1996 vs Kentucky 4-1 loss
Unlike Friday when the Worcester IceCats overcame being outplayed by the Thoroughblades to win on Saturday the ‘Cats dug a hole too deep to climb out of in a 4-1 loss to Kentucky. The Thoroughblades scored three times in the opening period, Chris LiPuma at 1:52, Ken Belanger at 9:48, and Pat Mikesch at 12:50. Neither team scored in the middle period, and the IceCats finally got on the board at 6:20 when Bob Lachance scored on the power play. Chris Kenady and Alex Vasilevskii assisted. Former Worcester left wing Jarrett Deuling added an empty net goal for the 4-1 final. Travis Scott had 20 saves in the loss. [210Sports note: With Mike Buzak on the injured list Equipment Manager JC Ihrig was the emergency back-up, and wore #99 on the bench.]
2000 at Providence 7-6 OTL
(TICKER) Peter Ferraro scored an overtime power-play goal as the Providence Bruins edged the Worcester Ice Cats, 7-6. Ferraro scored his second goal of the game 2:17 into the extra period as Providence snapped Worcester’s four-game win streak. Lee Goren opened the scoring with one of the Bruins’ five power-play goals at 2:54 in the first period and finished with a pair of assists. Eric Manlow also added a tally and two assists for Providence, which improved to 5-1-0 at home. Judd Lambert made 28 saves, collecting his sixth win of the season. Jaroslav Obsut forced overtime for the IceCats, scoring the game-tying goal with 31 seconds remaining in the third. Daniel Corso and Ladislav Nagy both scored and had an assist for Worcester. Dwayne Roloson had 33 saves, including three in the extra period, but suffered the overtime-loss.
2001 vs Springfield 4-2 win
The Worcester IceCats jumped out to a two goal first period lead and never lost the lead in a 4-2 win over the Falcons. Jame Pollock got the ‘Cats on the board at 2:15 of the opening frame with a goal assisted by Brad Voth and Daniel Tkaczuk. Jeff Panzer made it 2-0 with a power play goal at 11:07, assisted by Eric Boguniecki and Darren Rumble. Wyatt Smith cut the IceCats lead in half at 17:11 with a goal for Springfield. Nineteen seconds into period number two Justin Papineau connected with an unassisted shorthanded goal, but once again the Falcons would close within one on a shorthanded goal of their own by Jason Jaspers at 8:58. Greg Davis got Worcester an insurance goal at 5:56 of the third, assisted by Papineau and Ed Campbell, for the 4-2 final. Reinhard Divis got the win making 22 saves.
2002 vs Manitoba 7-6 win
(ICECATS) The Worcester IceCats bounced back from a Friday night loss to Manchester with a 7-6 victory over the Manitoba Moose Saturday evening at Worcester’s Centrum Centre. John Pohl and Sergei Varlamov each scored two goals, but the biggest of the night came off the stick of Jeff Panzer with only 75 seconds remaining in regulation. The IceCats took a 3-2 lead into the first intermission on goals by Pohl and Varlamov. Pohl’s equalizer at 3:01 knotted the score at 1-1 and Varlamov’s pair of power play markers at 14:33 and 16:53, respectively, gave the ‘Cats the one-goal advantage after 20 minutes of hockey. Worcester jumped to a two-goal lead at 12:17 of the second period when Steve Bancroft found the back of the Manitoba net. It was the veteran defenseman’s first as a ‘Cat. Justin Papineau made sure Worcester ended the period on top, taking advantage of a power play and giving the ‘Cats a 5-3 edge. Manitoba defenseman Nolan Baumgartner led a third period comeback for the Moose, who, with the help of two goals from Ryan Ready, tied the score at 6-6 with just over five minutes remaining in regulation. The ‘Cats pressured Manitoba goaltender Alex Auld, allowing Worcester forward Panzer to slip the puck past the netminder with 1:15 left on the clock to give the ‘Cats the 7-6 victory. Mark Rycroft set the table for Panzer’s heroics with a feed from behind the cage. Terry Virtue, Papineau and Rycroft each registered two assists. For Rycroft, the helpers extended his point-scoring streak to six games. Panzer’s goal improved his point-scoring streak to five games. In all, six players registered multiple points to lead the ‘Cats to their fourth win of the season. Phil Osaer was in the Worcester net and stopped 19 of 25 shots, while Auld turned aside 31 of 37.
2003 vs W-B/Scranton 2-1 loss
(ICECATS) The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins scored the decisive goal on their sixth power play to take a 2-1 victory Sunday at Worcester’s Centrum Centre. Worcester’s Mike Glumac scored on the power play at 7:03 of the first. Blake Evans and Johnny Pohl added the assists. It was Glumac’s third goal of the season and his second in as many games, while Pohl earned a point in his first game since returning from recall in St. Louis. The Penguins’ Tom Kostopolous took advantage of a Worcester defensive-end turnover to tie the game 2:03 into the second period. Then, on their fifth consecutive power play and sixth overall, Tomas Surovy found the net to give the Pens a 2-1 lead 4:11 into the third. Shane Endicott and Matt Murley assisted on both Penguins goals. Rookie Andy Chiodo made 32 saves to improve his unbeaten record to 4-0-1. Reinhard Divis took the loss with 26 saves.
2007 at Hartford 4-3 loss
(WORSHARKS) The Sharks fell to the Hartford Wolf Pack 4-3 in Hartford on Friday night. It was the second straight game Worcester lost to Hartford by a one goal margin. The Sharks (4-2-1-0) fell behind early, as Hartford Rookie Tyler Pyatt got the Wolf Pack (5-3-0-1) on the board at 16:06 of the first period with his first professional goal of his career after banging home a loose rebound in front of the net. The first period took only 27 minutes to complete as there were very few whistles and no penalties. Pyatt would score his second goal of his career in the second period to give the Wolf Pack a 2-0 lead. Sharks Forward Mike Iggulden extended his point streak to seven games as he got the Sharks on the board at 10:02 of the second period to cut the lead in half. Patrick Traverse would tie things up at 2-2 with a power play goal at 16:06. The goal by Traverse was the first goal scored by Sharks defenseman all season long. However, Dane Byers would give Hartford the lead once again with just over two minutes to go in the second period, after a goal mouth scramble in front of Thomas Greiss. In the third period, Sharks Forward Tom Cavanagh would tie the game at three, with his second goal of the season, a power play goal at 7:11. But, as the Wolf Pack had done all game long, striked right back, and this time for good, as Alex Bourret scored his second goal of the year at 13:43 to give Hartford the 4-3 lead. Thomas Greiss made 29 saves for the Sharks, while Chris Holt made 20 saves for Hartford in the victory.
2012 at Providence 3-2 win
(WORSHARKS) The Worcester Sharks (3-4-0-1) kicked off their 3-in-3 weekend with their first road victory of the season in a hard fought 3-2 win over the Providence Bruins (2-5-0-0) on Friday evening in front of 7,372 fans at the Dunkin Donuts Center. The road victory was the first in 14 games for the Sharks, with their previous road win occurring back on March 3, 2012 In Providence. Alex Stalock made 32 saves in the win for Worcester. Bracken Kearns scored two power play goals and Tim Kennedy scored his 4th of the season in the victory as the two teams combined for three sets of fighting majors and 70 penalty minutes. The first period was filled with plenty of action including three goals and a pair of toe-to-toe battles. The Sharks went ahead 1-0 as Tim Kennedy (3rd) deflected home a Nick Petrecki shot from the point past goaltender Michael Hutchinson at 7:12. The Bruins tied the game at 15:45 with a 5-on-3 power play goal as Carter Camper (1st) buried a cross ice feed past Alex Stalock to even the score at 1-1. Worcester went ahead at 18:26 as Bracken Kearns (2nd) tipped a Danny Groulx bullet from the left point past Hutchinson to put the Sharks ahead 2-1. Frazer McLaren (2nd FM) battled Lane MacDermid (2nd FM) at 9:26 followed by Brandon Mashinter (1st FM) and Bobby Robbins (5th FM) at 18:27 for a pair of great first period tilts. 13 total penalties were called in the middle frame with the Sharks scoring the only goal in period two. Bracken Kearns (3rd) gave the Sharks a 3-1 lead after a nice pass by Jon Matsumoto, with a backhand shot from between the faceoff circles that knuckled past the Bruins netminder at 10:41. Sena Acolatse (1st FM) took down Christian Hanson (1st FM) at 3:25 with a wicked right hand in a chippy second period. The Sharks led 3-1 after 40 minutes despite getting outshot 21-14. Providence made a charge in the third period scoring one goal on 13 shots to pull within a goal. Max Sauve (4th) scored on the power play at 14:57 past Stalock but it was too little too late as the Sharks held on for the 3-2 road victory in Providence. The Sharks overall record improves to 3-4-0-1 (7pts in 8gp) and 1-2-0-1 (3pts in 4gp) on the road this season.
2013 vs St. John’s 3-0 win
(WORSHARKS) Rookie Troy Grosenick dazzled in his second professional start as the Worcester Sharks (3-4-0-0, 6pts) bounced back with a 3-0 shutout victory over the St. John’s IceCaps (5-6-1-0, 11pts) at the DCU Center on Saturday night. Grosenick went 27-for-27 in the Sharks’ first shutout since November 4, 2012. Worcester defeated the IceCaps for the first time in seven tries (1-3-2-1) at the DCU Center as Daniil Tarasov, Sena Acolatse, and Curt Gogol each scored in the victory. The first period featured an extremely fast-paced level of play as both teams put pressure on net. Troy Grosenick had a stellar first period going 8-for-8 with some eye-catching saves in his second start of the season. The only goal of the period came on the only power play as Matt Tennyson fired a slap shot towards the net and Daniil Tarasov (6th) deflected the puck past goaltender Eddie Pasquale at 19:54. Worcester outshot the IceCaps 10-8 in the first and the period ended with the Sharks up 1-0.
Neither team found the back of the net in the middle period thanks to strong goaltending on both sides. Grosenick went 4-for-4 while Pasquale went 11-for-11. The Sharks ended the period shorthanded but successfully killed two penalties earlier. At 9:53 Kearns (3rd FM) and Mouillerat (1st FM) each picked up five for fighting after a skirmish against the boards. Worcester outshot St. John’s 11-4 in the middle frame. In the final period of the game, the Sharks pulled away following some spectacular defensive plays. At 7:37, Sena Acolatse (1st) ripped a slap shot from the top of the left circle to put the Sharks up 2-0. The game was all but secured at 18:01 when Curt Gogol (1st) got a shorthanded empty net goal by beating out two IceCaps to improve the Sharks lead to 3-0. Grosenick remained incredible in net as he shutout St. John’s once again, saving 13 shots. The IceCaps outshot the Sharks 13-to-11 in the third. The Sharks overall record improves to 3-4-0-0, 6pts and 2-3-0-0, 4pts at the DCU Center.
2014 at Hartford 4-3 loss
(WORSHARKS) The Worcester Sharks (5-3-1-0, 11pts) dropped a contest to the Hartford Wolf Pack (6-2-1-0, 13pts) 4-3 in front of 2,443 fans at the XL Center Sunday afternoon. The Hartford Wolf Pack executed three goals on seven shots in the first period to take control early. Chris Bourque (3rd), J.T. Miler (3rd) and Danny Kristo (3rd) accounted for the early tallies that put the Sharks in a tough spot. The Wolf Pack extended their lead with another insurance goal in the third period by Jesper Fast (1st) before Ryan Carpenter (2nd) broke past the Hartford goal line to put Worcester on the board at 11:52. Freddie Hamilton (5th) and Tyler Kennedy (2nd) narrowed the gap for Worcester, each with a marker as the clock wound down, but the Sharks ultimately came up short falling 4-3. Worcester’s rookie goaltender, J.P. Anderson started in his first AHL game for the Sharks, making 14 saves in the loss. Hartford net minder, Cedrick Desjardins allowed three goals on 39 shots in his first game with the Wolf Pack. The Wolf Pack lit the lamp three times in the opening frame, taking a comfortable 3-0 lead over the Sharks after 20 minutes of play. Chris Bourque (3rd) initiated the scoring on Hartford’s first power play with a wrister to the top right of the net at 8:46. Anderson’s right pad save on Ryan Bourque redirected the loose puck right in front of his unmarked older brother who buried it away. Just a few minutes later, at 11:24, Mat Bodie found J.T, Miller (3rd) open at the back door to deliver the puck behind Anderson and bring the Sharks deficit to two. Hartford sealed the period with an extra tally at 14:05 after Danny Kristo (3rd) scoped out an opening between Anderson and the near pipe from Anderson’s glove-side circle. Despite a 3-0 lead on the scoreboard, Worcester held the edge in shots outshooting Hartford 12-7. The second period ended scoreless on each end, allowing the Wolf Pack to carry their opening lead into the final 20 minutes of the game. Though without a marker on the board, the period was packed with peppered shots, hard hits and a bout. About midway through at 9:23, Micheal Haley (3rd FM) dropped the gloves with Nick Tarnasky (2nd FM) of the Wolf Pack. Worcester kept the shots flowing, putting up another 13 on Desjardins, but couldn’t break past him even on a 5-on-3 advantage. Anderson came up big on all seven of Hartford’s tries to prevent the Wolf Pack from furthering their lead. The Sharks scored three goals in 6:54 in a last ditch rallying effort, but came up short as the third period ended with a 4-3 score. The Wolf Pack widened the scoring gap first just 29 seconds in when Mat Bodie sent a pass from along the boards of the Wolf Pack offensive zone up top to Jesper Fast (1st) who sent a drive in net from the left circle. The Sharks then scored three unanswered goals, first by Ryan Carpenter at 11:52, then Freddie Hamilton (5th) at 16:47, followed by Tyler Kennedy (2nd) at 18:48. The clock expired just when the Sharks picked up momentum outshooting the Wolf Pack 14-4 in the final period. The Sharks overall record drops to 5-3-1-0, 11pts, and 2-1-0-0, 4pts on the road.
2018 vs Adirondack 3-0 loss
(RAILERS) The Worcester Railers HC(3-4-0-0, 6pts) start the month of November with a whimper in a 3-0 loss to the visiting Adirondack Thunder (8-2-0-0, 14pts) in front of 2,686 fansat the DCU Center on Friday evening. Evan Buitenhuis made 33 saves in net to keep the game close for Worcester as the Thunder had three different goal scorers and got 16 saves from Cam Johnson to pace for their sixth straight win. Adirondack skated out to a 1-0 first period after a faceoff win in the offensive zone and Blake Thompson sent a quick shot from the blue line that was deflected in front by Brian Ward (4th) through the pads of goaltender Evan Buitenhuis at 17:35. Barry Almeida hit the crossbar for the best chance for the Railers in a chippy first frame that saw each team throw nine shots on goal. The Railers had three power plays in the second period but could only muster three shots during the 20-minute frame. Evan Buitenhuis made 11 more saves in the period to keep the Railers in the game trailing just 1-0 through 40 minutes of play. Mike Szmatula (4th) added an insurance goal after a loose puck trickled in front of the Worcester cage from behind the net at 10:10 of the third period. Conor Riley (5th) added an empty net goal at 19:15 to give Adirondack a 3-0 road victory.
2019 vs Adirondack 2-0 Loss
(RAILERS) The Worcester Railers HC (3-5-0-0, 6pts) were dropped their fourth straight game and were shutout 2-0 vs. the Adirondack Thunder (5-2-0-1, 11pts)on Saturday evening in front of 4,806 at the DCU Center on W6 Tribute Night. The Railers travel to Glens Falls on Friday, November 8 to take on the Thunder at 7pm. The Railers and Thunder played scoreless hockey for 48:30 minutes before Adirondack scored two third period goals from Mike Szmatula and Robbie Payne in a 2-0 win for the Thunder. Michael McNiven registered his second straight shutout stopping all 29 shots he faced while Evan Buitenhuis was solid in net making 28 saves for Worcester. Adirondack outshot the Railers 15-6 in the opening frame, but the teams would head to the dressing room dead locked at 0-0. Evan Buitenhuis was perfect in net making 15 saves on all 15 shots. The middle frame was another scoreless on for the Railers and Thunder as Worcester outshot Adirondack 9-8. Both teams had one power play, but neither was able to capitalize. Mike Szmatula (1st) broke the ice in the contest giving the Thunder a 1-0 lead at 8:30 of the third period off of a pretty passing play from Nikita Popugaev and Hayden Verbeek. Adirondack was able to increase their lead on a three on two break finished off by Robbie Payne (3rd) passed the glove side of Evan Buitenhuis at 14:24. Worcester went on a four-minute power play after a double minor was assessed to Gabriel Verpaelst but the Railers were unable to capitalize and dropped their fourth straight game. Notes: Three Stars: 3rd star…. Evan Buitenhuis (28 Saves) 2nd star: Mike Szmatula (1-0-1, +1, 4 shots) 1st star: Michael McNiven (29 save shutout)…. final shots were 30-29 in favor of Adirondack…. Michael McNiven (3-1-0) made 29 saves on 29 shots for Adirondack.… Evan Buitenhuis (0-3-0) made 28 saves on 30 shots for Worcester while Linus Soderstrom served as the backup…. Worcester went 0-for-4 on the power play while Adirondack went 0-for-3…. Ivan Chukarov (inj), Ryan Hitchcock (inj), Ross Olsson (susp), and Chris Rygus did not dress for Worcester…. Mike Cornell, Nic Pierog, and Jakub Skarek are currently on recall with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers…. Ross Olsson served his one game suspension after receiving an instigator penalty in the final five minutes of the game Friday…. Shane Walsh made his Railers debut with one shot…. Jordan Samuels-Thomas and JD Dudek led the Railers with five shots a piece…. Michael McNiven registered his second straight shutout and now has a streak of 127:17 without allowing a goal…. The Worcester Fire and Police skated in the Guns N’ Hoses game beforehand with the Worcester Fire winning 8-3…. Ray Bourque skated a half for both teams…. Worcester is now 17-8-2-0 all-time vs. the Thunder and 7-4-1-0 at the DCU Center.
2022 vs Newfoundland 4-3 OTW
(RAILERS) Through the years, the Railers have played a lot of games with the Newfoundland Growlers they’d love to forget. They’ve also played a couple they’ll never forget like their 4-3 overtime victory at the DCU Center Wednesday night, a triumph that extended their winning streak to six games and left them undefeated. Newfoundland was also 5-0-0 going into the night. Initially, Worcester had seemed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, blowing an early 2-0 lead. Then, with goalie Ken Appleby on the bench for an extra skater, Anthony Repaci made it 3-3 with 48 seconds left in the third period. Collin Adams won it at 2:50 of overtime. Adams made a three-zone rush down the left wing and beat Growlers goalie Dryden McKay with a high shot from the bottom of the circle. “I saw it was a forward (defending),” Adams said, “and I knew I could try to beat him wide and I put the puck up there and tried to get it on net. I saw their goalie drop to the butterfly so I knew I had to try to get the puck up.” Adams also assisted on Repaci’s goal. It was a high one-timer from the top of the circles, set up when Brent Beaudoin won a faceoff cleanly. It was an especially sweet comeback considering how Worcester had frittered away its lead. Nolan Vesey and Reece Newkirk scored goals in the first period and the Railers carried a 2-0 edge into the second 20 minutes, but the Growlers took over at that point. Tyler Boland scored at 5:54 of the second period and it was 2-1 going into the third. Brett Budgell tied it at 8:01, then Nathan Noel scored what seemed like a backbreaker at 13:06 as he came out of the penalty box and beat Ken Appleby on a shorthanded breakaway. The Railers were not deterred. They pulled the goalie and for just the third time in franchise history it turned a likely loss into a victory. The Railers played the overtime period almost perfectly. “It definitely gave us momentum,” coach Jordan Lavallee-Smotherman said of Repaci’s goal. “When you give up a goal like that, you’re dejected, especially after scoring as late as they did to go ahead.” Worcester has matched the longest winning streak in franchise history. The Railers won six straight in the final days of the 2017-18 season during their playoff run. The city record is eight in a row, done by the Sharks in January of 2015. The Railers seem to have a shot at that given that their coach thought that while the outcome was perfect Wednesday night, his team’s game was not. “I think we can do better,” Smotherman said. “I don’t think that was our best performance. We had moments in the game when we were at our best, but I thought that we should have known that in the second they were gonna come out hard.” The Railers scored first for the fifth time in their six games with Vesey getting his second of the season at 11:01 of the first period on a backhander. Newkirk scored a bit more than a minute later, at 12:22, set up by Blade Jenkins. Newkirk skirted the front of the net and created some room between McKay and near post. Newkirk then slid the puck just over the goal line and in off the far post. Boland scored his fifth of the season at 5:54 after Newfoundland had put a lot of pressure on Appleby. The goal was a no-chancer as Boland was alone in the bottom of the right circle and snapped it home before the Railers goalie could get over. The Growlers’ two goals in the third seemed like it would make it 22 wins in 27 games against Worcester overall, but it was much better late than never for the home team this time around. MAKING TRACKS_Appleby remarkably has a winning record versus Newfoundland at 3-2-1. That means all other Railers goalies are 4-16-1 against the Growlers. … The homestand continues with three games versus the Norfolk Admirals. The teams play morning, noon and night — almost. Saturday is a 7:05 start, Sunday a 3:05 game and Tuesday a school event with the puck drop at 10 a.m. Norfolk is one of those cities that has played against all three Worcester teams — IceCats and Sharks of the AHL and the Railers. They beat the Admirals, 6-1 in their previous meeting on March 9, 2019. Former Sharks defenseman Nick Schaus is skating with Norfolk. … Newkirk’s goal came 4 on 4, the first one of the season by the Railers. … Attendance was 2,507.
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