1997 at Portland 5-4 OTL
The Worcester IceCats rallied from a third period deficit to get the game into overtime, only to lose on the first shot in the extra session. Todd Krygier scored just 18 seconds into the first period, but Chris Kenady tied the game at 1:12 while on the power play. Michal Handzus and Ivan Ciernik had the assists on the goal. Brad Church then put Portland back in the lead at 19:14. Stephane Roy tied it for the ‘Cats at :36 of the middle period when Ciernik grabbed a loose puck after a Fred Cassivi save and skated up ice, finding Roy all alone in the right circle. Dennis Wright gave he IceCats the lead with a low wrist shot at 9:44, with Handzus and Rory Fitzpatrick helping. Portland grabbed the next two to take the lead, with Kent Hulst scoring at 17:44 and David Harlock lighting the lamp with an unassisted power play goal at 3:16 of the third period. Ricard Persson tied it 4-4 on a three on two rush with Roy and Nick Naumenko assisting. In overtime Steve Poapst scored at :42 to give the Pirates the win. Cassivi made 32 saves in the contest.
1998 vs Springfield 4-2 win
The Worcester IceCats opened their 1998-99 campaign against the Falcons and after a shaky first period got things going in the right direction in a 4-2 victory over Springfield. Trevor Letowski would have the only goal in the opening 20 minutes, at 10:03. Jochen Hecht grabbed the ‘Cats first goal of the season, with assists going to Rory Fitzpatrick and Kevin Sawyer, at 1:22 of the middle stanza. Dan Corso would give the IceCats the lead at 5:38, with Jan Horacek and Lubos Bartecko picking up the helpers. In the third period Reed Low would grab a power play tally at 16:27, assisted by Derek Bekar and Stephane Roy. Letowski would score again for the Falcons at 17:33, but a Ricard Persson unassisted empty net goal at 19:59 slammed the door on game one of the season. Brent Johnson had 21 saves for the win.
1999 vs Syracuse 6-4 win
The Worcester IceCats scored the first two goals of the game and then never lost that lead in a 6-4 win over the Syracuse Crunch. Tyler Rennette opened the scoring with an unassisted tally at 6:01, and Jamie Thompson made it 2-0 with a power play goal at 9:13. Bryan Helmer and Marty Reasoner had the helpers on that power play goal. At 10:38 Lubomir Vaic cut the ‘Cats lead in half, but Jame Pollock gave Worcester its two goal lead back at 17:31 with Dan Corso and Sylvain Blouin providing the helpers. Blouin, who had fought Trevor Doyle in the first period, completed his Gordie Howe hat trick with a goal at 1:35 of the middle stanza, assisted by Lubos Bartecko and Dan Corso. The Crunch grabbed the next two, the first unassisted by Martin Gendron at 7:44 and the second by Reggie Savage at 14:31, but Andrej Podkonicky stopped the bleeding at 17:17 to make it 5-3 IceCats. Derek Bekar and Bartecko had the assists. In the third period Bekar made it a three goal lead at 2:11, assisted by Podkonicky and Blouin. Mike Brown would answer at 10:50, but it was too little, too late. Brent Johnson earned the win making 22 saves.
2003 at Manchester 3-2 win
(MONARCHS) In their home opener the Manchester Monarchs were squeezed by the Worcester IceCats, 3-2, before a sellout crowd of 9,916 fans. It was a scoreless first period at the Verizon Wireless Arena tonight. The Worcester IceCats were the first to light the lamp at 9:00 of the second period with a goal from Marc Brown, his first of the season from Jon Coleman and Jeff Panzer. The Monarchs tried to retaliate with opportunities from right wing Dan Welch and left wing Jeff Giuliano but neither could capitalize on breakaways. The third time was the charm as right wing John Tripp scored on a three-on-one breakaway alongside Bryan Muir and Steve Kelly at 15:01 of the second. The IceCats gained the lead again just 2:21 seconds later as Jeff Panzer fired the puck past Monarchs goaltender Milan Hnilicka. Brown and Ernie Hartlieb assisted on Panzer’s goal. Tripp made it a two-goal night for him at 3:01 of the third period by tipping Kelly’s slap shot past IceCats goaltender Reinhard Divis. The goal was scored on the power play as Aaron MacKenzie sat in the penalty box for high sticking. Christian Backman scored the game-winning power play goal at 14:30 of the third. Monarch goaltender Hnilicka made 25 saves on the 27 shots he faced and IceCats goaltender Divis stopped 23 of 25 shots.
2009 at Lowell 5-4 win
(WORSHARKS) Rookie Brandon Mashinter scored two power play goals, Derek Joslin added three assists, and Tyson Sexsmith made 29 saves in his first professional start as the Sharks defeated Lowell 5-4 in the Devils home opener at the Tsongas Arena on Saturday night. Each team came out flying at the start of the first period, and for the third straight game, the Sharks grabbed a 1-0 lead as Dan DaSilva banged in a loose rebound in front after the initial shot by Derek Joslin from the right point just 43 seconds into the contest. After the Devils connected on the power play with a goal by Matt Taormina at 3:09, the Sharks scored with a man advantage of their own. Sharks rookie Brandon Mashinter scored his 2nd of the season as he deflected a shot from the stick of Ryan Vesce from the right circle past Gerald Coleman at 7:23. The Sharks led 2-1 after twenty minutes outshooting the Devils 11-9. Brandon Mashinter lit the lamp again, this time on a 5on3 power play chance as he drilled home a juice rebound in front at 6:29 of the 2nd period. The power play was awarded after former San Jose Sharks Rob Davison jumped Sharks rookie Dennis McCauley after the whistle and received a major penalty for fighting while McCauley received a minor for roughing. The Sharks led 3-1 after forty minutes outshooting the Devils 24-19. The two teams would combine for five goals in the third period; however the Sharks never gave up their lead. Stephen Gionta scored twice and Matt Taormina scored his 2nd of the game for the Devils to keep the game within reach. Dwight Helminen scored his first goal in a Sharks uniform, the Sharks third power play goal of the night and Logan Couture added insurance with an empty net lamp lighter at 19:12. With the win, the Sharks are now 2-0-0-1 this season.
2010 at Hartford 4-3 win
(WORSHARKS) The Worcester Sharks scored three power play goals and received stellar goaltending late from Alex Stalock for their first victory of the 2010-11 season with a 4-3 win over the Wolf Pack at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut on Sunday afternoon. Benn Ferriero (2-1-3) and Jonathan Cheechoo (1-2-3) each had three points while James Marcou scored a third period power play goal that proved to be the game winner. Alex Stalock made 30 saves in net for Worcester. The Sharks came out firing on all cylinders in the first period, aided by four power play chances. Benn Ferriero (1st) fired in a loose puck on their first power play in front of a scrambling Chad Johnson to give the Sharks a 1-0 at 3:27. Jonathan Cheechoo (2nd), set up on top of the Hartford crease, deflected in a wrist shot from the right point by Justin Braun at 11:27 to put Worcester up 2-0. Benn Ferriero (3rd) struck again on a 5-on-3 power play as he jammed the puck through Chad Johnson at 15:34 to give the Sharks a 3-0 advantage after twenty minutes. Worcester outshot Hartford 11-3 in the first period. Evgeny Grachev (1st) got the Wolf Pack on the board at 16:29 of the 2nd period after an Alex Stalock save went hard to the wall behind the net and came bouncing back into the crease and shoveled in by Grachev. Stalock would get his revenge on Grachev, with a terrific glove stop on Grachev after a turnover in the Sharks zoned ended up on his stick ten feet on top of the crease. The Sharks led 3-1 after forty minutes with a 20-14 shot advantage. Kelsey Tessier (1st) scored at 2:54 of the third period to get the Wolf Pack within a goal at 3-2. Rookie James Marcou (1st) deflected a great pass from Cheechoo past Johnson at 6:47 on the power play to give the Sharks some breathing room. Hartford led the charge late and scored again with the extra attacker with Tessier (2nd) potting in a loose puck in a goal mouth scramble at 19:55 to get back within one. But it was too little too late as the Sharks held on for the 4-3 victory. The Sharks record improves to 1-0-0-1 (3 pts).
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