Worcester extends winning streak to four games with come from behind win over Providence

Just as it appeared the Worcester Sharks were on their way to another loss, forward Brodie Reid scored the game tying goal with 46-seconds left in the third period, and forward Daniil Tarasov scored the game-winning-goal at 3:16 of overtime as the Sharks defeated their Atlantic Division rival the Providence Bruins (AHL affiliate of the Boston Bruins) 4-3 at the Dunkin Donuts Center Friday night to extend their winning streak to four games.

Tarasov (two goals), Reid (goal, assist) and forward Dan DaSilva (two assists) had multi-point games for the Sharks, who are 10 points out of playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with 16 games left to play, while rookie goaltender Troy Grosenick made 24 saves for his 14th win of the season.

“This was a hell of a game for us,” said Sharks head coach Roy Sommer in a post game interview with Bill Ballou of Telegram.com.  “We’re still in this thing, man.”

The Sharks took a 1-0 lead at 7:46 of the first period when captain Rob Davison found a loose puck near the left half board and fired a shot on net that beat Bruins goaltender Niklas Svedberg for his third goal of the season.  Reid and rookie forward Brock Higgs were credited with the assists on the goal.

The Bruins tied the game 1:55 later when off a failed clear attempt by the Sharks penalty kill unit, defenseman David Warsofsky fired a wrist shot from the blue line of the center point that got through traffic in front and beat Grosenick for a power play goal, his sixth goal of the season.

Tarasov put the Sharks ahead 2-1 at 2:48 of the second period when he buried home a one-timer from deep inside the left face-off circle for a power play goal, his 14th goal of the season.  DaSilva, who set up Tarasov’s goal with a cross zone pass by using his speed to rush into the Bruins zone along the right side, and forward Travis Oleksuk were credited with the assists on the goal, which came with one second left on the power play.

After a seesaw heavyweight fight between Sharks enforcer Jimmy Bonneau and Bruins enforcer Bobby Robins at 3:57, the Bruins tied the game at 5:43 when forward Ryan Spooner beat Grosenick with a quick snap shot from the right circle face-off dot for his seventh goal of the season.

Just 17-seconds after the Sharks failed to score on a four minute power play advantage, the Bruins took a 3-2 lead at 10:48 when forward Anthony Camara finished off an odd man rush by beating Grosenick with a wrist shot from inside the right slot for his ninth goal of the season.

As the second period expired, Robins appeared to give the Bruins a 4-2 lead as he beat Grosenick with a backhander.  Even though the red light never came on, referee Fred LeBlanc ruled goal.  However, the goal was waived off after a video review.

“I had no doubt it wasn’t a goal,” said Grosenick in a post game interview with Ballou.  “I heard the buzzer go off before it went in.”

In the third period, the Sharks nearly tied the game at 7:20 when Reid intercepted a Bruins clearing attempt and fired a 20-foot wrist shot on net that Svedberg turned away with the shoulder.  At 19:14 and with Grosenick pulled for the extra attacker, Reid made his second chance to tie the game count when he corralled a centering feed near the right hash marks in the slot and ripped a snap shot past Svedberg for his 10th goal of the season.

“Maybe, in the back of my mind, I was thinking of that other shoulder save but mostly, it was just a reaction shot,” said Reid of the goal in a post game interview with Ballou.

In overtime, Tarasov scored the winning goal at 3:16 when he buried home a rebound from on top of the crease after the puck came to him off DaSilva’s deflection in front of rookie defenseman Dylan DeMelo’s wrist shot from the right point.

NOTES… Final shots on goal were 33-27 in favor of the Sharks… The Sharks went 1-for-6 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill… Grosenick is now 14-10-0 with a 2.67 goals-against-average and .903 save percentage… Reid had a game high seven shots on goal… Higgs picked up a point in his first professional game after being signed to an ATO by the Sharks on March 14… Sharks rookie forward Rylan Schwartz and rookie defenseman Konrad Abeltshauser had the assists on Reid’s game tying goal… Tarasov’s overtime goal was the Sharks’ first since Nick Petrecki’s on Jan. 11, 2013 (99 games)… The Sharks reassigned Petrecki and forward Sebastian Stalberg to the Rochester Americans and Portland Pirates respectively on March 12… This was the ninth of 12 meetings between the Sharks and Bruins this season… The Sharks are 3-5-0-1 against the Bruins, 14-15-3-0 on the road and 28-27-3-1 with 60 points overall… The Sharks’ three-in-three weekend continues Saturday night (March 15) as they travel to play the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at 7pm/et.

THREE STARS
1.  Daniil Tarasov – Sharks (2-0-2, OT GWG)
2.  Ryan Spooner – Bruins (1-1-2)
3.  Brodie Reid – Sharks (1-1-2)

LINES
McCarthy / Viedensky / DaSilva
Tarasov / Oleksuk / Hamilton (A)
Higgs / Schwartz / Reid
Bonneau (A) / Rau / Hayes

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

GOALIES
Grosenick
Sateri

SCRATCHES
Bigos
Acolatse (inj)
Scheidl (inj)
Kearns (trv)
Tennyson (sjs)