Last week, the Worcester Sharks concluded their season long six game home stand at the DCU Center by playing in their first three-in-three of the season. Unfortunately, the Sharks lost two-of-three to finish up the home stand with a 1-4-0-1 record and saw their overall record fall to 5-4-0-2 with 12 points.
On Friday afternoon, the Sharks hosted the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in their second meeting of the season and skated away with a 3-2 victory. John McCarthy, Cam MacIntyre and Brodie Reid all scored for the Sharks while goalie Harri Sateri stopped 23-of-25 shots for his third win of the season. Matt Irwin had two assists and was the only Shark to have a multi-point game.
At 8:32 of the first period, McCarthy gave the Sharks an early 1-0 lead with his first goal of the season as the Sharks were short-handed by two men with Taylor Doherty serving a double minor for high sticking and Benn Ferriero serving a slashing penalty.
With the puck inside the Sharks zone, Sound Tigers defenseman Ty Wishart misplayed the puck at the blue line of the Sharks zone and McCarthy won the race to the lose the puck in the neutral zone. Corralling the puck, McCarthy skated into the Sound Tigers zone along the left boards 2-on-1 with Irwin, and from the left face-off circle dot, McCarthy fired a quick shot on net that beat Sound Tigers goalie Anders Nilsson glove side for the goal.
Sound Tigers forward David Ullstrom tied the game at 1-1 at 18:25 of the first period with his eighth goal of the season just seconds after coming out of the penalty box for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Corralling a long stretch pass in the Sharks zone from Sound Tigers forward Casey Cizikas, Ullstrom fired a quick shot on net from the left face-off circle dot that went off the glove of Sateri and past him for the goal.
In the second period, fireworks erupted as Sharks captain Mike Moore dropped the gloves with Sound Tigers Michael Haley. After a brief delay due to a power outage, MacIntyre scored his third goal of the season at 7:48 to give the Sharks a 2-1 lead. With a face-off inside the Sound Tigers zone, McCarthy won the face-off inside the left face-off circle and got the puck back to Irwin, who fired a slap shot on net from the top of the point that was deflected in front by MacIntyre for the goal.
Early in the third period, Reid extended his goal scoring streak to two games as he scored his second goal of the season at 4:43 to extend the Sharks’ lead to 3-1. With the puck inside the Sharks zone, Ferriero blocked Sound Tigers defenseman Dylan Reese‘s shot from the point and Reid corralled the loose puck in the neutral zone. Rushing along the left side into the Sound Tigers zone 2-on-2 with Ferriero, Reid used Ferriero as a decoy and fired a quick shot on net from on top of the left face-off circle that beat Nilsson top shelf on the glove side for the insurance goal.
Sound Tigers forward Nino Niederreiter scored his first goal of the season at 17:01 to pull the Sound Tigers to within a goal. With the puck inside the Sharks zone, Sound Tigers forward Trevor Frischmon, who was positioned along the right side near wall, got the puck to Niederreiter, who used the traffic in front as a screen and fired a quick shot on net from just inside the face-off circle in the right slot that beat Sateri top shelf for the goal.
With 90 seconds remaining in the game and still down 3-2, the Sound Tigers pulled Nilsson for an extra skater but Sateri held the Sound Tigers at bay.
For the game, the Sharks outshot the Sound Tigers 29-25, were 0-for-3 with the man advantage and 5-for-5 on the penalty kill… Tony Lucia {scr}, Ben Guite {inj}, Matt Pelech {scr} and Ryan Del Monte {inj} did not dress for the Sharks.
As a special bonus, here are Doherty, Curt Gogol, Nathan Moon and Sena Acolatse at the 5 & Diner on November 9 courtesy of the Sharks Vision YouTube channel.
On Saturday night, the Sharks hosted the Manchester Monarchs in their second meeting of the season and were defeated 2-1. Tommy Wingels scored the lone goal for the Sharks and goalie Tyson Sexsmith stopped 23-of-25 shots in the loss.
At 6:47 of the first period, Wingels gave the Sharks an early 1-0 lead with his first goal of the season. With the puck inside the Sharks zone, Wingels chipped the puck by Monarchs defenseman Slava Voynov, who was positioned on the blue line of the Sharks zone. Wingels corralled the puck and rushed into the Monarchs zone along the left side, and from inside the left face-off circle, Wingels sent a saucer pass over to Connolly, whose backhand attempt from inside the right face-off circle was deflected by Monarchs forward Andrei Loktionov. The puck deflected to Wingels at the left side of the goalie crease, and Wingels knocked the puck down with his body and banged the puck past Monarchs goalie Jeff Zatkoff from on top of the goalie crease for the goal.
After Wingels’ goal, fireworks began erupting between the two teams as Monarchs forward Justin Johnson began taking runs at various Sharks players in an attempt to engage them in a fight. First Johnson ran at Doherty and then at Sharks forward Brandon Mashinter.
Later in the period, Johnson was on the ice at the same time as Sharks forward Frazer McLaren, who was sent to Worcester on a conditioning assignment early Saturday morning by San Jose and was playing in his first game since April 9. Johnson began agitating McLaren in an attempt to get him to fight but Gogol stepped in-between them. McLaren moved to the right face-off circle dot to take the face-off inside the Sharks zone and Johnson kicked Monarchs forward Cam Paddock out of the face-off circle to take the face-off himself.
Johnson didn’t even attempt to go for the puck as he began pushing McLaren once the referee dropped the puck. Johnson dropped his gloves to fight McLaren but McLaren covered up as he never wanted to fight. As McLaren was on the ice, Johnson began throwing punches and when McLaren came up, he started firing back with punches of his own. Despite Johnson instigating the whole incident, he was only assessed a fighting major along with McLaren and an extra two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct.
The fireworks carried over into the second period as just two minutes in, Mashinter tracked down and manhandled Monarchs forward Jordan Nolan at center ice after Nolan took a run at Ferriero. Sharks defenseman Sean Sullivan and Monarchs defenseman Andrew Campbell were going to fight as well but were stopped after the referees told them they would get a game misconduct for the secondary altercation. Mashinter was assessed an extra two minutes for roughing in addition to his five minutes for fighting along with Nolan.
The fireworks continued at 4:42 as Acolatse engaged in his first professional fight. With a face-off inside the Sharks zone in the right face-off circle, Johnson came off the bench to get on the ice with Gogol, who was having words with Monarchs forward Richard Clune. The referee took took Johnson back to the bench and Gogol was called back to the Sharks bench by head coach Roy Sommer. MacIntyre lined up next to Clune for the face-off and after the puck was dropped, Clune ran at Reid, who was positioned on the left side boards. Acolatse came in and landed over a dozen right hand shots in the scrap that left Clune a bloody mess around the face/nose area and appeared to knock out a few teeth. Acolatse received a standing ovation from the DCU crowd and a pat on the back from Mashinter in the penalty box.
At 19:00, Monarchs forward Justin Azevedo tied the game at 1-1 with his fourth goal of the season. Corralling a neutral zone pass from Monarchs forward Dwight King in the Sharks zone along the left half boards, Monarchs forward Linden Vey fired a cross zone pass to Azevedo, who fired a quick shot on net from the right face-off circle dot that beat Sexsmith glove side for the goal.
Voynov gave the Monarchs a 2-1 lead at 3:16 of the third period with his second goal of the season, which held up as the game winning goal. With the puck inside the Sharks zone, Monarchs captain Marc-Andre Cliche passed the puck along the right side boards out to Voynov, who fired a bullet of a shot from the top of the right point that beat Sexsmith top shelf for the goal.
Midway through the period, controversy ensued as the Sharks thought they had tied the game at 2-2 on their power play opportunity but the officials ruled otherwise. With the puck inside the Monarchs zone, Moore centered the puck from inside the left face-off circle to Reid, who was positioned in the slot between the face-off circles. Reid quickly one-timed the puck and the Sharks thought the shot beat Zatkoff but the referee behind the net ruled it went off the post. The fans behind the goal net thought it was a goal as did the Sharks players and Eric Lindquist. For the remainder of the game, the DCU crowd chanted, “Refs you suck.”
In the closing 95 seconds of the third period, the Sharks pulled Sexsmith for an extra skater and after over a minute of offensive pressure in the Monarchs zone, the Monarchs cleared the puck and McCarthy was called for a tripping penalty with 22 seconds remaining in the game.
For the game, the sharks outshot the Monarchs 47-25 {23-5 in the third period}, went 0-for-6 with the man advantage and 5-for-5 on the penalty kill… Lucia {scr}, Guite {inj}, Pelech {scr}, Del Monte {scr} and Jimmy Bonneau {scr} did not dress for Worcester… Bill Ballou of the Worcester Telegram and Gazette reported that Guite is out with a broken foot while Del Monte has a charley horse from the Patrice Cormier hit… This was the 50th all-time meeting between the teams and the Sharks hold a 26-21-3 edge {courtesy of www.sharksahl.com}.
As a bonus, here are the fights from the game, courtesy of YouTube user “JimKorn20.” I have no idea how he got the fights in such clear quality.
On Sunday afternoon, the Sharks hosted the Providence Bruins in their third meeting of the season and were defeated 3-2. Ferriero and McCarthy scored for the Sharks while Sateri stopped 23-of-26 shots in the loss.
Fireworks erupted midway through the first period as Gogol dropped the gloves with Bruins forward Jamie Tardif inside the the Sharks zone. As the teams lined up for a face-off, Tardiff speared McLaren, which Gogol took offense to, and Bruins forward Max Sauve followed by giving McLaren a shove, which resulted in a 10 player scrum up where Gogol engaged in a spirited back-and-forth scrap with Tardif.
At 4:41 of the second period, Bruins forward Zach Hamill gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead with his sixth goal of the season. Bruins defenseman Zach McKelvie carried the puck behind the Sharks net and from the right side of the goalie crease, sent a pass across to Hamill, who was positioned on the left side of the goalie crease. With three players inside the goalie crease, Hamill quickly stuffed the puck inside the left post for the goal.
Ferriero answered back for the Sharks with his third goal of the season at 10:08 to tie the game at 1-1. Wingels rushed into the Bruins zone along the right side and from on top of the right face-off circle, Wingels centered the puck to Connolly, who was positioned just inside the left face-off circle in the slot. Connolly fired a quick shot on net that Bruins goalie Anton Khudobin stopped but Ferriero, who was trailing the play and positioned himself on top of the goalie crease, knocked in the loose puck for the goal.
Bruins defenseman Kevan Miller regained the Bruins lead heading into the second intermission with his first goal of the season at 18:37. Corralling the puck inside the Sharks zone, Ferriero attempted to skate out with the puck but turned it over at the right point of the blue line to Bruins forward Calle Ridderwall, who fired the puck down to Miller at the right side goal line. Miller cut in front of Sexsmith all alone and beat Sexsmith with a backhanded shot through the pads for the goal.
McCarthy tied the game at 2-2 with his second goal of the season at 9:47 of the third period. Breaking out of the Sharks zone, Sullivan rushed into the Bruins zone down the left side 2-on-2 with Lucia. Skating into the left face-off circle dot, Sullivan used Lucia as a decoy and passed the puck back to the trailing McCarthy, who one-timed the puck from on top of the face-off circles in the slot that beat Khudobin blocker side for the goal.
Just 17 seconds later, Bruins forward Carter Camper regained the Bruins lead with his fourth goal of the season, which held up as the game winning goal. On the ensuing face-off after McCarthy’s goal, the Bruins got the puck inside the Sharks zone, where Hamill won a puck battle along the right half boards. From inside the right face-off circle, Hamill sent a cross zone pass to Bruins defenseman Andrew Bodnarchuk, who corralled the puck at the top of the left point at the blue line and fired a slap shot on net that was deflected in front by Camper past the glove Sateri for the goal.
Sateri was pulled in the final 89 seconds for an extra skater but the Sharks couldn’t score the tying goal despite out-shooting the Bruins 21-10 in the third period. The closest the Sharks came was a blue line slap shot by Sullivan that Khudobin stopped with his toe at the last possible second in the final 10 seconds.
For the game, the Sharks outshot the Bruins 49-26, went 0-for-4 with the man advantage and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill… The Sharks are 0-for-19 on the power play in their last four games but are 19-for-19 on the penalty kill… Each team was assessed 39 penalty minutes… Moore was knocked out of the game midway through the first period after being boarded by Bruins forward Kirk MacDonald and Ballou reported that Moore has suffered a head injury but the amount of time he may miss is unknown… James Livingston {scr}, Guite {inj}, Pelech {scr}, Del Monte {inj} and Bonneau {scr} did not dress for the Sharks… After 11 games, the Sharks are 17th in the AHL on the power play at 17.3%, fourth on the penalty kill at 86.5% and first in penalty minutes at 23.2 per game… For the three-in-three, the Sharks fired 125 shots on net and scored six goals.
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