Worcester ends 2013 with loss in Adirondack

Continuing their five-game road trip, the Worcester Sharks were defeated 2-1 by the Adirondack Phantoms (AHL affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers) at the Glens Falls Civic Center on New Years Eve. Forward Marek Viedensky scored the lone goal for the Sharks while goaltender Harri Sateri made 29 saves.

“We’ve got to get more than one goal a game,” said Sharks head coach Roy Sommer in a post game interview with Bill Ballou of Telegram.com. “One goal – that’s not good enough. We had a lot of guys with chances, and they’ve got to bear down. They work – you’ve got to give them that, but trying doesn’t get you anything, not in pro sports.”

Despite a scoreless first period, there was plenty of action as the Sharks and Phantoms combined for four sets of fighting majors within the opening 11:30, beginning at 2:49 when Sharks forward Curt Gogol scrapped with Phantoms forward Matt Mengene.  At 11:15, Sharks enforcer Jimmy Bonneau fought Phantoms forward Zach Fitzgerald while Sharks defenseman Taylor Doherty fought Phantoms defenseman Steven Delisle (both Doherty and Delisle received game misconducts).  Just seven seconds later, Gogol dropped the gloves again, this time against Phantoms forward Doug Clarkson.

After a scoreless second period, the Phantoms took a 1-0 lead at 8:09 of the third period when forward (and team captain) Ben Holmstrom batted a rebound from on top of the crease past Sateri for a power play goal, his sixth goal of the season.

The Sharks were able to tie the game at 14:38 when forward Marek Viedensky corralled defenseman Matt Tennyson’s shot off the end wall and fired the puck past Phantoms goalie Cal Heeter for his fourth goal of the season. Sharks forward Brodie Reid was credited with the secondary assist.

With under two minutes left in the period, the Sharks had the Phantoms hemmed in their own zone until Phantoms forward Jason Akeson blasted the puck off the wall and into the neutral zone. Akeson’s linemate Kris Newbury caught up to the puck, skated into the Sharks zone and fired a blast of a slap shot from the left wall that beat Sateri for his seventh goal of the season and the eventual game-winning-goal at 18:47.

“It was headed right here (pointing to his left shoulder) and then moved,” said Sateri in a post game interview with Ballou. “I know it looks like it should have been easy, but I remember that player from last year. His shot does funny things like that.”

NOTES… Final shots were 31-25 in favor of the Phantoms… The Sharks went 0-for-3 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill… Sateri is now 7-11-1 with a 2.86 goals-against-average and .895 save percentage… The Sharks and Phantoms combined for 90 penalty minutes, 68 of which were assessed in the first period… Of the Sharks’ 40 penalty minutes, Doherty had 15 while Gogol had 14… Sharks defenseman and team captain Rob Davison played in his 700th career AHL game… Prior to the start of the game, Sharks forward Freddie Hamilton was recalled to San Jose… With the assist, Reid now has a three game point streak (1-2-3)… Sharks defenseman Nick Petrecki returned to the Sharks lineup after missing the last eight games… With the four sets of fighting majors, the Sharks now have 38 through 29 games… This was the first of two meetings between the Sharks and Phantoms this season… The Sharks are 0-1-0-0 against the Phantoms, 7-6-2-0 on the road and 13-13-2-1 with 29 points overall… The Sharks are back in action Friday (Jan. 3) as they travel to play their Atlantic Division rival the Providence Bruins at 7pm/et.

THREE STARS
1. Cal Heeter – Phantoms (24 saves, Win)
2. Ben Holmstrom – Phantoms (1-0-1)
3. Kris Newbury – Phantoms (1-0-1, GWG)

LINES
DaSilva (A) / Oleksuk / Reid
Tarasov / Schwartz / Hayes
Stalberg / Viedensky / Livingston
Gogol / Brace / Bonneau (A)

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

GOALIES
Sateri
Grosenick

SCRATCHES
Abeltshauser
Acolatse
Pelech
Hamilton (sjs)
Kearns (sjs)
Scheidl (inj)