1995 vs Albany 6-3 win
The Worcester IceCats got a Fred Knipscheer hat trick and two goals from David Roberts in a 6-3 win over the River Rats. Roman Vopat had the other goal for the ‘Cats. Terry Virtue had three assists in the game. Others getting assists were Jamie Rivers, Roberts, Jarrett Dueling, and Derek Armstrong. Roy Mitchell finished the game at +5. Eric Fichaud made 37 saves for the win. The game marked the debut of Virtue at right wing, where he played on a line with Roberts and Knipscheer.
1996 at Providence 2-0 win
The Worcester IceCats got 28 saves from netminder Jamie McLennan as he earned the franchise’s first road shutout in a 2-0 blanking of the Bruins. Alex Vasilevskii got the IceCats on the board at 10:37 on a delayed penalty call, with assists going to Jamal Mayers and Mike Maneluk. Scott Pellerin made it 2-0 with a second period power play goal at 17:17, with Jamie Rivers and Chris Kenady providing the helpers.
2000 at Springfield 4-2 win
(TICKER) Mark Rycroft recorded a hat trick and Dwayne Roloson stopped 27 shots as the Worcester Ice Cats defeated the Springfield Falcons, 4-2. Rycroft snapped a 1-1 tie with the first of his two power-play goals with 2:41 remaining in the second period. He netted his second goal 47 seconds into the third and closed out the scoring with his second goal on the man advantage with 2:39 left in the contest. Roloson had 11 saves in both the first and third periods to even his record at 2-2-0. Daniel Corso contributed a goal and an assist for Worcester, which avenged a 3-2 loss to Springfield back on October 7. Tavis Hansen and Jean-Guy Trudel both netted a power-play goal for the Falcons, who have dropped three straight. Patrick DesRochers, who suffered the loss, surrendered three goals on 34 shots before being replaced halfway through the third.
2001 vs Albany 7-1 win
The Worcester IceCats scored early and often in a 7-1 thrashing of the River Rats. Jame Pollock opened the scoring just 49 seconds into the first period with a goal assisted by Jamie Thompson and Daniel Tkaczuk. Marc Brown made it 2-0 at 5:21 with a power play strike as Justin Papineau and Eric Nickulas provided helpers. Mike Rupp cut the ‘Cats lead in half at 8:06 with a goal for Albany. In the second Jeff Panzer made it 3-1 at 2:34 with Eric Boguniecki and Greg Davis assisting. Darren Rumble made it a three goal IceCats lead at 13:50 with Boguniecki and Panzer earning points. Andrei Troschinsky had the first of two third period goal for him at 4:10 of the stanza, assisted by Davis and Rumble. Davis then logged his first pro goal at 12:24, assisted by Boguniecki and netminder Reinhard Divis. Troschinsky’s second of the frame, at 16:53 assisted by Davis, made it the 7-1 final. Divis had to make only 13 saves in the contest.
2006 at Providence 5-2 win
The Providence Bruins were defeated by the Worcester Sharks 5-2 at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center Friday. The P-Bruins got goals from Ben Walter and Pascal Pelletier, the second of the season for each forward. Left wing Mathieu Darche started the scoring for Worcester in the first, converting midway through a power-play attempt 4:16 into the game, accounting for his eighth goal of the young season. Walter tied the game at 1-1 just over one minute later when he stole the puck and blasted a shot from just in front of the boards by the goal-line passed Sharks netminder Nolan Schaefer. In the second period, the Sharks received a pair of goals from right wing Riley Armstrong, his first two of the season, and one in between from center Joe Pavelski, who had two points on the evening. All three goals came at even-strength and in a span of just over eight minutes, putting Worcester ahead 4-1. The Sharks increased their advantage to four 6:47 into the third frame on center Mike Iggulden’s fourth goal of the year, beating P-Bruins goalie Brian Finley by getting him leaning in the wrong direction. Providence attempted a comeback while spending roughly five minutes on the power-play midway through the period, twice on a two-man advantage, but were held to one goal, scored by Pelletier and assisted on by David Krejci and Petr Tenkrat, his first point in his first P-Bruins game. Providence was out-shot 28 to 12 as Finley stopped 23 shots to the 10 saves for Schaefer. Each team scored once on the power-play, the P-Bruins in five opportunities and the Sharks in six, as the two teams combined for 54 penalty minutes.
2007 vs Lowell 2-1 win
(WORSHARKS) Taylor Dakers made 25 saves, earning a win in his first professional start to lead the Worcester Sharks past divisional foe Lowell by the score of 2-1 on Saturday night at the DCU Center. For the second time in as many home contests this year, the Sharks fell behind early. Lowell’s Ivan Khomutov flicked a wrist shot over the right shoulder of the rookie Dakers at the 6:15 mark of the first period. Worcester evened things up less than two minutes later, however, when Dennis Packard poked the rebound of a Nate Raduns shot through the legs of Devils backstop Frank Doyle, tying the game at 1-1. With just over five minutes remaining in the opening frame, Raduns finished off a sprint up the left wing boards with a backhanded effort that again beat Doyle and gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission. After piling up 16 shots on net in the first 20 minutes, the Sharks were held to just four shots in the second period. Worcester’s penalty killing unit held the Devils scoreless on two minor infractions, and Dakers stopped all nine Lowell shots in the second to preserve the 2-1 advantage. The offense returned for the Sharks in the final period, as Worcester used 15 shots on net, including six on a single two minute power play, to keep the Devils on their heels. Dakers remained strong, making eight more saves down the stretch.
2012 vs Albany 4-0 loss
(WORSHARKS) Worcester outshot Albany 30-27, but it wasn’t enough as the Sharks fell 4-0 to the Albany Devils in the Sharks 7th home opener in front of a sellout crowd of 6,659 fans at the DCU Center on Saturday night. Albany netminder Keith Kinkaid made 30 saves in goal and Jacob Josefson picked up two goals to lead the way offensively for the Devils. Harri Sateri made 23 saves in the loss for Worcester as the Sharks fell l to 3-2-1-1 in home openers at the DCU Center. The Devils got on the board first 8:53 into the first period when Adam Henrique (1st) put it home after a sequence of nice passes from Matt Anderson and Harri Pesonen on a delayed penalty, giving them a 1-0 lead. The Devils then added to their lead at 14:20 of the first period when Pesonen (1st) tipped home a shot from the point. Assists on the goal went to Bobby Butler and Adam Larsson, increasing Albany’s lead to 2-0. Albany’s Kinkaid stopped all eight of Worcester’s shots in the first period. The Sharks let two power play chances fall by the wayside within the first 10 minutes of the second period. The Devils tacked on their third goal at 15:39 of the second period when Jacob Josefson (1st) beat Harri Sateri with a wrist shot from the right circle. Joe Whitney and Larsson picked up the assists on the goal, increasing the Albany lead to 3-0. The Devils tacked on another with a shorthanded goal at 4:13 of the third period on a shot by Josefson (2nd), his second of the night, on a nice feed from Tim Sestito, increasing the Shark’s deficit to 4-0. Sharks defenseman Matt Pelech and Devil’s captain Jay Leach dropped the gloves late in the third period. The Sharks overall record falls to 0-3-0-1 (1pt in 4gp) and 0-1-0-0 (0pt in 1gp) on home ice.
2013 vs Portland 3-2 win
(WORSHARKS) Rookie Troy Grosenick made 30 saves in his first professional start to lead the Worcester Sharks (1-2-0-0, 2pts) to a 3-2 victory over the Portland Pirates (0-3-0-1, 1pt) on Sunday afternoon at the DCU Center. Bracken Kearns scored two first period power play goals and Daniil Tarasov added the eventual game winner late in the second period as the Sharks broke a ten game winless skid on home ice. Andy Miele put up some strong numbers for the Pirates, scoring two goals while Portland goaltender Mike Lee went 27-for-30 in net for the loss. Power plays were the key to the Sharks first period success as Worcester took a 2-1 lead over Portland, going 2-for-2 with Bracken Kearns netting both goals. Rookie goaltender Troy Grosenick was strong after letting up a goal at the 4:25 mark to Andy Miele (2nd), assisted by Jordan Szwarz and Chris Brown, giving the Pirates the 1-0 lead. Worcester capitalized on their first power play opportunity when Brett Hextall went to the box at 5:40 for unsportsmanlike conduct. Bracken Kearns tipped a slap shot from Eriah Hayes, positioned at the top of the right circle, past Portland goaltender Mike Lee, tying the game 1-1. Both teams settled in after that, avoiding penalties until the 14:36 mark when Jimmy Bonneau (3rd FM) and Mark Louis (1st FM) dropped the gloves. The Pirates made a costly mistake with 1:36 remaining in the period when they had too many men on the ice, leading to a Sharks power play to end the period. Once again, Kearns (2nd) capitalized on the opportunity. With 40 seconds remaining in the period, Daniil Tarasov fed the puck to Kearns who snapped it past Lee for his second power play goal of the night. The period ended with the Sharks out-shooting the Pirates 15-to-13 and leading 2-1. More power play opportunities arose for the Sharks in the second period but this time they were unable to capitalize. Worcester went 0-3 on the power play but was effective on the penalty kill and managed to come away with another goal. At 15:53 the DCU Center crowd was treated to Daniil Tarasov’s (1st) exciting stick skills, when he flicked the puck past Lee to notch his first goal of the season. The opportunity came on assists from Riley Brace and Dylan DeMelo. However, at 17:49 Portland exhibited some stick skills of their own when Andy Miele (3rd)scored his second goal of the game. The goal came on a two-on-one against Konrad Abeltshauser. Shots were just about equal with Worcester getting the slight edge, outshooting Portland 9-to-8. At the end of the middle period, the Sharks led 3-2. The final period of the game proved to be a frustrating one for both teams as neither could convert on power play opportunities. The Sharks were extremely effective all night in the penalty kill, and proved that they could maintain that effectiveness through the final buzzer. Portland outshot the Worcester 11-to-6 in the period but Grosenick made some magnificent saves in key moments, including a two-on-none with 12:43 remaining.
2018 vs Maine 4-1 win
(RAILERS) The Worcester Railers HC (2-1-0-0, 4pts) barreled over the visiting Maine Mariners (0-3-0-0, 0pts) by the score of 4-1 in front of 8,853 fans at the Railers 2.0 home opener at the DCU Center on Saturday evening. Tyler Barnes, Mike Cornell, Jeff Kubiak, and Ryan MacKinnon all scored for Worcester while Mitch Gillam was fantastic in net making 33 saves for his second win of the season and his 8thstraight win on home ice dating back to last season. Nick Bligh added two assists as the Railers charged out to a 3-0 lead midway through the second period and never looked back. The Railers grabbed the only goal in a fast paced first period as Tyler Barnes (1st) undressed a Maine defender and ripped a backhander from on top of the crease past netminder Brandon Halverson at 16:21 to give the Railers a 1-0 lead. Mitch Gillam made 11 first period saves as the Railers took a one goal advantage into the first intermission. Mike Cornell (1st) fired a puck that fought through the Maine goaltender and just trickled past the goal line at 8:01 to give Worcester a 2-0 lead. The Railers went ahead 3-0 as Jeff Kubiak (1st) snapped a shot through a Josh Holmstrom screen at 15:56 from 35 feet assisted by Woody Hudson and Kyle McKenzie. Shots were 23-21 in favor of the Mariners through 40 minutes of play. Maine finally got on the board as Riley Bourbonnais (1st) banged home a loose rebound at 4:49 past Mitch Gillam for the only Mariners goal. With Connor LaCouvee in net in relief for the Mariners, defenseman Ryan MacKinnon (1st) sent a quick shot on the rush that was deflected into the net at 9:51 to give Worcester the 4-1 edge. Mitch Gillam would stand strong the rest of the way as the Railers cruised to the 4-1 home victory.
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