1994 at Albany 5-0 loss
The Worcester IceCats threw 24 shots on River Rats goaltender Corey Schwab and he stopped them all in a 5-0 loss to Albany. Bryan Helmer, Scott Pellerin, Curt Regnier, Reid Simpson, and Mike Vukonich all scored for the River Rats. Regnier and Pellerin both had two assists for three-point nights. Helmer also added an assist. Wayne Cowley was in net for the ‘Cats.
1997 at Hartford 5-3 loss
The Worcester IceCats dug themselves holes of 2-0 and 4-1 and couldn’t climb out of either of them in a 5-3 loss to the Wolf Pack. Todd Gillingham had the only goal of the opening period, at 6:16, to give Hartford the 1-0 lead. Thirty-eight seconds into the middle stanza Christian Dube made it a two goal Pack lead. Dennis Wright got the ‘Cats on the board at 6:00 when he tipped Terry Virtue’s shot into the net. Stephane Roy had the secondary assist. Vladimir Vorobiev would grab the next two for Hartford, at 6:37 and 10:15, to make it 4-1. Michal Handzus got the IceCats to within two at 13:01 with a high wrist shot. Ivan Ciernik had the lone helper. Stephane Roy made it a one goal game just 1:58 into the third period when he banged home a Bob Lachance feed, with Virtue also assisting, but Brent Thompson’s unassisted shorthanded empty net goal at 19:40 ended any chance of a late comeback. Brent Johnson made 33 saves in the contest.
1998 at Albany 3-2 loss
The Worcester IceCats used another rookie goaltender, Jim Mullin, and he played good enough to win but the offense didn’t as they dropped a 3-2 contest to the River Rats. Jeff Williams scored on Albany’s second shot of the game in the first period. Tyler Willis tied it at 3:18 of the second period when Derek Bekar’s shot hit some bodies in front and landed right on the tape of Willis’ stick. Jiri Bicek gave Albany the lead back at 8:42, and Eric Bertrand made it 3-1 at 10:01. Shayne Toporowski got it to 3-2 at 19:23 of the third with an extra attacker goal, but that was as close as the ‘Cats would get. [210Sports note: it was the only AHL game Jim Mullin played in, and he retired after the season was over.]
1999 vs Albany 2-2 tie
The Worcester IceCats trailed by two goals entering the third period, but Derek Bekar scored twice in the final period to forge a 2-2 tie with the River Rats. In the first period Pierre Dagenais gave Albany a 1-0 lead at 7:03 and Steve Kelly made it a two goal advantage at 12:48. After a scoreless middle stanza Bekar got the ‘Cats on the board with a power play goal at 7:34 of the third, assisted by Dan Corso and Peter Smrek. With Jim Campbell in the penalty box for slashing Bekar struck again at 10:03, with Corso helping on the shorthanded goal. Both teams had four shots in overtime. Brent Johnson made 47 saves in the game and was the #1 star.
2003 at Hartford 4-3 win
(CANOE) Marc Brown scored twice and Jame Pollock added a goal and two assists as Worcester handed Hartford its first regulation loss of the season, 4-3 at the Hartford Civic Center on Wednesday. The IceCats led 2-0 after one period on a pair of power play goals against the Wolf Pack’s second-ranked penalty killing unit. Reinhard Divis made 20 of his 39 saves in the first frame. Blake Evans scored to make it 3-0 for Worcester and send Wolf Pack goalie Jason LaBarbera to the bench after allowing three goals on 14 shots. Former IceCat Phil Osaer stopped eight of nine shots in relief, but was saddled with his first loss of the year. Garth Murray, Jason MacDonald and Bobby Andrews scored for Hartford (8-1-3-1), which still leads the AHL’s overall standings with 20 points.
2004 at Hartford 4-2 win
The Worcester IceCats and Hartford Wolf Pack played 40 minutes of solid hockey and then found the offense in the third in the ‘Cats 4-2 win over Hartford. Jeff Hoggan, from Blake Evans and Mike Mottau, gave Worcester the lead at 6:18 of the opening period. It would take until 6:44 of the third for the Wolf Pack to tie it when Alexandre Giroux lit the lamp. Dennis Wideman gave the IceCats the lead back with a goal at 10:06, assisted by Jay McClement and Mike Glumac. Jon DiSalvatore made it a two goal game at 13:57 on a power play tally assisted by Mottau and Evans. Craig Weller would make it interesting with a Hartford power play goal at 18:31, but Glumac hit an empty net with help from D.J. King at 19:09 for the 4-2 final. Curtis Sanford made 34 saves in the win.
2006 at Bridgeport 5-4 SOL
(SOUND TIGERS) Sergei Ogorodnikov scored in the sixth round of the shootout to send the Bridgeport Sound Tigers to a thrilling 5-4 sudden-death victory over the Worcester Sharks before 4,683 fans at the Arena at Harbor Yard on Sunday. Ogorodnikov scored his third shootout goal of the year when he beat Worcester goaltender Dimitri Patzold with a backhanded shot after Patzold and Sound Tigers goaltender Wade Dubielewicz stopped every shot in the first five rounds. The Sound Tigers won the specialty teams battle, going 3-for-7 on the power play, while their top-ranked penalty kill held Worcester’s power play (fourth in the league) scoreless on six man advantages. The Sharks salvaged a point by overcoming a 4-1 deficit to force overtime. The Sound Tigers built a 4-1 lead in the second period behind three unanswered goals in a span of less than five minutes midway through the second period to seemingly seize control of the game. Blake Comeau gave Bridgeport a 1-0 first-period lead when he blasted a power play goal off the far post at 4:31 of the first period. The Sharks answered to tie the game 1-1 when Joe Pavelski scored at 4:07 of the second period. Bridgeport scored the next three as Eric Boguniecki (at 8:30 of the second) and Jeff Tambellini (at 11:18) struck on the power play. Frans Nielsen scored an even strength goal at 13:23 to make it 4-1 before Worcester began a comeback. The Sharks scored twice in 57 seconds late in the second to get back into the game. Mathieu Darche scored his 14th of the year at 17:42 of the period to cut the lead to 4-2 and Tomas Plihal got Worcester to within 4-3 with a goal at 18:39 of the period. The Sharks sent the game to overtime thanks to Craig Valette’s third-period tally at 9:36 of the stanza. Dubielewicz fended off 15 of 16 third period shots and won his first shootout of the season. Bridgeport out-shot Worcester 36-31 in the game despite being held to four third period shots. The Sound Tigers outs-hot Worcester 7-1 in overtime. Bridgeport improved to 2-2 in shootouts this year and the Sharks dropped to 1-3. Comeau had an assist on New Haven/West Haven native Boguniecki’s goal to give Comeau a team-leading 14 points (4 goals, 10 assists). Tambellini’s goal was his team-best seventh.
2007 vs Springfield 2-1 win SO
(WORSHARKS) After surrendering a 1-0 lead with just seconds to play, the Worcester Sharks picked up two standings points with a 2-1 shootout victory on Monday afternoon at the DCU Center. Graham Mink and Nate Raduns converted for the Sharks during the shootout, while Thomas Greiss denied all four Springfield shooters to go along with 36 saves through regulation and overtime to earn his sixth victory of the season. Dan Spang broke a scoreless tie midway through the third period, fighting through traffic to track down his own rebound before firing the puck over the outstretched glove of Springfield goaltender Jeff Deslauriers and into the top netting. The goal was Spang’s first of the year and just the second for a Sharks defenseman all season. Spang’s goal was 5.1 seconds away from standing up as the game-winner when Falcons defenseman Sebastien Bisaillon fired a slap shot from the blue line that beat Greiss and forced overtime. Greiss had stopped 34 shots over 59:54 before allowing the tying goal. For the first fifty minutes, the game was even and scoreless. The opening two periods featured forty combined shots but no goals, thanks in part to the continued stellar play of Greiss, who earned Number One Star honors. Worcester had two power play chances to open the second period, but the Sharks power play, ranked second in the AHL, was held without a shot on net over four minutes. Worcester’s best chance came when Patrick Traverse attempted to send a pass around the end boards. The puck struck the boards awkwardly and bounced just over the stick of Mink, who was alone in front of the Springfield net.
2010 at Manchester 3-1 win
(WORSHARKS) Benn Ferriero scored twice and Alex Stalock made 37 saves to lead the Sharks to a 3-1 victory over the Manchester Monarchs at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester on Friday night. Sean Sullivan scored his third goal of the season and added an assist in a game that saw 22 penalties called as the Sharks improved to 4-0-0-1 in their last five games. Neither team would score in a fast moving, close checking first period of play. Alex Stalock made the best save of the period, making a split stop on top of his crease robbing Corey Elkins scoring bid. Tommy Wingels was denied by Jeff Zatkoff on a partial breakaway in a period that saw only 12 total shots on goal, with each team firing six. Andrew Desjardins and Richard Clune tangled at 9:49 to set the tome the rest of the way. Sean Sullivan (3rd) gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead after he buried the puck from 15 feet on top of the crease after a terrific feed from Dan DaSilva, who was set up behind the Monarchs’ net at 9:17. The Sharks would take a 2-0 advantage on the power play after Benn Ferriero (8th) broke free down the right side on the power play and roofed the puck past Zatkoff at 13:28. Sean Sullivan sent Ferriero free with a quick pass behind the defense as Benn scored his 8th goal in just his 10th game. The 2nd period featured 12 minor penalties as the Sharks were outshot 12-7 in the middle frame. In the third period, Alec Martinez (4th) scored a power play marker at 2:23 after his hard shot from on top of the circles found its way through a crowd and broke past Stalock to cut the Sharks lead to 2-1. Richard Clune was given a major and a game misconduct after he ran Matt Irwin from behind at 6:33 but the Sharks couldn’t score on the five minute power play. Benn Ferriero (9th) sealed the deal stuffing in a rebound at 15:20 to give the Sharks a two goal lead. Alex Stalock made 18 saves in the third period making several tough saves to close up the Sharks 6th victory of the season. The Sharks overall record improves to 6-3-1-2 (15pts) and to 3-2-0-1 (7pts) on the road
2011 vs Manchester 2-1 loss
(WORSHARKS) Tommy Wingels scored his first goal of the season and Worcester fired a season high 47 shots, but it wasn’t enough as the Sharks fell to the Manchester Monarchs 2-1 at the DCU Center on Saturday night. Tyson Sexsmith was solid in goal for Worcester making 23 saves in a game that featured several fights and post whistle scrums. The Sharks dropped to 1-3-0-1 on their season long six game home stand concludes on Sunday with a 3pm start vs. the Providence Bruins. Tommy Wingels (1st) gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead at 6:47 of the first period after he swatted a loose puck on top of the crease past Monarchs goaltender Jeff Zatkoff. Mike Connolly grabbed the only assist on the play as he took an initial past by Wingels and bounced it back in front of the Manchester crease. Monarchs’ enforcer Justin Johnson instigated a fight with Frazer McLaren (1st FM) at 17:14 as the two heavy weights took turns in a lengthy battle. Each team went 0-for-2 on the power play as the Sharks took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. Big time fireworks kicked off the second period as both teams got involved in extracurricular activities. Jordan Nolan (4th FM) challenged Benn Ferriero to a fight at 2:04, but Brandon Mashinter (2nd FM) hoped in and fought Nolan at center ice. At 4:42, Sena Acolatse (1st pro fight) fought Richard Clune (8th FM) after Clune boarded Nathan Moon inside the Sharks zone. Acolatse landed several right hands before Clune headed to the locker room for repairs. After the dust settled, Justin Acevedo fired a puck past Tyson Sexsmith from the right circle after a terrific cross ice feed from Linden Vey at 19:00. The score was tied 1-1 after 40 minutes of play. Worcester outshot Manchester 23-5 in the third period but it was Sharks killer Slava Voynov (2nd) with the only score. The Monarchs defensemen fired a laser puck trough traffic and past Sexsmith at 3:16 from the blue line to put Manchester ahead 2-1. Worcester hit the post three times in the third period, twice in a five second span midway through the period. Jeff Zatkoff shut the door and grabbed the #1 star as the victor in net for Manchester. The Sharks record falls to 5-3-0-2 with 12 points and to 3-3-0-1 at the DCU Center.
2017 at Manchester 5-2 loss
(RAILERS) The Worcester Railers HC (5-5-1-0, 11pts) got swept in a home-and-home series after a 5-2 loss to the host Manchester Monarchs (8-3-1-1, 18pts) in front 2,696 fans at the SNHU Arena on Sunday afternoon. Patrick McNally and Wade Murphy scored for Worcester while Eamon McAdam made 32 saves in net. Manchester had five different goal scorers and Evan Cowley made 31 saves as the Monarchs extended their point streak to seven games with the win. Manchester struck first in the opening period as Kevin Morris (7th) broke down the right-wing side on a 2-on-1 and snapped a shot off the post and past Eamon McAdam at 4:43. Each team went 0-1 on the power play as Worcester outshot Manchester 13-9 through 20 minutes of play but trailed 1-0. The Monarchs would go ahead 3-0 after Craig Wyszomirski (2nd) fired a bouncing puck from the point and through a screen at 16 seconds of the middle frame followed by Cory Ward (5th) who ended up all alone on top of the crease at 7:23. Yanick Turcotte (7th FM) got the boys fired up with a great scrap at 16:15 with Martin Nemcik (1st FM) and the Railers responded. With 45 seconds left in the frame, Patrick McNally (6th) fired home a power play tally from the point to get the Railers on the board. Worcester trailed 3-1 after 40 minutes despite leading in shots 25-19. Matt Marcinew (5th) struck on the power play at 9:52 to put Manchester ahead 4-1 in the third period. Wade Murphy (3rd) scored on a tough angle shot from the right side at 11:32 to get Worcester back within two goals. Zac Lynch (4th) would add an empty netter at 17:54 as the Monarchs swept the two-game set with a 5-2 home victory.
2021 at Newfoundland 3-2 SO loss
(RAILERS) Conception Bay South, NL – The Worcester Railers HC (1-4-0-1, 3pts) opened up their first road three in three weekend losing 3-2 to the Newfoundland Growlers (7-1-0-0, 14pts) in front of 1,168 fans at the Conception Bay South Arena on Friday evening. The Railers face off against the Newfoundland Growlers on Saturday, November 12that 5:30pm.
The Railers held the lead twice in this game, as Paul Thompson (1-0-1) and Jacob Hayhurst (1-1-2) each put Worcester up on separate occasions. Evan Cormier made 29 saves in net for Newfoundland, and stopped three of the Railers four shootout attempts to lock up the victory for the Growlers. Appleby made 29 saves as well for Worcester in the loss.
Paul Thompson (1st) gave the Railers the opening 1-0 lead with 12:45 to go in the first. Five minutes later, Nathan Noel (1st) hit a point-blank one-timer to beat Appleby blocker side and tie the game 1-1 with 7:40 left in the period. Late in the period with 1:25 to go, Jacob Hayhurst (2nd) tucked home the rebound of a Charlie Spetz blast to put Worcester up 2-1. The Railers would head into the first intermission with a 2-1 lead while outshooting Newfoundland 12-10. The second period saw the first penalties of the game, but no goals. Worcester went 0-2 on the power play, and neither team were able to convert on the four-on-four opportunity that came up with six minutes to go in the period. Newfoundland outshot Worcester 11-4 in the second, to bring the shot total to 21-16 in favor of the Growlers. The Growlers went on the powerplay early in the third after a Blake Christensen hooking penalty, which opened up the door for Orrin Centazzo (2nd) to tie the game at 2-2 on the man advantage. Neither team would score for the rest of the period. Worcester outshot Newfoundland 11-8 in the frame to bring the shots to 29-27 in favor of the Growlers at the end of regulation. In overtime the Railers had their chance on the power play, but were unable to convert as the seven-minute period came to a close with no scoring from either side. Worcester outshot Newfoundland in OT 4-2. In the shootout, Blake Christensen and Zach O’Brien each scored in the first round. Hayhurst got stuffed by the pad of Cormier in round number two, as Appleby was able to match and make the glove save on Riley McCourt. In the third round, Paul Thompson was stopped by the left pad of Cormier, as Appleby would make another save on Centazzo to keep the shootout alive. In the fourth round, Nolan Vesey was stopped by the glove hand of Cormier, while Marcus power was able to beat Appleby on the left side to give the Growlers their seventh victory of the season. Notes: Three Stars: 3rd star: Zach O’Brien (0-2-2, +1, 6 shots) 2nd star: Jacob Hayhurst (1-1-2, +1) 1st star: Marcus Power (0-1-1, SO winner) … Final shots were 32-31 in favor of Newfoundland … Evan Cormier (3-1-0) made 29 saves on 31 shots for Newfoundland … Ken Appleby (0-2-1) made 29 saves on 31 shots for Worcester while Matt Jenkins served as the backup… Worcester went 0-for-4 on the power play while Newfoundland went 1-for-3 … Liam Coughlin (DNP), Brett Beaudoin (IR), Tyler Poulsen (DNP), JD Dudek (DNP), Ross Olsson (DNP) and Karl Boudrias (DNP) did not dress for Worcester… Colten Ellis, Nick Albano, and Nic Pierog are all up with the Springfield Thunderbirds … Jacob Hayhurst recorded his second multipoint game in three contests, and now has points in four of six games for Worcester… Charlie Spetz tallied an assist and now has points in back to back games in his first two professional contests… Grant Jozefek registered his first professional point with an assist. Paul Thompson scored his first goal as a Railer in his fifth game for Worcester… Paul Thompson led the Railers with 8 shots… Worcester has 66 games left on the regular season 33 of which are at the DCU Center… The Railers are now 4-12-1-1 all-time vs. the Growlers and 1-6-1-1 at Newfoundland.
2022 at Adirondack 3-2 SOW
(RAILERS) The Worcester Railers HC (10-1-0-0, 20pts) took down the Adirondack Thunder (2-4-1-1, 6pts) on Saturday evening by the final score of 3-2 in the shootout in front of a crowd of 4,378 at Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls, NY. The Railers are back in Worcester, MA at the DCU Center on Wednesday, November 16th to take on the Reading Royals at 7:05 p.m. Worcester’s Quin Ryan (1-1-2) opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal early in the first to put Worcester up 1-0. Adirondack tied things in the third thanks to former Railer Grant Jozefek (1-0-1). Reece Newkirk (1-0-1) put Worcester back up with his fifth of the season, just for Shane Harper (1-0-1) to tie it up with just 1:48 remaining in the game. Neither team scored in the overtime period, as Bobby Butler’s dribbler through Theut’s legs and Tikkanen’s standout effort in the shootout made the difference and gave Worcester the shootout win, 3-2. Quin Ryan (3rd) scored the first goal of the game shorthanded 4:53 into the first. He broke free down the right side and sniped the top right corner of the net past Jake Theut to make it 1-0 Worcester. The goal marked the second straight game with a goal for Ryan, and his fourth straight game with a point. It was the second shorthanded goal of the season for the Railers. Neither team scored for the rest of the period as the Railers held onto a 1-0 lead going into the first intermission. It was a scoreless second period, but not an uneventful one. There were seven total penalty minutes assessed against the Railers, and nine against the Thunder. Yannick Turcotte delivered a high hit on Worcester’s Bobby Butler, sending Butler to the ice and getting Turcotte ejected from the game. Turcotte was playing in just his second game coming off a five-game suspension. Liam Coughlin then jumped in and fought Turcotte for his first fighting major since November 26th, 2021, when the Railers again made a trip up to Glens Falls. Shots favored Worcester in the second 9-6, and the Railers in the game 20-16. In the third, Grant Jozefek (2nd) scored for the second straight game this time tying it up 1-1 with 14:11 left in the game. Reece Newkirk (5th) would then put the Railers back out in front just 1:42 later thanks to Quin Ryan’s assist and second point of the night to make it 2-1 Railers. The Thunder struck back with time running out to tie the game up. Shane Harper (2nd) shot a puck on the net out in front, off a quick pass from Sebastian Vidmar, and made it 2-2 with only 1:48 remaining. The two teams skated out the remaining 108 seconds, as the game was headed to overtime. Shots in the third favored Worcester 12-11, and through regulation favored the Railers 32-27. A high-flying overtime period heavily favored Adirondack and would have likely won them the game against any goalie other than Henrik Tikkanen, who stood tall and made seven saves in the extra frame to send the Railers to their first shootout of the season.
Shane Harper got things started by skating in and missing wide left past Tikkanen to put Adirondack down in the shootout early. Blake Christensen dangled his way out in front and faked Theut out of his net to put Worcester ahead 1-0 after the first round of the shootout. In the second round, Vladislav Mikhalchuk blazed down the left side and tucked one far side past the left leg of Tikkanen to tie the shootout 1-1 in the first half of the second round. Bobby Butler was tasked with the Railers second shot. He raced up the left side and squeaked one through the five-hole of Theut. Theut got 90% of the puck on the save attempt, but the final 10% enabled the puck to trickle past Theut and barely cross the goal line, giving Worcester the 2-1 advantage through two rounds. It was Xavier Parent’s turn to shoot with the game riding on his stick, but Henrik Tikkanen maintained the composure he held all night long and made the save, securing the 3-2 win in the shootout. Notes: Three Stars: 3rd Star: Shane Harper (1-0-1, -1, 5 shots), 2nd Star: Reece Newkirk (1-0-1, +1, 3 shots), 1st Star: Quin Ryan (1-1-2 +1, 6 shots)… Final shots were in favor of Worcester 37-34… Jake Thuet made 34 saves on 36 shots for the Thunder while Talor Joseph served as the backup… Henrik Tikkanen (5-0-0) made 32 saves on 34 shots for Worcester, while Ken Appleby served as the backup… Worcester went 0-for-5 on the power play while Adirondack went 0-for-2…Blade Jenkins (DNP), Anthony Repaci (DNP), Nolan Vesey (DNP), Conor Breen (IR), and Jack Quinlivan (IR) did not play for Worcester… Quin Ryan led the Railers in shots with 4… The Railers are now 34-17-2-0 all-time vs. the Thunder and 19-9-1-0 at Cool Insuring Arena against Adirondack.
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