Woo Rewind – Sharks point streak reaches six games

Playing their second set of back-to-back games last week, the Worcester Sharks extended their point streak to six games by earning three-out-of-four points and improved their record to 4-0-0-2 with 10 points.

The Sharks’ two-in-two started Friday night at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, CT, where the Sharks played the host Bridgeport Sound Tigers in their first meeting of the season and skated away with a 3-2 overtime victory.

Mike Moore, Mike Connolly and Sean Sullivan all scored for the Sharks and goalie Harri Sateri stopped 33-of-35 shots for his second win of the season. Connolly {1-1-2} was the only Shark to have a multi-point game.

Just 2:06 into the game, fireworks erupted as Sharks forward Cam MacIntyre dropped the gloves with Sound Tigers forward Steve Oleksy, who was playing in his first AHL game after playing five games with the Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL. The fight was MacIntyre’s second of the season and proved Moore wasn’t kidding when he said MacIntyre has “a great right hook.”

Moore scored his first goal of the season off a shorthanded rush at 11:09 of the first period to give the Sharks an early 1-0 lead. In the closing seconds of Sharks forward Ben Guite‘s high sticking penalty, Sharks forward Tommy Wingels stole the puck at the blue line of the Sharks zone and skated into the Sound Tigers zone 2-on-1 with linemate John McCarthy. From inside the lower face-off circle, Wingels fired a shot on net that was deflected by Sound Tigers defenseman {and former San Jose first round draft pick} Ty Wishart before reaching Sound Tigers goalie Mikko Koskinen. Moore jumped up on the play, gloved the puck down, fell down near the side of the goalie crease, got up, skated in front of the goalie crease, went backhand and put the puck past Koskinen for the goal.

A scary moment occurred for the Sharks just 56 seconds later at 12:05 when Sound Tigers forward Justin DiBenedetto purposely drilled Sharks rookie forward Nathan Moon from behind by skating across the ice to hit him.  The two were chirping at each other prior to the face-off outside the Sound Tigers zone and DiBenedetto came in from 15 feet away to hit Moon, who remained down on the ice in front of the penalty boxes for a couple of minutes before getting up on his own power.  Moon was able to continue playing but DiBenedetto was only assessed a two minute minor for boarding.

Late in the second period, the Sound Tigers tied it at 1-1 on a Tony Romano power play goal, his first goal of the season, at 19:37. On the tail end of Guite’s tripping penalty, the Sound Tigers won the face-off outside the Sharks zone in the lower face-off dot and Romano broke in 2-on-1 after taking a neutral zone pass from Sound Tigers forward Tim Wallace. Rushing down the right side, Romano fired a quick shot on net that beat Sateri top shelf for the goal.

At 7:22 of the third period, the Sound Tigers took a 2-1 lead on Wishart’s first goal of the season. From inside their own zone, Sound Tigers forward Tomas Marcinko fired an outlet pass to Sound Tigers captain Jeremy Colliton, who just stepped out of the penalty box, at center ice. Breaking in on Sateri 2-on-1 with linemate Trevor Frischmon, Colliton fired a shot on net from the lower face-off circle that Sateri easily stopped. However, Sateri cleared the puck right to Wishart and with the puck on his stick, Wishart fired a quick shot on net from inside the upper face-off circle that beat Sateri for the goal.

Nearly seven minutes later at 14:14, Connolly tied the game at 2-2 with his fifth goal of the season and extended his goal scoring streak to four games. With the puck inside the Sound Tigers zone, Sharks rookie forward James Livingston circled the wagon and passed the puck to McCarthy, who was positioned on the right side end board. McCarthy quickly got the puck back to Livingston, who fired a one-timer on net from the top of the point on the right side. Koskinen made the save but Connolly, who had positioned himself on top of the crease, was able to bang the puck into the open net for the tying goal.

At 3:30 of overtime, Moore thought he had won the game for the Sharks with his second goal of the game and season but after a brief discussion, the referees waived the goal off despite the puck crossing the goal line.  The Sharks broke into the Sound Tigers zone 3-on-2 and from the left side board, Connolly fed the puck to Moore, who was skating right down the middle of the slot.  Moore went forehand-to-backhand and put a shot on net before crashing into Koskinen and the goal net.  The puck crossed the goal line but the red light never went on.  The goal was waived off and was not reviewable as the AHL does not have replay to review goals.

In the final minute of overtime, Sullivan carried the puck into the Sound Tigers zone and got the puck to defensive partner Matt Irwin, who was positioned on the right side end board. Irwin centered the puck to Connolly, who was positioned on top of the goalie crease, but the puck bounced off of Connolly’s stick and went right to Sullivan, who fired a quick snap shot on net from just outside the right face-off circle that beat Koskinen for the game winning goal at 4:22. It was Sullivan’s second goal of the season, both of which have been game winners.

For the game, the Sharks outshot the Sound Tigers 35-31, were 0-for-3 with the man advantage and 3-for-4 on the penalty kill… Tony Lucia {scr}, Sena Acolatse {scr} and Marek Viedensky {inj} did not dress for the Sharks.

As a bonus, here is Sullivan discussing his overtime game winning goal with Eric Lindquist on the SharksVision YouTube channel.

On Saturday night, the Sharks were back home at the DCU Center to host the Connecticut Whale in their first meeting of the season and suffered their second loss of the season, 3-2, in a shootout.

MacIntyre and Irwin both scored for the Sharks while goalie Tyson Sexsmith stopped 27-of-29 shots in the loss. Even though his four game goal streak was snapped, Connolly did register the secondary assist on the Irwin goal and now has 10 points {five goals, five assists} in the Sharks’ first six games.

After 40 minutes of uneventful play that caused Eric Lindquist to say, “This game isn’t going to win any awards for most entertaining game of the season,” things picked up in the third period when Whale forward Andreas Thuresson scored his third goal of the season at 5:01 to give the Whale a 1-0 lead. Off a broken play inside the Sharks zone, the puck bounced off the stick of Sharks forward Jimmy Bonneau and went right to Thuresson, who fired a quick wrist shot on net from on top of the left face-off circle that surprised and beat Sexsmith for the goal.

40 seconds later, Moon dropped the gloves with Whale forward Scott Tanski behind Sexsmith’s net.  The fight was Moon’s second of the season and while neither combatant did much damage, Moon was attempting to inject some energy and life into the Sharks.

Several minutes later, the Sharks finally created some momentum inside the Whale zone with sustained pressure but a questionable goalie interference call on Sharks forward Brandon Mashinter by referee Chris Brown at 8:20 ended the Sharks attack. Alex Stalock, who was doing color commentary with Lindquist, also questioned the penalty, saying on air, “That’s a bad call.”

At 12:40 of the period, MacIntyre tied the game at 1-1 with his first goal of the season. As McCarthy battled against Whale forward Jared Nightingale in front of Whale goalie Chad Johnson, Wingels fired a shot on net from on top of the right face-off circle that Johnson stopped. McCarthy followed up with a second effort that was also stopped by Johnson but MacIntyre crashed the net for a rebound and put the puck into the open net for the goal while sliding down to the ice.

MacIntyre’s goal energized the Sharks as the offensive pressure generated by the Sharks’ ensuing shift caused Whale defenseman Stu Bickel to take a cross checking penalty. The offensive pressure carried over to the Sharks’ power play unit as they were relentless inside the Whale zone and created several excellent scoring chances.

Off a failed Whale clearing attempt, Sullivan was able to hold the puck in at the top of the right point, skated down to the top of the point, and passed the puck down to Irwin, who skated into the left face-off circle and fired a quick shot on net that beat Johnson glove side as Guite screened in front.  The goal was Irwin’s third of the season and gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead at 14:21.

With less than five minutes to go in the period, Acolatse was called for cross checking at 15:03. On the ensuing face-off inside the Sharks zone, the Whale won the draw and after several perimeter passes, Whale defenseman Brendan Bell fired a shot on net from the top of the left point that was deflected in front but Whale forward Andre Deveaux, who was on top of the goalie crease, ran into Sexsmith and put the loose puck into the open net for the tying goal at 15:21. The goal was Deveaux’s fourth of the season and caused Stalock to yell on commentary, “That’s goalie interference!” as there was more contact between Deveaux and Sexsmith than there was between Johnson and Mashinter.

In overtime, the Sharks had a golden opportunity to win the game after Nightingale was called for hooking but couldn’t capitalize with the man advantage.

In the shootout, the Whale elected to go first and Mats Zuccarello scored; Connolly was stopped by Johnson; Thuresson scored; Brodie Reid was stopped by Johnson; John Mitchell lost the puck before getting his shot off; Guite scored; Jonathan Audy-Marchessault was stopped by Sexsmith; Acolatse was stopped by Johnson; Bell was stopped by Sexsmith; Wingels scored to extend the shootout; Sean Avery scored; Mashinter was stopped by Johnson to seal the win for the Whale.

For the game, the Sharks were outshot 30-29, went 1-for-4 with the man advantage and were 5-for-6 on the penalty kill… The Sharks have had at least one fighting major in all six games… For the first time all season, the Sharks did not score the first goal of the game… The Sharks are fourth in the AHL on the power play at 26.7%, second on the penalty kill at 89.3%, first in win percentage at .833 and penalty minutes per game at 23.0 {courtesy of @210Darryl}… Tony Lucia {scr}, Matt Pelech {scr} and Marek Viedensky {inj} did not dress for the Sharks.