Playing the second game of a three-in-three weekend, the Worcester Sharks were defeated by their Atlantic Division rival the Providence Bruins (AHL affiliate of the Boston Bruins) 5-2 Saturday night at the DCU Center. Rookie forward Eriah Hayes and alternate captain Bracken Kearns scored for the Sharks while rookie goaltender Troy Grosenick made 22 saves in his first professional loss.
The Bruins took a 1-0 lead at 16:15 of the first period when forward Carter Camper beat Grosenick with a wrist shot from the left circle face-off dot for a 5-on-3 power play goal, his first goal of the season.
At 2:44 of the second period, Sharks captain Rob Davison and Bruins forward Anthony Camara engaged in a brief five second fight before falling to the ice. Once back on their feet, Davison exchanged heated words with Camara, which was punctuated with Davison spiking his helmet into the ice before taking a seat in the penalty box.
“I felt like (Providence) was doing a lot of slashing that wasn’t getting called,” said Davison in a post game interview with Bill Ballou of Telegram.com. “They were taking liberties with our team, and I was angry about it. I just happened to be the guy. It was an ‘in the moment’ thing.”
The Bruins extended their lead to 2-0 at 6:30 when forward Craig Cunningham, who was positioned on top of the crease, redirected linemate Alexander Khokhlachev’s shot from the left corner over Grosenick for his sixth goal of the season. Camper pushed the Bruins lead to 3-0 at 13:27 when he beat Grosenick with a one-timer blast from inside the left face-off circle for his second 5-on-3 power play goal of the game.
Hayes stopped the bleeding and got the Sharks on the scoreboard at 4:16 of the third period when he deflected home Sharks defenseman Taylor Doherty’s shot from the right point past Bruins rookie goaltender Malcom Subban for his second goal of the season. Sharks forward Freddie Hamilton was credited with the secondary assist.
The Bruins regained their three goal lead at 7:59 when forward Matt Lindblad corralled a rebound, displayed some nifty puck handling skills and tucked the puck passed Grosenick from behind the goal line at the right side of the crease for his first goal of the season.
Kearns answered back for the Sharks with a power play goal, his third goal of the season, at 15:09 when he stuffed home a rebound from on top of the crease. Sharks forward Daniil Tarasov and defenseman Sena Acolatse were credited with the assists.
With Grosenick pulled for an extra attacker, Bruins enforcer Bobby Robins scored an empty net goal, his first goal of the season, at 19:58 to seal a 5-2 Bruins victory.
NOTES… Final shots were 27-27… The Sharks went 1-for-4 on the power play and 7-for-9 on the penalty kill… Grosenick is now 2-1-0 with a 2.17 goals-against-average and .924 save percentage… Sharks forward Brodie Reid had a game high five shots on goal… Sharks forward Matt Pelech dropped the gloves with Bruins defenseman Tommy Cross at 5:39 of the third period… With the two fights, the Sharks now have 16 through nine games… Former Sharks captain and current Bruins captain Mike Moore was ejected at 2:44 of the second period for being the third man in during the fight between Davison and Camara… Jimmy Bonneau (inj), Lane Scheidl (inj), Adam Comrie (scr) and Nick Petrecki (scr) did not dress for the Sharks… This was the first of 12 meetings between the two teams… The Sharks are 0-1-0-0 against the Bruins, 2-4-0-0 at the DCU Center and 3-6-0-0 with six points overall… The Sharks wore a specialty jersey to benefit the Autism Research Center of Central Massachusetts… The Sharks wrap up their three-in-three weekend Sunday at 3pm/et as they host the Portland Pirates.
Three Stars
1. Ryan Spooner – Bruins (0-3-3)
2. Carter Camper – Bruins (2-0-2)
3. Craig Cunningham – Bruins (1-1-2)
Lines
Reid / Kearns (A) / Tarasov
Hayes / Hamilton / Schwartz
Gogol / Viedensky (A) / Livingston
Stalberg / Oleksuk / Pelech
Defense
Abeltshauser / Doherty
Acolatse / Tennyson
Davison (C) / DeMelo
Goalies
Grosenick
Sateri
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