Playing their second to last game of the 2013-14 season, the Worcester Sharks were defeated 6-0 by their Atlantic Division rival the St. John’s IceCaps (AHL affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets) Friday night at the DCU Center.
The Sharks, who have been shutout in their last two home games by a combined score of 9-0, got 22 saves in net from goaltender Harri Sateri while rookie forward Rylan Schwartz finished with a game high five shots on goal.
“Not a lot of guys that gave a (expletive) to be honest with you, that’s the bottom line,” said Sharks head coach Roy Sommer in a post game interview with Carl Setterlund of Telegram.com. “We weren’t a very hungry team and in this league, if you don’t come out with a little compassion and a little fight in your game, you’re probably not going to come out on the right end of it.”
The IceCaps, who had six different goal scorers, scored two times in a 2:19 span of the first period for a 2-0 lead. Forward Eric O’Dell scored his 17th goal of the season at 11:56 when he slid the puck through the pads of Sateri from on top of the crease after corralling a pass out of the right corner from linemate J.C. Lipon. At 14:15, forward Kyle MacKinnon deflected defenseman Ben Chiarot’s wrist shot from the center point past Sateri for his 12th goal of the season.
In the second period, the IceCaps scored twice again, this time in a 2:45 span, to take a commanding 4-0 lead. Forward Josh Lunden finished off an odd man rush when he corralled an across-the-zone pass and beat Sateri with a quick shot from inside the left slot at 11:13 for his fourth goal of the season. At 13:58, Chiarot tracked down a loose puck and beat Sateri with a snap shot from inside the left face-off circle for his sixth goal of the season.
With a power play opportunity near the midway point of the third period, IceCaps forward Carl Klingberg swept a shot from deep inside the right face-off circle past Sateri at 7:29 for his 22nd goal of the season. At 16:04, IceCaps forward Jerome Samson got behind the Sharks defense and lifted a shot from deep in the left slot past Sateri for his 26th goal of the season.
“We just weren’t very good,” said Sommer. “Some of those guys have checked out already, which is unfortunate.”
NOTES… Final shots on goal were 28-23 in favor of the IceCaps… The Sharks went 0-for-3 on the power play and 4-for-5 on the penalty kill… Sateri fell to 18-24-2 with a 2.95 goals-against-average and .894 save percentage… Sharks forwards Freddie Hamilton, Brodie Reid and Matt Pelech were the only Sharks skaters to finish with an even rating… Reid left the game midway through the first period with an injury… Sharks forward Dan DaSilva was a game worse minus-three… Pelech had a game high 16 penalty minutes… Sharks defenseman Sena Acolatse returned to the Sharks lineup after missing 24 games due to injury… The Sharks fell to 1-4-1-0 in their season ending seven game home stand… This was the 10th and final meeting of the season between the Sharks and IceCaps… The Sharks went 5-4-0-1 against the IceCaps, are 18-17-1-1 at the DCU Center and 35-34-4-2 with 76 points overall… The Sharks conclude their 2013-14 season Saturday night (April 19) as they host their Atlantic Division rival the Providence Bruins at 7pm/et.
THREE STARS
1. Jerome Samson – IceCaps (1-3-4)
2. Michael Hutchinson – IceCaps (28 saves, win)
3. Ben Chiarot – IceCaps (1-1-2)
LINES
Hamilton (A) / Oleksuk / Hayes
Tarasov / Carpenter / DaSilva
Schwartz / Rau / Schmidt
Reid / Higgs / Pelech
DEFENSE
Comrie / Doherty
Davison (C) / Acolatse
DeMelo / Mueller
GOALIES
Sateri
Grosenick
SCRATCHES
Bonneau
Abeltshauser (inj)
McCarthy (inj)
Viedensky (inj)
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