1995 vs Portland 3-3 tie
The IceCats came back three times from one goal deficits to earn a 3-3 tie with the Portland Pirates. After a Darren Banks goal just 17 seconds into the game gave the Pirates a 1-0 lead Walt Poddubny tied it with a power play goal assisted by Terry Virtue and Dave Baseggio at 9:35. Portland retook the lead at 12:10 on a Andrew Brunette score, but at 15:32 Denis Chalifoux got Worcester back to even again, with the assist going to Jason Widmer. Jeff Nelson gave the Pirates their third lead of the game with a late second period goal, but Widmer would knot the score 3-3 with a third period goal at 17:29. Roy Mitchell and Jim Bermingham had the assists. Wayne Cowley had 25 saves in the tie.
1997 vs Springfield 4-3 win
The Worcester IceCats used the momentum of a one-sided Chad Dameworth fight to help defeat the Falcons 4-3. Springfield opened a lead on two goals by Chad Kilger, at 8:09 and 10:16. Chris Kenady cut that lead in half with a nice goal where he skated into the Falcons zone and through all five defending skaters before jamming the puck home by Springfield netminder Manny Legace. Konstantin Shafranov and Stephane Roy had the assists on the play. In the second Reggie Savage scored unassisted 23 seconds into the stanza to give the Falcons their two goal lead back. Rob Pearson made it 3-2 with a power play goal at 10:46, with Roy and Nick Naumenko helping. A few seconds later Tavis Hansen decided he wanted to fight Dameworth, which turned out to not be the greatest idea Hansen ever had as Dameworth threw three punches, knocking Hansen to the ice and busting Hansen wide open. The ‘Cats carried the play after the battle and Roy tied the game with a 50-foot blast at 16:01, with Kenady and Justin Hocking assisting. In the third period Kenady grabbed the game winner at 3:46 on the power play, with Terry Virtue and David Williams helping. Travis Scott made 37 saves in the win.
1999 AHL All Star game: PlanetUSA 5, Canada 4 SO (First Union Center, Philadelphia, PA)
Lubos Bartecko was “E” and had two shots on goal for PlanetUSA.
2002 vs St. John’s 4-1 win
The Worcester IceCats fell behind in the first period but then got a natural hat trick from Eric Boguniecki to defeat the Maple Leafs 4-1. Jeff Farkas had the only goal of the opening 20 minutes at 9:05 to give St John’s the 1-0 lead. Boguniecki tied the game at 6:04 of the middle stanza with an unassisted shorthanded goal, and gave the ‘Cats the lead with another shortie assisted by Eric Nickulas at 13:14. Boguniecki completed the hat trick at 8:10 of the third, with Matt Walker and Justin Papineau picking up points. Jeff Panzer made it the 4-1 final at 14:47, assisted by Papineau and Daniel Tkaczuk. Reinhard Divis only needed 18 saves for the win.
2003 vs Utah 2-2 tie
(ICECATS) A season-high 53 shots on goal still wasn’t enough to earn a win as the Worcester IceCats had to settle for a 2-2 tie vs. the Utah Grizzlies in Saturday’s game at Worcester’s Centrum Centre. The Grizzlies tied the game with 21 seconds remaining in regulation on a power play goal by Eric Chouinard. All four goals in the game were scored on the power play, including a 5-on-3 goal for each club. Worcester’s Eric Nickulas scored for the third time in as many games on a 5-on-3 power play halfway through the first period. Gavin Morgan tied the game for the Grizzlies 1:50 in the second period. Tom Koivisto reclaimed the lead for the ‘Cats 4:43 into the third. Jason Bacashihua turned aside 51 Worcester shots, an IceCats season-high for both shots on goal and opponent saves. Worcester held the edge 35-8 over the first two periods.
2004 at Providence 4-2 win
The Worcester IceCats had a two goal lead heading into the third period, only to see it disappear before the frame was half over. But the ‘Cats would score twice in the last four minutes of the contest to hand the Bruins a 4-2 loss. Peter Sejna put Worcester on the board with a power play goal at 10:26 of the opening period, with Tom Koivisto and Jon Coleman getting the assists. In the second period Coleman would connect at 18:16, with Marc Brown and Ernie Hartlieb getting the helpers. The Baby-Bs made it a tie game with two goals 80 seconds apart in the third period when Andre Savage connected on the power play at 6:14 and Matt Herr lit the lamp at 7:34. But the momentum then swung back toward the ‘Cats, and Brendan Brooks got them their lead back at 16:04, with Tom Koivisto getting the assist. Scott Pellerin beat the buzzer with an empty net power play goal at 19:58, with Blake Evans hitting the score sheet with an assist. Curtis Sanford made 30 saves in the win.
2008 at Hartford 3-1 loss
(WORSHARKS) The Sharks fell for the sixth straight time to the Wolf Pack this season, dropping a 3-1 decision in Hartford on Friday night. The Wolf Pack took a 1-0 led in the first period as Dane Byers connected on top of the crease on a backhand shot after a nice feed from Ryan Callahan from the center point on the power play at 11:55 which broke a streak of 32 straight penalty kills for the Sharks through seven games. The Sharks were out shot 15-6 through twenty minutes of play as Taylor Dakers had an excellent period in goal for Worcester. The Sharks would tie the game at 1-1 as Patrick Traverse scored his 5th goal of the season after he redirected a shot from Lukas Kaspar and gathered the puck on top of the crease and fired into the empty net. Graham Mink recorded the other assist on the play. The momentum would not last for long as Ryan Callahan would score two goals in less than three minutes including a nice breakaway goal to give Hartford a two goal lead after forty minutes. Worcester out shot Hartford 13-8 in the 2nd period. In the third period, neither team would score as the Wolf Pack were able to maintain their two goal lead. The Sharks would fire 11 shots on Hartford goaltender Miika Wiikman but could not find the back of the net. Ryan Callahan would end the night with three points (2-1-3). NOTES: Brennan Evans recorded his 9th fighting major penalty of the season with a tussle with Dave Liffiton at 18:55 of the first period. The Sharks went 0-3 on the power play, the Wolf Pack went 0-4 Final shots were 30-27 in favor of the Sharks.
2009 AHL All-Star Skills Competition
(THE AHL) The PlanetUSA AHL All-Stars opened the 2009 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Charter Communications with an 18-12 victory over their Canadian counterparts in the 2009 AHL All-Star Skills Competition at the DCU Center on Sunday evening. Manitoba Moose goaltender Cory Schneider, a Massachusetts native and a Boston College product, set an AHL record with 18 stops on 19 shots to earn the Reebok Top Goaltender award. Schneider, a first-round draft choice by the Vancouver Canucks in 2004, hit the All-Star break with a record of 16-2-0 for the Moose, leading the league with a 1.61 goals-against average and a .940 save percentage. Canadian forward Mike Santorelli of the Milwaukee Admirals was a perfect 4-for-4 in the Charter Communications Accuracy Shooting event, becoming just the third AHL player ever to accomplish that feat. PlanetUSA All-Star Jared Ross of the Philadelphia Phantoms won the Reebok Fastest Skater event with a time of 14.187 seconds. Defenseman Derek Joslin of the hometown Worcester Sharks took the Reebok Hardest Shot event with a shot registering 98.6 miles per hour, but lost to Sharks teammate Ryan Vesce in the individual Sher-Wood Puck Control Relay. Schneider combined with Grand Rapids’ Daniel Larsson (13 saves) and Lowell’s Jeff Frazee (11 saves) to backstop PlanetUSA to its fifth Skills Competition win in the last six years.
2012 vs Springfield 4-2 loss
(WORSHARKS) The Sharks scored the first and last goal but the Falcons scored four goals in between as Worcester dropped a 4-2 decision to the Springfield Falcons at the DCU Center on Wednesday night. Mike Connolly and Matt Irwin scored power play goals for the Sharks and Harri Sateri’s franchise record shutout streak came to an end at 157:37 in the loss. The CCC line gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead in the first period after rookie netminder Paul Dainton lost the puck behind his own net during a Worcester power play. Jack Combs centered the puck from behind the net and Mike Connolly (8th) backhanded an easy strike at 8:39 for the only strike in the opening frame. Worcester outshot Springfield 16-10 in the first period as Harri Sateri was sharp in goal for the Sharks. Alexandre Giroux (14th) broke Harri Sateri’s shutout streak at 157:37 after he deflected a cross the crease feed from Dane Byers at 7:25 of the second period to tie the score at 1-1. The Sharks would have several nice chances to score soon after on a 4-on-3 power play and a penalty shot attempt at 15:03. Paul Dainton stopped Brandon Mashinter’s penalty shot attempt after he was pulled down by Theo Ruth. The score was tied 1-1 after 40 minutes with Worcester outshooting Springfield 28-20. The Falcons went ahead 3-1 as Alexander Giroux (15th) and Dane Byers (9th) took advantage of Sharks turnovers in the first nine minutes of the third period. Tomas Kubalik (8th) scored his 5th goal against Worcester this season on the power play at 16:34 to make it 4-1 with a nice deflection from on top of the Worcester crease. Matt Irwin (8th) broke an 18 game goalless drought with a power play goal at 19:54 with a blast from the point for a 4-2 final. Worcester’s record falls to to 20-13-3-5 (48pts in 41gp) and 11-8-0-2 at the DCU Center.
2013 at Springfield 3-1 win
(WORSHARKS) The Worcester Sharks (20-17-1-3, 44pts) grabbed an impressive 3-1 victory over the first place Springfield Falcons (25-10-3-3, 56pts) on Friday night in front of 4,021 fans at the Mass Mutual Center. Worcester snapped their season high five game losing streak (0-4-0-1) while the Falcons had their six game winning streak snapped in the Sharks victory. Daniil Tarasov extended his point streak to four games (2-2-4) with a power play goal in the third period while Tommy Grant scored his first goal as a member of the Sharks with a terrific shorthanded breakaway tally in the opening frame. James Livingston scored the game winner for Worcester while Harri Sateri made 21 saves in his 8th win of season. Scott Howes (2nd) gave the Falcons an early 1-0 lead at 3:07 with a nice deflection on a Bryan Helmer shot from the point over the shoulder of Harri Sateri. But the Sharks would tied the score just over a minute later at 4:18 as Tommy Grant (10th) scored his first goal as a member of the Worcester Sharks with a terrific shorthanded breakaway goal and finish past netminder Curtis McElhinney. The Falcons went 0-for-3 on the power play and outshot the Sharks 9-4 though 20 minutes of play. James Livingston (3rd) scored the only goal of the middle frame as he skated down the left wing on a 3-on-1 rush and buried a shot over the shoulder of the Falcons netminder at 10:32. Captain John McCarthy grabbed the only assist on the score as Worcester took a 2-1 lead into the locker room after 40 minutes of play despite getting out shot 15-11. Rookie Daniil Tarasov (2nd) scored a beautiful insurance goal on the power play, blasting a one timer feed by Danny Groulx at 2:37 to give the Sharks a 3-1 cushion. Harri Sateri and the Sharks defense closed the door the rest of the way and held on for the impressive road win. The Sharks overall record improves to 20-17-1-3 (44pts in 41gp) and 12-9-0-1 (25pts in 22gp) on the road this season.
2014 vs Providence 3-2 loss
(WORSHARKS) The Worcester Sharks (19-17-3-1, 42pts) fell to the Providence Bruins (22-16-1-5, 50pts) by the score of 3-2 before a season high 9,055 fans at the DCU Center on Saturday evening to kick off a five game home stand. Dan DaSilva and Sena Acolatse each netted a power play goal while Harri Sateri was solid in goal with 24 saves as the Sharks four game home winning streak came to an end. Nick Johnson scored twice, with rookie Alexander Khokhlachev scoring for Providence for the game winner in the third period, while Malcolm Subban made 28 saves in net for the Bruins’ victory. The first period of play ended with both Worcester and Providence taking 10 shots a piece, as the Sharks were able to take a 1-0 lead of the game. Worcester took advantage of a power play opportunity at 6:45 when they scored the lone goal of the period. Dan DaSilva (8th) fired a rocket past Malcolm Subban after Konrad Abeltshauser found him open on the right side of the ice. Though the Bruins opened the period testing Sateri with a breakaway just seconds into the game and continued to put on a strong offensive effort throughout the first 20 minutes, Providence could not find the back of the net. Sateri remained consistent and pushed aside all 10 of the Bruins’ shots on goal while Subban made nine saves. The Bruins netted two goals in the second period to take a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes of play. Nick Johnson (15th) scored his first goal of the night at 4:19 when he cleaned up a rebound off Sateri’s pads. Then at 15:21 on the man advantage, Johnson (16th) tallied his second goal as he used the backside of his stick to redirect a shot from teammate Ben Youds at the point. Providence outshot Worcester 13-8 in the middle period. In the final minute, the Sharks picked up the offensive pressure but came up short and entered the second intermission trailing the Bruins 2-1. In the third period, Worcester put up a great fight as they increased both their urgency and offensive pressure in the final period, but came up short in the end. Sena Acolatse (4th) tied the game at 2-2 at 2:04 when he ripped a shot from the left point by Subban after receiving a pass from DaSilva. Sateri made a big save minutes later, denying Providence’s Tyler Randell to keep the game tied at 2-2. Alexander Khokhlachev (9th) then scored what would serve to be the game-winning goal when the Bruins’ Anthony Camara stripped the puck from the Sharks’ defense behind the net and delivered the puck to Khokhlachev open in the slot. In the last minute, with and empty net and an extra skater, Worcester fired multiple shots but could not break through the Bruins’ defense or Subban. Worcester outshot Providence 12-4 for the period. The Sharks’ overall record drops to 19-17-3-1, 42pts and 9-8-0-1, 19pts at home.
2019 at Adirondack 4-2 win
(RAILERS) The Worcester Railers HC (18-17-3-2, 41pts) kicked off the unofficial second half of the season with a gritty 4-2 win over the host Adirondack Thunder (22-14-3-2, 49pts) in front of 3,043 fans at the Cool Insuring Arena on Friday evening. Tommy Panico, Josh Holmstrom, Ryan Hitchcock, and Barry Almeida all scored for Worcester while Evan Buitenhuis made 24 saves in net for the Railers in his 7th win of the season. Evan Cormier made 31 saves in net for Adirondack in his ECHL debut as the Railers won for the first time in Glens Falls in three tries this season. Ryan Hitchcock was +3 as he also added an assist as nine different players picked up assists as the Railers won for the 5th time in their last six games. Worcester played a fine road first period of play grabbing a 1-0 lead through 20 minutes of play. Tommy Panico (2nd) scored on a rebound from the center slot past netminder Evan Cormier assisted by Tyler Barnes and Ryan Hitchcock at 10:28. Evan Buitenhuis was solid for Worcester as he made nine saves as Worcester held an 11-9 shot advantage through the first period. The Railers grabbed a 2-0 lead after a nice score by Josh Holmstrom (9th) after Ivan Kosorenkov found Connor Doherty trailing the play and Doherty made a nice move around a defender and found Josh Holmstrom low in the left circle for a quick one timer at 5:43. Ryan Hitchcock (3rd) scored on his own rebound after a nice entry by Matt Schmalz and Tommy Kelly at 10:18 of the second period. Worcester had several chances to go ahead 4-0 but Evan Cormier kept the game within reach with some saves while Evan Buitenhuis had 19 saves through 40 minutes of play. The Thunder made it interesting in the third period with a 5-on-3 score by Jake Linehart (4th) at 7:25 and a high stick score by Conor Riley (15th) at 11:19 to cut the Railers lead to 3-2. Things got rather nasty in the third period before Barry Almeida (11th) scored into the empty net with an unassisted score at 19:10 to give Worcester the 4-2 road victory.
2020 vs Maine 2-1 Win
(RAILERS) The Worcester Railers HC (17-24-2-0, 36pts) kicked off a four game home-stand with a 2-1 win over the Maine Mariners (21-19-1-1, 44pts)in front of 4,078 fans at the DCU Center on Saturday evening.The Railers close out the weekend hosting the Adirondack Thunder Sunday afternoon at 3:05pm on a Kid’s Giveaway Sunday. Ross Olsson scored with just 1:38 to play in regulation for his third game winning goal of the season while Barry Almeida scored the other Railers goal. Evan Buitenhuis made save after save and finished the night making 29 stops for the victory. Maine received their only goal of the game from Marc Olivier Crevier-Morin in the third period while Adam Huska made 25 saves in net for the loss. Neither the Mariners or the Railers would find the back of the net in the first period with the best chance of the frame coming short-handed on a breakaway from Cody Payne who was denied by Adam Huska. Evan Buitenhuis was perfect in net as he made nine saves on nine shots as Worcester outshot Maine 12-9. No scoring in the second to show for while Evan Buitenhuis made 11 saves, two of which were breakaway stops coming from Mariners forward Greg Chase. Worcester was outshot in the second stanza 11-9 but held a slight edge 21-20 through a scoreless 40 minutes of play. The scoring would finally happen in the third frame when Kyle McKenzie blasted one from the left point as Barry Almeida redirected (11th) it past Adam Huska at 6:14 giving the Railers a 1-0 lead. Maine would answer and tie things up at 14:07 moments after Evan Buitenhuis was interfered with it would be Marc Olivier Crevier-Morin firing one over the glove of Boots from the left point to tie it up at 1-1. In the dying moments of the game it would be the line of Drew Callin, Shane Walsh, and Ross Olsson breaking through as Ross Olsson (10th) found a loose puck in the blue paint and smacked it into the net at 18:22 to give the Railers a 2-1 advantage. With the goaltender pulled Worcester was able to fight off late pressure and hold on for a 2-1 victory on home ice. Notes: Three Stars: 3rd star: Barry Almeida (1-0-1, +1, 5 shots), 2nd star: Evan Buitenhuis (29 saves, Win) 1st star: Ross Olsson (1-0-1) …. final shots were 30-27 in favor of Maine….Adam Huska (1-1-0) made 25 saves on 27 shots for Maine…. Evan Buitenhuis (11-14-1) made 29 saves on 30 shots for Worcester while Ian Milosz served as the backup…. Worcester went 0-for-4 on the power play while Maine went 0-for-2…. Cody Payne, Dante Salituro, Connor Doherty, Jordan Samuels-Thomas, JD Dudek (IR), Kyle Thomas (INJ), and Tanner Pond (IR) did not dress for Worcester…. Mike Cornell, David Quenneville, Linus Soderstrom, and Jakub Skarek are all with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers…. Nic Pierog wore an “A” for the first time this season…. Yanick Turcotte, Drew Callin, Shane Walsh, and Kyle McKenzie all collected assists for Worcester…. Ben Thomson led all Worcester skaters and tied for a game high six shots…. the Railers are now 13-14-1-0 under GM/coach Cunniff…. The Railers are now 7-8-4-3 all-time vs. the Mariners and 6-3-2-1 at the DCU Center….
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