny Groulx (inj) did not dress for the Sharks… This was the fourth of 12 meetings between the the teams this season.. The Sharks are 3-1-0-0 against the Monarchs this season, 9-3-1-1 against the Atlantic Division, 7-4-0-1 on the road and 12-8-1-2 with 27 points overall.
Three Stars
1. Brodie Reid – Sharks (1-1-2, GWG)
2. Tim Kennedy – Sharks (1-1-2)
3. Bryan Rodney – Monarchs (0-2-2)
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