1955 at Baltimore 10-4 loss
No details available
1995 vs Cape Breton 4-4 tie
The IceCats fell behind twice but managed a third period goal to earn a 4-4 tie against the Cape Breton Oilers. With Worcester down 2-0 on goals by David Oliver and Roman Oksiuta, Jarrett Deuling got the IceCats on the board with a goal at 7:56 of the first period, assisted by Blair Atcheynum and Jason Weinrich. Terry Virtue got Worcester to even with a goal 33 seconds into the second period, with Denis Chalifoux and Atcheynum getting the assists, and then at 4:41 John Carter gave Worcester the lead with helpers going to Mark Ouimet and Virtue. Late second period goals by Peter White and Todd Marchant would put the IceCats down again, but Atcheynum would give Worcester a point with an overtime forcing goal at 9:22 of the third, assisted by Chalifoux and Virtue.
1997 at Fredericton 7-1 win
Despite playing their fourth game in five nights the Worcester IceCats scored two first period goals and never looked back in a 7-1 thrashing of the Canadiens. Jamal Mayers began the scoring at 6:56 of the first period, assisted by Jamie Rivers. Mike Maneluk made it 2-0 at 16:02, with Alex Vasilevskii and Bob Lachance helping. Miloslav Guren cut that lead in half at 18:25. Chris Kenady got the ‘Cats lead back to two goals 13 seconds into the middle period, with Stephane Roy and Radim Bicanek assisting. Nick Naumenko made it 4-1 with a five on three goal at 13:11, with Lachance and Terry Virtue assisting, and one second after the five in four penalty elapsed Roy made it 5-1. Konstantin Shafranov and Naumenko assisted on the goal at 14:43. In the third period Mayers scored again, this time unassisted at 4:18. Vasilevskii capped the scoring, helped by Shafranov and Naumenko, at 16:38. Jamie McLennan made 24 saves in the win.
1998 at Albany 5-1 loss
The Worcester IceCats allowed three first period goals to the River Rats and were never in the contest as they dropped the game 5-1. Albany’s first period goals were by Sergei Brylin (1:07 and 8:51) and Steve Brule at 15:39 on the power play. Jeff Williams scored at 8:52 of the second frame to make it 4-0. Robert Petrovicky got the ‘Cats on the board with a 45-foot slap shot, assisted by Mike Prokopec and Bryce Salvador. In the third period John Madden added a shorthanded goal at 4:32 for the 5-1 final. Fred Cassivi made 32 saves in the contest.
1999 at Providence 7-1 loss
The Worcester IceCats scored first, but from that point on it was all P-Bruins as the ‘Cats lost a 7-1 contest. Jamal Mayers put Worcester in front 1-0 at 5:01 when he swept a rebound of a Tyson Nash shot past Providence goaltender Jim Carey. Antti Laakonsen tied the game at 8:29. Aaron Downey gave Providence the lead for good at 11:50. Andre Savage had a hat trick for the Baby-Bs. Brent Johnson was in goal for Worcester.
2000 vs Springfield 5-2 win
(TICKER) Reed Low distributed two assists and five of his teammates scored as the Worcester Ice Cats downed the Springfield Falcons, 5-2. Low assisted on Marc Brown’s goal with just six seconds left in the second period, then set up Andrej Podkonicky as Worcester took the lead for good with 8:20 remaining. Jamie Thompson scored 38 seconds later and Daniel Corso added an empty-netter for the Ice Cats, who have won their last three home contests. Brent Johnson stopped 22 shots to improve to 12-10-3. Ryan Huska and Daniel Briere scored in the middle frame for Springfield, which is 0-2-1 against its in-state rival this season.
2002 vs Rochester 4-1 loss
The Worcester IceCats allowed two first period goals and never recovered in a 4-1 loss to the Amerks. Andrew Peters opened the scoring for Rochester at 11:02, and Doug Houda made it 2-0 with a power play goal at 13:55. Eric Boguniecki but the Americans’ lead in half at 19:01 on the power play, assisted by Jame Pollock and Darren Rumble. Marty Clapton had the only goal in the middle stanza, at 9:01, to make it 3-1 Amerks. Mario Larocque added an empty netter at 19:37 of the third for the 4-1 final. Cody Rudkowsky made 27 saves in the loss.
2004 at Philadelphia 3-1 win
(PHANTOMS) Mike Glumac recorded a hat trick to lead the visiting Worcester IceCats to a 3-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phantoms tonight at the Wachovia Spectrum. Glumac, in his first full AHL season out of Miami of Ohio University, snapped a 1-1 tie 36 seconds into the third period and sealed the win with an empty-net goal with 34.7 seconds remaining. It was the first hat trick of the season by an IceCat. Curtis Sanford stopped 17-of-18 shots for Worcester, which had lost three of its last four games and was 0-2-1 in its last three road games. Kirby Law scored the lone goal and Antero Niittymaki made 25 saves for Philadelphia, which has lost three games in a row. Following a scoreless opening period in which Philadelphia failed on a pair of 2-on-1 rushes, Worcester assumed a 1-0 lead 4:56 into the second stanza. Jay McClement took a feed from Jon Coleman on the play and fired a shot on net. The rebound rolled just outside the crease and Glumac was there to tap it in for his 10th of the year. The Phantoms answered with 5:32 to go in the middle period on Law’s team-leading 14th goal. Ben Stafford and Wade Skolney worked the puck to Law, who darted down the near side and unleashed a low line drive that sailed past Sanford. Glumac netted the game-winner 36 seconds into the third after John Pohl maintained possession behind the Phantoms net. Pohl fed Glumac in the near circle and the right wing beat Niittymaki near post. Glumac then completed his hat trick with 34.7 seconds to play, with assists going to Scott Pellerin and Blake Evans.
2005 at Hershey 5-1 loss
The Worcester IceCats fired 20 first period shots at Bears netminder but only beat him once in a 5-1 loss to Hershey. D.J. King got the lone Worcester goal, assisted by Aaron MacKenzie, at 4:48 of the opening period. Carl Corazzini tied the game for the Bears at 0:45 of the middle period, and Eric Perrin (9:20) and Martin Wilde (18:13) tacked on two more in that period to make it 3-1. Eric Perrin added a fourth at 10:12 of the third, and former ‘Cats forward Nick Naumenko added an unassisted empty net goal at 18:33 for the 5-1 final. Curtis Sanford had 28 saves in the loss.
2008 vs Hershey 3-1 win
(WORSHARKS) TJ Fox scored on his club’s first shot of 2008 and the Worcester Sharks never looked back, chasing Hershey Bears goaltender Davis Parley and cruising to a 3-1 home ice victory at the DCU Center on Wednesday night. Parley, playing in only his second career AHL game, would allow three goals on just 15 shots before being pulled shortly after the first intermission. In the game’s opening minutes, Derek Joslin headmanned to Fox, starting a breakaway that Fox finished with a backhand flick past Parley at 2:24 of the opening period to give the Sharks an early 1-0 lead. A high-sticking minor against Hershey forward Jason Morgan set up Joslin for a power play goal that doubled the Worcester advantage ten minutes later. The blueliner’s fourth of the year was a knuckling slap shot that bounced off the chest of Parley and into the net. Despite just six shots in the first period and a lingering Sharks power play that straddled the break, the Bears regrouped for the second and scored a shorthanded goal to claw back within one. Chris Bourque scooped up a loose puck near the red line, charged into the zone, and beat Sharks netminder Thomas Greiss with a quick shot from the left faceoff circle for his 10th goal of the season. Worcester reasserted the two goal lead less than three minutes later, ending Parley’s night in the process. Mike Iggulden, who assisted on the previous Sharks tally, found a passing lane from behind the Hershey goal and fed Graham Mink just outside the crease. Mink slipped a casual shot through the legs of Parley, extending the Sharks lead to 3-1 with his ninth goal of the campaign. Daren Machesney took over in net for the Bears and stopped all eighteen shots he faced over the duration of the contest. Despite being unable to solve Machesney, the Sharks had all the offense they would need. The Worcester penalty killing unit wiped away three Bears power plays in the final period and Greiss stopped all but one of Hershey’s 19 shots in the game to preserve the lead.
2009 vs Norfolk 5-1 win
(WORSHARKS) With a little help from linemate Andrew Desjardins and a particularly generous pane of DCU Center glass, Riley Armstrong netted a hat trick and led the Worcester Sharks to a 5-1 victory over the Norfolk Admirals on Friday night. Armstrong scored a goal in each period – two of them assisted by Desjardins – as the Sharks pulled into a tie with Manchester for fourth place in the Atlantic Division. As Worcester struggled to generate offense in the opening period, Norfolk’s Mike Lundin picked up his first professional goal at 13:25. Lundin’s blue line snipe was a one-timer off a pass from Chris Gratton, a veteran of over one thousand NHL games who is in the midst of his first ever stint in the AHL. Shortly after Riley Armstrong picked up his second minor penalty of the night, Norfolk’s Grant Potulny was whistled for two infractions – high-sticking and hooking – at 16:53. The teams skated 4-on-4 until Armstrong’s penalty expired, at which time Armstrong atoned for his ways. The Sharks winger fired home the rebound of a Michael Wilson slap shot to tie the game with just over a minute remaining in the period. That final minute held plenty of entertainment, however, as tempers flared between Desjardins and Steve Downie. The war of words between that pair was overshadowed, however, by two fights in the period’s final minute. Frazer McLaren and Brett Henley dropped the gloves and each other in a very short bout at 19:54, and Brad Staubitz battled Jay Rosehill in an extended, very physical altercation at 19:56. The latter stoppage also produced a ten minute misconduct against Downie. Luck tilted the game in Worcester’s favor in the middle frame, as the Sharks scored two freak goals on their way to opening up a commanding 4-1 lead. Armstrong banked a slow centering feed from behind the goal line off the heel of Norfolk backstop Mike McKenna and into the net. The goal was Armstrong’s second of the night and twelfth of the year, and gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead less than three minutes into the period. At 14:37 of the second, Matt Fornataro fired a shot wide of McKenna, only to have the puck rebound off the end boards, roll over the top of the net, and slide down the back of McKenna before coming to rest in the goal. The Sharks would pick up a comparatively normal but shorthanded goal prior to the period’s end, however. Desjardins took an outlet feed from Worcester netminder Thomas Greiss and charged up the right wing boards before centering in the direction of Ryan Vesce. Vesce put on the brakes to meet the puck and slid it back across the face of the goal, crossing up McKenna to net his eleventh tally of the season. Another pair of fights and Armstrong’s third goal highlighted the final period. After dishing out his third assist of the game – and second to Armstrong – on the period’s lone goal, Desjardins and Downie revisted their first period disagreement. The pair went to battle shortly after TJ Fox and Blair Jones exchanged blows, capping a four fight affair. Greiss made seven saves in the third period and stopped 27 of 28 shots overall.
2010 at Lowell 5-2 win
(WORSHARKS) Five different goal scorers and 40 saves by Alex Stalock led the Worcester Sharks to an impressive 5-2 victory over the Devils at the Tsongas Arena in Lowell on Saturday night. It was the fifth straight victory for the Sharks and their 21st win of the season as the Sharks grab 2nd place in the Atlantic Division Logan Couture extended his point streak to eight games (4-9-13) and Dwight Helminen scored the game winning goal for Worcester. Alex Stalock picked up his AHL leading 19th win of the season with a season high 40 saves as the Sharks won for the 13th time in their last 16 games. The Sharks came out blazing right out of the gate and Andrew Desjardins scored his team leading 6th first goal and his 9th strike of the season at :34 seconds after great pressure down low by Dan DaSilva and John McCarthy. Desjardins wrapped the puck around the near post and banked it off Jeff Frazee. The assist for DaSilva extended his point streak to six games (2-5-7) and the helper for McCarthy extended his streak to seven games (4-4-8). The Devils were able to weather the first half of the first period and Alexandre Vasyunov scored his 10th of the season with a nice deflection on top of the crease of Alex Stalock after the initial shot from on top of the left circle. The score was tied 1-1 after twenty minutes with Worcester outshooting the Devils 15-10. Logan Couture’s shot from 60 feet along the left wing boards snuck just inside the far post and past Frazee at 4:05. The goal was Logan’s team leading 13th of the season and extended his point streak to eight games (4-8-12). Dwight Helminen (5th goal) finished off a great 3-on-2 rush with Corey Quirk and T.J. Trevelyan at 5:22 to give Worcester the 3-1 lead. On the ensuing faceoff, Brandon Mashinter and Myles Stoesz dropped the mitts at center ice with the bout ending in Mashinter’s favor. Nineteen seconds later, Dennis McCauley and Louis Robitaille tangled behind the Devils net in a lengthy battle. Neither team found the back of the net the rest of the 2nd period as the physical play heated up through forty minutes of play. The Sharks led 3-1 after two periods outshooting the Devils 32-23. Brandon Mashinter (9th goal) gave Worcester a 4-1 lead at 3:03 of the third period after he flung the puck towards the net from the right wing wall on top of the right circle. Dennis McCauley provided the screen as the Sharks took the three goal lead. Benn Ferriero scored his 8th of the season after he was set up in front by Logan Couture on the power play at 6:23 to give the Sharks a four goal advantage. Ferriero now has a seven game point streak (4-8-12). Patrick Davis scored in the final minute as the Sharks secured 2nd place with a convincing 5-2 win over the Devils. With the win, the Sharks move to 21-12-0-2 (44 points) on the season and currently have a FIVE game winning streak.
2011 vs Portland 3-2 win
(WORSHARKS) The Sharks jumped out to a 2-0 lead but needed a last second power play goal by Matt Irwin to defeat the Portland Pirates 3-2 at the DCU Center on Sunday afternoon. Sean Sullivan and Ryan Del Monte also scored for Worcester with Alex Stalock making 26 saves as the Pirates came back from a 2-0 deficit in the third period to nearly force overtime. Both Worcester and Portland continued their season long physical play in the first period. After Alex Stalock kept the score tied at 0-0 by making two key saves midway through the period, the Sharks would strike first late in the period. Sean Sullivan (10th) scored on a wrister from the right point with 3:02 remaining to give Worcester a 1-0 lead. Nick Petrecki and David Marshall picked up assists on the goal. At the end of the first twenty minutes Worcester led 1-0 and 11-4 in shots. The Sharks continued their strong defensive game into the second period of play. After killing off three Portland penalties in the period, Worcester would then take advantage and increase their lead to two goals. After a strong fore-check by Dan DaSilva, which forced a turnover, Ryan Del Monte (4th) would bury a wrist shot from inside the right circle midway through to give the Sharks a 2-0 lead. Portland would take an unsportsmanlike penalty as the period ended to give the Sharks a power play to begin the third period. After failing to score on the power play to begin the third, Worcester surrendered two goals to let Portland back into the game. Corey Tropp (5th) scored after picking the puck up in the corner and skating it to the crease and wrapping it around a sprawling Stalock with 11:45 remaining in the third. The Pirates tied the score after a giveaway by Alex Stalock outside the crease left an empty net for Derek Whitmore (11th) to tie it with 5:44 left in the game. The Sharks went on a power play with under two minutes to go, and after a shot by Justin Braun was blocked in front Matt Irwin(6th) fired a one timer past goalie David Leggio with 3.3 seconds to go to give Worcester the 3-2 lead. The Sharks held on to win the game 3-2 and hold off the Pirate comeback. The Sharks record improves to 17-11-2-4 with 40 points and to 9-5-1-1 at the DCU Center.
2012 at Bridgeport 4-0 loss
(WORSHARKS) Bridgeport netminder Kevin Poulin faced just 21 shots in his first shutout of the season as the Sharks fell 4-0 to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at Webster Bank Arena on Monday afternoon to ring in 2012. Harri Sateri made 29 saves for Worcester and snapped a personal four game win streak as Worcester fired a season low 21 shots on goal in the loss. Both teams had a sluggish start in the opening period as it took over five minutes to see the game’s first shot on goal. Casey Cizikas (8th) fired a quick low shot on the rush 10 feet inside the Sharks blue line that buzzed past the glove had of Harri Sateri to give Bridgeport a 1-0 lead. Each team went 0-for-1 on the power play in the first period with the Sound Tigers outshooting Worcester 10-7 through 20 minutes. Bridgeport broke the game wide open with three goals in the middle frame to lead 4-0 after 40 minutes. Tony Romano (3rd) fired a rocket over the shoulder of Sateri from the left circle at 11:21 to Bridgeport a 2-0 lead. Just over four minutes later, Sateri misplayed the puck behind his own net and Kael Mouillierat (2nd) buried the puck into an empty net at 15:29 for a 3-0 advantage. Rhett Rakhshani (4th) scored on the power later in the middle frame at 19:08 to close the scoring and gave Bridgeport a four goal lead after two periods of play. Neither team scored in the third period as Kevin Poulin made his best save of the game on Brandon Mashinter’s try from between the circles with just over five minutes remaining. The Sharks did extend their fighting major streak to 18 games as Nathan Moon (6th FM) and Tyler McNeely (3rd FM) dropped the mitts for a nice exchange at 14:43.
2015 vs Manchester 2-1 loss
(WORSHARKS) The Worcester Sharks (13-14-3-1, 30pts) opened up the 2015 calendar year with a 2-1 loss to the first place Manchester Monarchs (24-7-1-1, 50pts) in front of 3,061 fans at the DCU Center on Friday evening. Willie Coetzee scored the only goal for the Sharks after the Monarchs grabbed a 2-0 lead at 7:24 of the third period. JF Berube made 22 saves for his 9th straight win as Zach O’Brien and Sean Backman found the back of the net for Manchester as the Monarchs improved to 6-0-0-0 vs. the Sharks this season. Troy Grosenick was solid in net for Worcester turning aside 31 shots in the one goal loss. Neither team found the back of the net in a quick moving and fast paced opening period that saw Manchester outshoot Worcester 12-9. Monarchs forward Sean Backman had the best chance of the first period with a snap shot from the right circle that rang off the far post and scooted through the crease and past Troy Grosenick. Manchester grabbed a 1-0 lead at 12:00 of the second period after Jordan Weal kept a puck in the Sharks zone and sent a bouncing puck past Matt Taormina to Zach O’Brien in the right circle. O’Brien (8th) cut across the top of the Worcester crease and flipped a backhander past a sprawled out Troy Grosenick for the only score through 40 minutes of play. JF Berube had 17 saves through two periods of play for the Monarchs. The Monarchs grabbed a 2-0 lead as Sean Backman (7th) fired home a rebound from close quarters on the power play at 7:24 of the third period. Worcester finally got on the board at 13:23 as Willie Coetzee (2nd) found a loose puck on top of the Monarchs crease and ruined the shutout opportunity for JF Berube. Jeremy Langlois had the best chance late for Worcester from in tight but Berube shut the door for the 2-1 Monarchs win. The Sharks overall record falls to 13-14-3-1, 30pts, and 8-6-2-1, 19pts at the DCU Center this season.
2022 vs Reading 5-3 win
(RAILERS) Until the day the Railers win a Kelly Cup, their First-Ever game in 2017, a dramatic 4-3 victory over Manchester, will probably remain the most memorable one in franchise history. Sunday afternoon’s 5-3 victory over the Reading Royals is right up there with it, though. Down 2-0 in the second period Worcester did a complete 180 and outscored the visitors 5-1 over the game’s last 26 1/2 minutes. That of itself is plenty of excitement, but how it happened is even better. The Railers got a pair of great performances from two former NHL players, both from Central Mass., that had the crowd in a frenzy. Marlboro’s Bobby Butler, playing his first professional game since 2019, had a goal and two assists while Westboro’s Jordan Lavallee-Smotherman, a steady presence all season long, added a goal and an assist. Butler, making his ECHL debut at 34, has now scored goals in the NHL, AHL, ECHL, KHL and in Sweden and played for the United States in the Olympics. He was asked if scoring goals ever gets old. “No,” he responded. “It was an unreal feeling.” His goal was a game-changer. Butler took a feed from Smotherman across the top of the crease and put it in near the left post to cut the Reading lead to 2-1 at 13:31 of the second period. At that point in the game Worcester had been outshot by 24-6 and had stayed in it thanks to some terrific goaltending by rookie Brody Claeys who stopped 39 of 42 shots in a second straight good outing. It was not the first time Butler and Smotherman teamed up for a goal. “We grew up playing with each other,” Butler said. “I think the last time we did that was in 1999 with the Minuteman Flames.” Butler did not know until early in the day that he would be in the lineup. The Railers are living day-to-day with roster issues and had asked Butler if he could help out in a pinch, so he was ready just in case. But he did not know for sure until just a few hours before game time. Right after Butler scored, Ross Olsson made it 2-2 and that was the score heading into the third period. Patrick Bajkov got the lead back for the Royals at 1:26, scoring on a power play but Brett Beaudoin responded 14 seconds later with a goal that turned out to be a back-breaker. Anthony Repaci made it 4-3 at 3:29 then Smotherman finished off a line rush with an empty netter at 19:18. The day turned out to be a family Hat Trick for the Butlers as both of Bobby’s sons — Beckham, 5, and Vincent, 6 — scored in their youth games as well. “It’s the first day all three Butler boys have scored,” said Bobby. Daughter Vivienne is just 2/12 so could not make it a Texas Hat Trick. She had never seen her dad play before, however, so she did get the puck from his first ECHL goal. “It was awesome,” Butler said of his return. “It was fun to be back,” adding that he definitely had butterflies before the game and was surprised when he was on the ice for the opening faceoff and was the first Railers player announced.” Naturally, the question is what the future might hold considering what a rousing return it was. “I’ve got to go ice the body,” he said, “go home and hang with my kids.” Reading got a goal and an assist from Patrick McNally, one of the most dynamic players in Railers history, and also one from Trevor Gooch. Ex-Railer Frank DiChiara, who usually finds a way to score against Worcester, was blanked this time out. MAKING TRACKS_The victory snapped Worcester’s six-game losing streak against Reading dating back to two years ago. … The Railers are scheduled to return to Reading for a two-game series on Friday night. Worcester’s next home game is slated for Jan. 12 versus Trois-Rivieres. … With Butler in uniform, two of the three oldest players in franchise history played for Worcester. Lavallee-Smotherman is 35. Grafton’s Ryan Lannon, who was with the Railers briefly in 2017-18, was also 34 but a couple of months older than Butler. … Lavallee-Smotherman is up to 21 points (11-10-21) in 22 games. … Worcester had Matty Gaudreau for a return engagement on Friday night in Reading. Brennan Feasey (2019-20) and Austin Block (2018-19) made their returns Sunday. … Brody Claeys recorded his first ECHL win making 39 saves…. Attendance was 2,674.
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