1994 vs Rochester 4-3 loss
The IceCats got a hat trick from David Haas but it wasn’t enough in a 4-3 loss to the Americans. Haas kicked off the scoring at 2:02 of the opening period, assisted by Shawn Heaphy. The Amerks would then get goals from Philippe Boucher (4:32) and Sergei Petrenko (7:16) to take the lead. Haas would score again at 4:09 of the middle period, with Terry Virtue and Mark Ouimet getting the helpers. But Rochester got goals from Viktor Gordiouk (6:42) and Scott Thomas ((13:13) to put the game out of reach. Haas would get his hat trick at 16:18, with assists by Dave Baseggio and Ross Wilson. Wayne Cowley had 22 saves in the loss.
1998 at Rochester 6-4 loss
(ROCHESTER) Everything was st up for the Worcester IceCats to get back into last night’s game against the Rochester Americans. Several times. They fell behind 3-0 in the first period, then battled back and battled back yet again. But on the night before Halloween, the ‘Cats never could scare up a tying goal. Rochester threatened to run the ‘Cats out of the building in the first period. Randy Cunneyworth and Scott Nichol scored in the first eight minutes, 20 seconds, then the Amerks took a two-man advantage for 1:40 beginning at 10:27. IceCats goalie Brent Johnson turned aside a hard shot from the right face-off circle, and Worcester got back to one man down. But 11 seconds before Johnson’s delay of game penalty was to expire, Nichol zipped a pass back across ice to the right face-off circle. The puck barely touched the stick of Domenic Pittis, who one-timed it past Johnson’s right shoulder. The goalie never stood a chance. But Worcester did after that. Second-period goals by Kevin Sawyer and Shayne Toporowski made the score 3-2, but 4:10 before intermission the IceCats allowed the puck to roll out to Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre at the right point, and he drove it past Johnson to restore Rochester’s two-goal lead. More of the same in the third period. Stephane Roy put a shot past Rochester goalie Martin Biron 1:47 into the period, and Worcester had a chance to tie on a power less than five minutes later. Instead, the IceCats lost the puck to Cunneyworth at center ice, and he beat Johnson for a short-handed breakaway goal at 6:42. Worcester got its own short-handed score, by Terry Yake at 11:49. But the final insult came when Pittis scored his second goal of the game into an empty net with 47 seconds to play.
1999 vs Philadelphia 5-1 win
(TICKER) Tyler Rennette scored a power-play goal at 5:31 to snap a second-period tie and Brent Johnson stopped 30 shots to lead the Worcester IceCats to a 5-1 triumph over the Philadelphia Phantoms. Marty Reasoner and Ladislav Nagy each had a goal and an assist for Worcester, which won for only the second time in seven games. Tomas Divisek scored Philadelphia’s lone goal late in the first period. Jean-Marc Pelletier turned aside 32 shots for the Phantoms, who had a three-game unbeaten streak stopped.
2002 vs Springfield 4-1 win
(ICECATS) The Worcester IceCats defeated the Springfield Falcons 4-1 on Wednesday night at Worcester’s Centrum Centre. Rookie defenseman Christian Backman led the charge with a goal and an assist. Backman bagged the first of the night at 5:53 of the opening period. A centering feed from behind the Springfield cage was tattooed to the lower left corner of Zac Bierk’s net. John Pohl logged an assist and now has points in all six games he has played as a professional, totaling four goals and four assist. Holding a five-on-three man advantage, Justin Papineau deflected home the ‘Cats second goal of the game. Stationed at the high slot, Backman fired the puck to the side of the Springfield net, setting the table for Papineau’s fourth goal of the season. Former Cat Darren Rumble tallied the Falcons only goal of the night with 8.1 seconds remaining in the middle stanza. It came with Springfield on the power play, and was Rumble’s second goal of the season. At 4:58 of the third, Worcester scored their first shorthanded goal of 2002-2003. Jason Dawe followed his own shot and swatted a rebound by Bierk. It was the Falcons seventh shorthanded goal against in nine games. Sergei Varlamov added an empty-netter for the 4-1 final. Phil Osaer was solid making 25 saves. Bierk stopped 26, as each team went one for eight on the power play.
2004 vs Lowell 3-2 win
(ICECATS) Worcester’s Alexei Shkotov untangled a 2-2 tie at 15:29 of the second period, propelling the IceCats to a 3-2 win over the visiting Lowell Lock Monsters. It was the fourth straight win for the ‘Cats. The IceCats opened an early 2-0 advantage on goals from Brendan Brooks and rookie DJ King. Brooks’ came shorthanded at 6:23, while King’s second as a pro and second in as many nights, was scored just over two minutes later. Led by former first rounder Eric Staal, the Monsters battled back to tie the game before the opening period was allowed to expire. The second pick overall in 2003 NHL Entry Draft scored unassisted at 10:49, taking advantage of a wacky bounce off the glass. Staal found a clearing effort in the circle to the left of Worcester goaltender Curtis Sanford and snapped a shot through his legs. Then, on a 5-on-3 Lowell power play, Staal gift wrapped a pass to Colin Forbes for the two-all tie. Shkotov’s goal came on the power play, as he batted the elevated puck by Lowell’s Cam Ward. Ward finished with 26 saves to Sanford’s 28. Sanford held the fort during a difficult closing flurry, with the IceCats down a man due to a late penalty and Ward on the bench in favor of the extra attacker.
2009 vs Bridgeport 2-1 win
(WORSHARKS) Dean Strong scored his first professional goal, Danny Groulx added two assists, and head coach Roy Sommer picked up his 399th career AHL win behind the bench, as the Sharks defeated the Sound Tigers 2-1 at the DCU Center in Worcester on Friday night. The first period started sloppy with neither team able to mount much offensive pressure. However, the Sharks turned up the heat halfway through and began to dominate the period. Steven Zalewski gave the Sharks their first lead of the game with a power play goal at the 19:29 mark. The goal was set up at the point when Joe Callahan sent a pass across the blue line to Danny Groulx. Groulx then sent a sweet feed to the back post where Zalewski was there to bang it home. With the assist, Groulx extended his consecutive point streak to five games. The Sharks outshot the Sound Tigers 15-4 in the first twenty minutes. The second period was fast-paced and hard hitting with both teams exchanged scoring chances. Neither team was able to score as both Alex Stalock and Scott Munroe were solid between the pipes. After forty minutes of play, the Sharks still held onto their 1-0 lead. The third period was filled with action. The Sound Tigers evened the score at 8:04 on a power play goal by Greg Moore. Seconds later, Worcester’s rookie forward Dean Strong scored his first professional goal at the 8:20 mark to put the Sharks back ahead 2-1, with assists to Danny Groulx and Corey Quirk. This would prove to be the eventual game winner as Alex Stalock came up with some big saves in the final eight minutes, the best coming with under a minute left when he dove across the crease to deny the Sound Tigers on a rebound chance. With the win, the Sharks jumped ahead of the Sound Tigers and into second place in the Atlantic Division. With the win, the Sharks improved their record to 6-2-0-1 for 13 points
2010 vs Providence 2-1 win OT
(WORSHARKS) A late third period shorthanded goal by Providence forced overtime, but Worcester won it in over time on a goal by defenseman Nick Petrecki at 3:17 as the Sharks won 2-1 at the DCU Center in Worcester on Saturday afternoon. Benn Ferriero (6th) also scored for Worcester and Jonathan Cheechoo extended his point streak to four games with two assists while Alex Stalock made 15 saves in his 8th straight start for Worcester. The first period between the two Atlantic Division rivals was a highly contested defensive battle. The Sharks had several good chances on a minute long 5-on-3 power play but were turned away by Bruins goalie Michael Hutchinson. Brandon Mashinter got into his third fight of the 2010-11 season with Providence forward Lane MacDermid along the side boards in the Sharks zone to set the tempo early. The period ended with the score tied at 0-0 with the Sharks holding a distinct advantage in shots at 9-2. Worcester started gaining momentum on offense to start the second period. On an early power play opportunity, Jonathan Cheechoo was robbed of a goal when he was alone near the goal mouth after two Providence penalty killers collided at the blue line. But the goal drought wouldn’t last for long, as the Sharks finally busted through with a rebound goal for Benn Ferriero (6th) on the backhand. Jonathan Cheechoo extended his point streak with an assist on the goal with Nick Schaus picking up a helper as well. Providence started to turn up the offensive pressure but Alex Stalock stood tall, highlighted by Stalock denying Jamie Arniel on a breakaway midway through the period. Sharks led 1-0 after the first 40 minutes of play and outshot Providence in the period 17-11. The Sharks continued to suffocate the Bruins offense in the 3rd period and were looking to add onto their 1-0 lead. During a late power play chance the Sharks turned the puck over at the blue line which led to a rush the other way for Providence which they converted to tie the game a 1-1. The shorthanded goal was scored with 3:01 remaining by Steven Kamper for his 2nd goal of the season. The game remained tied at 1-1 and the Sharks headed for overtime. With regulation such a tightly contested game it looked like a shootout was in store. But with 1:43 remaining in the over time period, Worcester defenseman Nick Petrecki (2nd) fired a slap shot from the point past goalie Michael Hutchinson to give the Sharks a 2-1 win. Jonathan Cheechoo picked up the lone assist on the game winning goal for a two point day. Worcester dominated in the shot department as the total was 43-16. The Sharks record improves to 3-3-1-1 (8pts).
2022 at Adirondack 6-1 win
(RAILERS) The Worcester Railers HC (4-0-0-0, 8pts) took down the Adirondack Thunder (0-3-0-0, 0pts) on Sunday afternoon by the final score of 6-1 in front of a crowd of 1,761 at Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls, NY. The Railers are back in Worcester, MA at the DCU Center this Wednesday, November 2nd to take on the Newfoundland Growlers at 7:05 p.m. Worcester opened up the game by grabbing a multi-goal lead in the first period for the fourth time this season. Blade Jenkins (1-0-1) and Steve Jandric (2-1-3) each potted their fourth goals of the season, as Worcester jumped out to a 2-0 lead 13:07 into the period. Steve Jandric then crashed down the left side and found Jimmy Lambert (1-0-1) alone out in front while on the penalty kill to tap the puck in past Jake Theut in net for the Thunder to make it 3-0 Worcester. Ken Appleby dropped the gloves early in the second period and unleashed several body blows on Noah Corso, setting the tone for the rest of what was a very physical game. There ended up being 50 combined penalty minutes between the two teams by the final buzzer. Worcester tacked on two more goals in the second thanks to Jandric’s second and Bobby Butler (1-0-1) who finished off a perfect feed from Liam Coughlin to make it 5-0 Railers. Collin Adams (1-0-1) then finished a back-and-forth 2-on-1 sequence with Brent Beaudoin to push Worcester’s lead to 6-0. Adirondack’s Shane Harper (1-0-1) one-timed a blast in front to beat Ken Appleby for the first time on the night with 4:55 remaining, giving the game its final score of 6-1. Blade Jenkins (4th) came cruising into the attacking end with 5:01 gone in the first, cut from the right circle into the high slot and ripped a shot past Theut to open scoring at 1-0 Worcester. Eight minutes later, Steve Jandric (4th) maintained his hot start to the season by deflecting a puck out in front to extend Worcester’s lead to 2-0. Jimmy Lambert (1st) would wrap up scoring in the first by notching Worcester’s first short-handed goal of the season. Steve Jandric came barreling down the far boards and placed a perfect pass onto the tape of Lambert who crashed in front of the net and tapped it past Thuet to make it 3-0 Worcester going into the second. Shots favored Worcester 10-9 after 20 minutes. Ken Appleby dropped the gloves five minutes into the second period after Noah Corson crashed into him after the whistle. Appleby grabbed Corson over the top and unleashed a flurry of body blows while Corson was wrapped up. Appleby got a four minute double minor for roughing, while Corson got two minutes for diving at the beginning of the sequence. The Railers got back to playing hockey at the 8:41 mark of the second when Steve Jandric (5th) slapped a drop pass from Quin Ryan past Theut and made it 4-0 Railers. That goal ended the night for Theut as Isaac Poulter then came into the game in relief. Thuet allowed four goals on 14 shots faced. Bobby Butler (3rd) finished a goal back door as Liam Coughlin found him from the far goal line to make it 5-0 Worcester heading into the third. Worcester got outshot 10-9 in the second, while shots were tied 19-19 into the third. Collin Adams (3rd) and Brent Beaudoin worked a 2-on-1 up ice and capped it off with a goal on a wide open net past Poulter to give the Railers their sixth unanswered goal of the night. Adirondack’s Shane Harper (1st) hammered a one-timer out in front to beat Appleby for the first time all night and make it a 6-1 game with 4:55 to go. Worcester kept Adirondack off of the board for the rest of the game to deliver a 6-1 victory for the Railers, along with a 5-0 start to the season. This is the first time in Worcester Professional Hockey history that a team has started 5-0 (IceCats, Sharks). Shots in the third were tied 7-7, and tied at the end of the game 26-26. Notes: Three Stars: 3rd Star: Quin Ryan (0-3-3, +2, 1 shot), 2nd Star: Steve Jandric (2-1-3, +2, 4 shots), 1st Star: Ken Appleby (25 saves, 1 GA, .962 SV%)… Final shots were tied 26-26… Jake Thuet made 10 saves on 14 shots while Isaac Poulter made 10 saves on 12 shots for the Thunder… Ken Appleby (3-0-0) made 25 saves on 26 shots for Worcester, while Henrik Tikkanen served as the backup… Worcester went 2-for-6 on the power play while Adirondack went 1-for-6… Blake Christensen (DNP), Jared Brandt (DNP), Noah Delmas (DNP), Conor Breen (IR), Jack Quinlivan (IR), and Zack Bross (IR) did not play for Worcester… Trevor Cosgrove, Jimmy Lambert, and Steve Jandric each led the Railers in shots with 4… The Railers are now 33-16-2-0 all-time vs. the Thunder and 18-8-1-0 at Cool Insuring Arena against Adirondack.
-30-
210Sports 