Worcester allows 11 shots on goal and still loses

Less than 24 hours after ending their seven game losing streak, the Worcester Sharks were defeated 2-1 by the Springfield Falcons (AHL affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets) at the DCU Center Sunday afternoon despite allowing only 11 shots on goal.

Sharks forward John McCarthy had the lone goal for the Sharks, who are one point out of last place in the Eastern Conference, while goaltender Harri Sateri made nine saves.

“They had four chances, and they score on two of them,” said Sharks head coach Roy Sommer in a post game interview with Bill Ballou of Telegram.com.  “The puck was hardly in our end all night.  What are you gonna do?  I’m stumped.”

After a scoreless first period, the Falcons took a 1-0 lead at 3:29 of the second period when forward Jack Skille skated down the left side and beat Sateri glove side with a quick snap shot from just in front of the face-off dot inside the left circle.

McCarthy tied the game at 12:18 when he corralled a loose puck in the neutral zone, skated down the left side and fired a quick shot from the left face-off dot that beat Falcons goaltender Jeremy Smith for his second goal of the season.  Sharks forward Travis Oleksuk and rookie defenseman Konrad Abeltshauser was credited with the assists on the goal, which was McCarthy’s first for the Sharks since Oct. 19, 2013.

Skille set up the eventual game-winning-goal nearly five minutes later when he skated into the Sharks zone along the left side, out waited Sateri (who came out of his crease early thinking shot) and centered the puck back for a trailing Jean-Francois Jacques, who fired the puck into an open net for his 10th goal of the season.

Despite out-shooting the Falcons 9-1 in the third period and having a power play opportunity inside the final six minutes of the period, the Sharks couldn’t get the tying goal past Smith, who finished with 28 saves.

NOTES… Final shots on goal were 29-11 in favor of the Sharks… The Sharks went 0-for-2 on the power play and 1-for-1 on the penalty kill… Sateri is now 13-20-1 with a 3.11 goals-against-average and .885 save percentage… Sharks forward Daniil Tarasov had a game high five shots on goal… The Sharks have been outscored 38-13 in their last nine games (1-8-0-0)… The Sharks have outshot their opponents 177-99 over their last five games (1-4-0-0) but have a shooting percentage of 5.2 while the oppositions is 16.2 (via Ballou)… Oleksuk has a three game point streak (2-1-3)… Sharks forward Bracken Kearns fought Falcons defenseman Will Weber at the end of the second period… This was the fifth of six meetings between the Sharks and Falcons… The Sharks are 2-3-0-0 against the Falcons, 12-12-0-1 at the DCU Center and 24-27-3-1 with 52 points overall… The Sharks kick off the first of three consecutive three-in-three weekends on March 7 when they travel to play their Atlantic Division rival the Providence Bruins at 7pm/et.

THREE STARS
1.  Jack Skille – Falcons (1-1-2)
2.  John McCarthy – Sharks (1-0-1)
3.  Jean-Francois Jacques – Falcons (1-0-1, GWG)

LINES
Tarasov / Kearns (A) / Hamilton
Gourde / Oleksuk / McCarthy
Scheidl / Viedensky / Livingston
Bonneau (A) / Schwartz / Hayes

DEFENSE
Abeltshauser / Doherty
Petrecki / DeMelo
Davison (C) / Comrie

GOALIES
Sateri
Grosenick

SCRATCHES
Rau
Reid
Acolatse (inj)
Anderson (inj)
DaSilva (inj)
Pelech (inj)
Tennyson (sjs)
Stalberg (ont)