Worcester suffers back-to-back loses for first time in two months

For the first time in two months, the Worcester Sharks have lost two games in a row after being shut out by goaltender Patrik Bartosak in a 2-0 loss to the Manchester Monarchs (AHL affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings) Sunday afternoon at the Verizon Wireless Arena.

The Sharks, who haven’t scored a goal in the last 120:25 of play, got 30 saves in net from goaltender Aaron Dell.

The Monarchs took a 1-0 lead at 3:03 of the first period when on a 5-on-3 power play advantage that was set up by Dell being assessed a questionable roughing penalty from referee Garrett Rank, forward Brian O’Neill scored on a one-timer from the gap between the left faceoff circle and the goal line for his 18th goal of the season.

At 6:45 of the third period, the Monarchs got an insurance goal by forward Jordan Weal when his on the rush slap shot from on from on top of the right faceoff circle deflected in off Sharks defenseman Taylor Fedun, who was battling Monarchs forward Zach O’Brien on top of the crease, after Dell made the initial save.

With the 2-0 lead, Bartosak turned aside all nine of the Sharks’ shots on goal in the period to finish with 29 saves for his first shutout of the season.

NOTES… Shots on goal were 32-29 in favor of the Monarchs.. .The Sharks went 0-for-5 on the power play and 6-for-7 on the penalty kill… Dell is now 8-4-2 with a 1.91 goals-against-average and .929 save percentage… Sharks forward John McCarthy had a team high four shots on goal… The Sharks had their four game winning streak against the Monarchs snapped… This was the 11th of 12 meetings between the Sharks and Monarchs this season… The Sharks are 4-6-1 against the Monarchs, 13-11-3 on the road and 30-19-6 with 66 points overall… The Sharks are back in action March 6 when they host the Hartford Wolf Pack at 7:30 p.m./et.

THREE STARS
1. Patrick Bartosak – Monarchs (29 saves, Shutout win)
2. Brian O’Neill – Monarchs (1-0-1, GWG)
3. Jordan Weal – Monarchs (1-0-1)

LINES
McCarthy / Carpenter / Hayes
Lerg (C) / Trupp / Parkes
Haley (A) / Tierney / Coetzee
Schwartz / Oleksuk / Hamilton

DEFENSE
Taormina (A) / Tennyson
DeMelo / Doherty
Young / Fedun

GOALIES
Dell
Grosenick

SCRATCHES
Abeltshauser
Bonneau
Crane
Emanuelsson (inj)
Langlois (inj)
Tarasov (inj)