1996 at St. John’s 4-4 tie
The Worcester IceCats battled back from a two-goal first period deficit and scored late in the third period to tie the Maple Leafs 4-4. St John’s opened up a two goal lead on tallies by Trent Cull (4:30) and Kory Mullin (7:42, PP). Jason Widmer got the ‘Cats winin one at 8:37 on a goal assisted by Alex Vasilevskii and Fred Knipscheer, but Shayne Toporowski would score for the Maple Leafs at 16:36 to make it 3-1 after one. The IceCats tied the game on two second period goals by Terry Virtue. His first came at 7:27 and was assisted by Craig Darby and Shaun Kane, the second was at 12:17 on the power play with Darby and Sergei Kharin providing the helpers. Mark Kolesar gave St john’s another lead 1:52 into the third, but Darby would tie it 4-4 at 15:41 with Kharin assisting. Mike Buzak made 36 saves in earning the point.
1997 at Saint John 2-2 tie
The Worcester IceCats had lots of opportunities to score, but could only do it twice in a 2-2 tie with the Flames. Kevin Hilton had the first ‘Cats goal, unassisted at 5:15 of the first period when he picked off a Saint John clearing pass and skated in on Flames netminder Darrin Madeley and beat him short side. In the second period Jesper Mattsson tied it with a power play goal 48 seconds into the frame, but Chad Dameworth collected his only career IceCats at 6:19, and like Hilton’s was unassisted. Dameworth kept a clearing attempt in the Flames zone and fired a hard shot towards goal, where it hit a Saint John defender and bounced past Madeley. Shane Hnidy tied it 2-2 at 7:27, and the rest of the game would be scoreless. Jamie McLennan had 33 saves in the contest.
1998 at Fredericton 5-1 loss
The Worcester IceCats were no-shows for the second game in a row in their 5-1 loss to the Canadiens. Fredericton’s goals were scored by Donald MacLean (9:49, 1st; 6:47 2nd), Stephane Robidas (12:19pp, 2nd), Eric Belanger (16:35, 2nd), and Terry Ryan (6:36pp, 3rd). Jason Zent avoided the shutout for the ‘Cats with an unassisted shorthanded goal at 10:45.
2001 vs Saint John 3-1 win
The Worcester IceCats got points from eight different players in a 3-1 win over the Flames. Eric Boguniecki got the ‘Cats on the board 1:35 into the opening period on a goal assisted by Justin Papineau and Pascal Rheaume. Mike Martin then tied it for Saint John at 10:21 on the power play. Marty Reasoner made it 2-1 at 11:15 with ‘Cats power play goal. Didier Tremblay and Jaroslav Obsut got the helpers. Rheaume capped the scoring at 16:15, with Ed Campbell and Mark Rycroft picking up assists. Cody Rudkowsky made 38 saves in the victory.
2003 at Utah 7-2 loss
(GRIZZLIES) The Grizzlies tamed, de-clawed and sent the visiting Worcester IceCats thinking about the re-match tomorrow night as they defeated the IceCats 7-2 tonight at the E-Center. Steve Ott scored two goals and added two assists gaining his first four-point game as a professional. The third meeting of the season between Utah and Worcester started out slowly, but midway through the first things got interesting. The IceCats struck first blood as Igor Valeev found the stick of forward Greg Davis, coming in from the far side of Jason Bacashihua. Davis managed to slip the puck under Bacashihua as the Utah goaltender lost track of the puck due to traffic in front of the net. Worcester led 1-0 at 11:50. Less than two minutes later, the Grizzlies tied the game at one a piece on the power play. Gavin Morgan received a pass from Greg Hawgood and went up ice untouched. Just inside the Worcester blue line, Morgan let loose a hard slap shot from the far side that rebounded straight to Steve Ott’s stick as he came crashing the net on the near side. Ott waited a second and slid the puck cross ice back to Morgan who chipped it past Cody Rudkowsky and in the back of the net, recording his 12th goal of the year (12-18-30), tying the game at 1-1. Grizzlies kept the magic rolling with another power play goal only 76 seconds later. Alexi Komarov blasted a one-timer past Rudkowsky for his fourth goal of the year. Ott and Jim Montgomery assisted on the goal giving the Grizzlies the lead at 2-1. Utah continued dominating with the man advantage at the 17:46 mark as Alexei Komarov found room inside the IceCat blue line and slapped a high strike at the chest of Rudkowsky. He couldn’t handle the puck and the rebound hit the tape of Eric Landry soaring in from the far side, putting the puck in the back of the net giving the Grizzlies a 3-1 lead. After twenty minutes of play, Utah had the advantage with 10 shots on net over Worcester’s 8. The Grizzlies also made the most of their power play opportunities going 3 for 4 in the period. The Ice Cats opened the scoring in the second period with a power play conversion of their own. Worcester’s Sergei Varlamov dished the puck off to center Jeff Panzer who wheeled to the mouth of the net from the near circle and squeaked the puck past Bacashihua just inside the far goal post. Utah still up a goal, 3-2. After that it was all Utah. At 14:07, the Grizzlies were on a 5 on 3 power play as Jim Montgomery controlled the puck deep into the Worcester zone and tried a cross-ice pass to Jon Sim who one-timed it wide of the net. The rebound found Montgomery on the other side and Montgomery got enough of the puck to send it out to the middle to a wide open Steve Ott who went top shelf, beating Rudkowsky giving the Grizzlies a 4-2 lead. David Gosselin would get on the score sheet with his 7th of the season later in the second period as Marcus Kristoffersson and David Oliver got credit for the assists and found Oliver in the slot, blasting it high into the net. Utah had a 5-2 lead at that point leading on the shot board 24-20 after two periods of play. The Grizzlies kept the visiting IceCats on their heels in the third and tacked on two more goals. Steve Ott and David Gosselin both had their second goals of the night on respective break-away’s. Ott beat Rudkowsky low, inside the near post with a hard wrist shot, giving him his 9th goal on the year (9-10-19). Gosselin would get set up by Eric Landry (19-22- 41) and beat Rudkowsky low on the far side of the net, giving him seven goals on the year (7-10-17). Utah outshot Worcester 39-35 for the game as Jason Bacashihua wins his seventh straight game making 33 saves.
2004 at Manchester 3-1 loss
(MONARCHS) Unlike last week in Worcester, a three-goal third period lead was more than enough for the Manchester Monarchs, who fought their way to a 3-1 victory over the Worcester IceCats before a sold out Verizon Wireless Arena crowd (9,916) on Saturday night. Right wing John Tripp had the game-winning goal for the Monarchs. Right wing Pavel Rosa and left wing Chris Schmidt also scored for the Monarchs, who blew a three-goal lead before settling for a 3-3 tie with the IceCats in Worcester last Saturday. Goaltender Adam Hauser earned the win, his 11th, with 26 saves. The IceCats, who entered the weekend unbeaten in five, have lost two straight. After a scoreless opening 20 minutes, the Monarchs took the lead 1:05 into the middle period with Rosa’s team-leading 20th goal. Schmidt and center Michael Cammalleri shared assists on the play, with Schmidt firing his pass across the slot to Rosa, who then chipped the puck over the glove of goaltender Curtis Sanford. The Monarchs doubled their lead midway through the period with Tripp’s power play goal at 9:16. Tripp, assigned to the Monarchs by the Los Angeles Kings for a conditioning assignment earlier in the week, jammed a crease rebound past Sanford for his eighth goal. Defenseman Tim Gleason started the play with his shot from the left point. He and Cammalleri each notched assists on Tripp’s fourth power play goal of the season. The Monarchs stretched their lead to 3-0 with Schmidt’s third goal, scored when he tipped Rosa’s slap shot from the left circle at 11:14. Rosa and defenseman Tomas Zizka, who like Tripp was assigned to the Monarchs from the Kings earlier in the week, had assists on the play. Rookie left wing Peter Sejna, last year’s Hobey Baker Award winner, spoiled Hauser’s shutout bid 7:44 into the final period with his sixth goal. Sejna stole the puck at the top of the left circle and slipped his shot over the glove of Hauser. The puck clanked off the right post before caroming into the net. Sejna’s goal was unassisted. Sanford finished with 25 saves. The IceCats were 0-for-3 on the power play. The Monarchs were 1-for-3.
2007 at Bridgeport 2-1 OTL
(SOUND TIGERS) Eric Boguniecki batted a loose puck out of the air and into the net for the decisive goal in a 2-1 Bridgeport Sound Tigers’ overtime victory over the Worcester Sharks on Wednesday night. Boguniecki crashed the goal mouth and connected on a rebound of Jamie Fraser’s point shot that kicked off the end wall and into the crease area just below the cross bar. The goal came during a five-on-three power play at 4:32 of the extra session before 2,273 fans at the Arena at Harbor Yard. The Sound Tigers won for the third time in four games against the Sharks to cap the season series, and in doing so avenged a 6-2 loss at Worcester this past Friday. Bridgeport improved to 22-20-1-4 and Worcester picked up a point but fell to 24-17-2-6. Sound Tiger Blake Comeau tied the game with a first-period breakaway goal set up on a long pass by Brandon Nolan. Comeau skated in alone on Worcester goaltender Dimitri Patzold and put a low shot into the back of the net at 14:55 of the opening period. Allan Rourke earned an assist on both Sound Tiger goals in his first game back after a stint with the parent club New York Islanders. The Sharks drew first blood when Lukas Kaspar squeezed a tough-angle shot past Sound Tiger goaltender Wade Dubielewicz 8:19 into the game. Dubielewicz stopped 29 of 30 Worcester shots and Patzold kicked aside 24 of 26 Sound Tiger shots. Bridgeport was 1-for-4 on the power play and Worcester was 0-for-7 on the man advantage.
2010 at Providence 6-2 loss
(WORSHARKS) The Providence Bruins scored four goals in a 130 second span in the second period as the first place Sharks dropped their second straight meeting with their Route 146 rivals at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence by the score of 6-2 on Super Bowl Sunday. Benn Ferriero tied a Sharks record with his third shorthanded goal of the season and Matt Jones scored his 2nd of the season in a game that featured 77 penalty minutes and a near brawl during the warm up skate. Dennis McCauley and Drew Fata dropped the mitts at the opening faceoff to set the tone at the get go and the Sharks responded early. Matt Jones scored his 2nd goal of the season, his first since a recall from Kalamazoo at 2:02 after a shot from the right point by Joe Loprieno was deflected to the top of the crease on the left side where Jones was stationed. The Bruins tied the score on the power play as Andy Wozniewski’s shot (9th) from the right circle found the back of the net past Tyson Sexsmith at 4:04. Providence took a 2-1 lead after Matt Marquardt (1st) rushed down the right wing and banked a shot off Danny Groulx in front and through the pads of Sexsmith at 12:16. The Sharks trailed 2-1 after the first period and was outshot 18-8. Benn Ferriero (16th) tied the score at 2-2 after a nice shorthanded rush down the right wing at :32 seconds of the middle frame. But the Bruins charged back with four goals in a 130 second span soon after. John Lammers (1st), Jordan Knackstedt (4th), Drew Larman (6th), and Mikko Lehtonen (17th) all scored for the Bruins as Providence took a 6-2 advantage. Tyson Sexsmith was pulled after the fifth goal at 27:01 in favor of Alex Stalock. On the next faceoff after the Bruins went ahead by four, Andrew Desjardins and Drew Fata fought in a long battle with Andrew connecting with a ton of left hands late in the brawl. Frazer McLaren was ejected with 23 seconds remaining in the period after a spearing major during a confrontation with the Bruins bench. The Sharks trailed 6-2 after forty minutes as the two teams combined for 73 penalty minutes. Tyson Sexsmith returned in net for the third period and made 14 saves. There were no more fireworks or scoring in the final period as the Bruins held on for the four goal victory. Worcester’s record fell to 31-16-2-2 (66 points) but remain in first place in the Atlantic Division.
2015 at Norfolk 4-0 win
(WORSHARKS) The Worcester Sharks (25-17-3-2, 55pts) picked up a 4-0 win over the host Norfolk Admirals (19-24-3-2, 43pts) in front of 5,818 fans at the Norfolk Scope Arena on Saturday evening. The Sharks are now 2-1-0-0 on their five game road trip. John McCarthy, Micheal Haley, Travis Oleksuk, and Ryan Carpenter scored for Worcester while Aaron Dell made 38 saves in net for Worcester in his fourth straight start between the pipes. Veteran netminder Jason LaBarbera made 31 saves between the pipes for Norfolk for the Admirals in the Sharks 4-0 road victory. The Sharks came out buzzing in the first period and grabbed a 2-0 lead through 20 minutes. John McCarthy (7th) stuffed home a loose puck in the crease past goaltender Jason LaBarbera after a great rush towards the net by Eriah Hayes at 3:40 for a 1-0 advantage. Worcester went ahead 2-0 as Micheal Haley (13th) deflected home an Evan Trupp diagonal feed on top of the Admirals crease on the power play at 12:41. Worcester outshot Norfolk 14-12 in the first period as Aaron Dell stood tall in net for the Sharks. Norfolk outshot Worcester 15-14 in the second period but goaltender Aaron Dell was superb between the pipes for the Sharks. Konrad Abeltshauser left the game with about four minutes left in the period after he was clobbered from behind into the stantion by the Sharks bench by Max Friberg – the call was not penalized but the Sharks didn’t like it. (Abeltshauser returned for third period). Moments later Travis Oleksuk (5th) fired home a puck that pinballed in front of the Admirals cage on a Worcester power play at 16:44 to give Worcester a 3-0 lead. Shots were 28-27 in favor of Worcester after 40 minutes. Worcester went ahead 4-0 as Ryan Carpenter (8th) followed up his own rebound and scored past LaBarbera at 10:22 for the final score of the game. Jimmy Bonneau (6th FM) dropped the mitts with Andrew O’Brien (3rd FM) at 13:32 in front of the Worcester bench for the only scrap of the weekend. Aaron Dell made 11 more saves in the third period as the Sharks finished strong with the 4-0 victory. The Sharks overall record improves to 25-17-3-2, 55pts, and 11-10-2-2, 26pts on the road this season.
2018 vs Reading 3-2 win OT
(RAILERS) The Worcester Railers HC (20-19-4-2, 46pts) never led but pulled through with a thrilling 3-2 overtime win over the visiting Reading Royals (27-19-3-0, 57pts) in front of 1,923 fans at the DCU Center on a wintry Wednesday evening. Chris Langkow scored at 4:01 of the overtime period for the game winner while Barry Almeida (1-1-2) and Justin Hamonic also scored for the Railers. Eamon McAdam made 28 saves in net including a big save just a few moments before Langkow buried the game winner. The game marked just the 10th time in ECHL history that a game ended without a single penalty called. With the win, the Railers have points in a season high six straight games (5-0-1) and are now 5-3-1-0 on their season long eleven game home stand. Neither team found the back of the net in a slow moving uneventful opening period as Worcester was outshot 13-1. Eamon McAdam was the best player on the ice for the Railers making 13 first period saves while John Muse was able to snooze his way through the first 20 minutes. Worcester outshot Reading 13-9 in the second period but it was the Royals that scored the only goal. Matt Willows (18th) extended his point streak to ten games and gave Reading a 1-0 lead at 10:23 from Matt Wilkins and Chris McCarthy for the only score. John Muse made several great saves in the middle frame as the Railers trailed 1-0 through 40 minutes of play. Barry Almeida (13th) tied the score at 1-1 after a Nick Saracino shot went off the end wall and found Barry Almeida on the other side of the net. James de Haas (5th) put Reading back up a goal at the 7:00 minute mark after a great cross ice feed on the rush by Matt Wilkins. Worcester would tie the score again at 18:25 with an extra attacker on the ice as Justin Hamonic’s (1st) drive from 50 feet broke off the pad of John Muse and into the back of the net to tie the score at 2-2. Shots were 7-6 in favor of Worcester in the third period as the game headed to overtime tied at 2-2. In overtime, the Railers controlled much of the play, but Eamon McAdam made a huge save with about two minutes remaining to keep the game going. Matty Gaudreau entered into the offensive zone and feathered an exquisite pass to Chris Langkow (11th) who then deflected the puck past Muse for the game winner at 4:01 for the Railers first overtime home win.
2020 at Maine 2-1 Loss
(RAILERS) The Worcester Railers HC (17-29-2-0, 36pts) were edged out 2-1 by the Maine Mariners (26-19-1-1, 54pts)in front of 2,449 fans at the Cross Insurance Arena on Friday night. The Railers return home to the DCU Center Saturday night for Pink in the Rink Night hosting the Atlanta Gladiators at 7pm. Rookie defenseman Justin Murray (1-0-0) scored his first professional goal on his 68thshot of the season while Evan Buitenhuis made 25 saves in net for the loss. The Mariners received goals from Dillan Fox (1-0-1) and Morgan Adams-Moisan (1-0-1) while Connor Lacouvee stood tall in net for the Mariners making 45 saves in route to the victory. The Railers went on a four-minute power-play with 3:16 to play in the third period but were unable to find the back of the net. Worcester had two power-play opportunities in the first period, one which was a partial five on three but the Railers could not convert. Dillan Fox (20th) would pot the only goal of the stanza coming on a breakaway firing one low blocker on Evan Buitenhuis to give the Mariners a 1-0 lead with 5:10 to play in the period. Maine took the 1-0 lead into locker room through 20 minutes of play with shots in favor of the Railers 13-12. Maine scored the only goal of the middle frame when Morgan Adams-Moisan (7th) sent one over the glove of Evan Buitenhuis from the left circle increasing the Mariners advantage to 2-0 at 13:28 of the second period. Worcester outshot Maine 14-8 in the stanza but it was the home team that held a 2-0 lead through 40 minutes of play. A forecheck from Bo Brauer and Dante Salituro set up Justin Murray (1st) who blasted one past the glove of Connor Lacouvee from the left circle for his first professional goal which cut the Railers deficit down to 2-1 at 5:36 of the third period. Worcester was given a four-minute power-play with 3:16 to play on a high stick double minor. Evan Buitenhuis was pulled for an extra attacker with 1:40 to play and then the Railers went on a six on three advantage with 32 seconds left in regulation on another Maine penalty. Despite generating multiple chances, they could not find the back of the net as Maine skated to a 2-1 victory. Notes: Three Stars: 3rd star: Morgan Adams-Moisan (1-0-1) 2nd star: Dillan Fox (1-0-1) 1st star: Connor Lacouvee (45 saves, Win) final shots were 46-27 in favor of Worcester…. Connor Lacouvee (16-9-2) made 45 saves on 46 shots for Maine…. Evan Buitenhuis (11-17-1) made 25 saves on 27 shots for Worcester while Jakub Skarek served as the backup….Worcester went 0-for-5 on the power play while Maine went 0-for-5…., JD Dudek (IR), Kyle Thomas (IR), Yanick Turcotte (IR), Tanner Pond (IR), Cody Payne (Sick), Dylan Sadowy (IR), Jack Macnee and Ian Milosz did not dress for Worcester…. Mike Cornell, David Quenneville, Linus Soderstrom, and are all with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers…. Justin Murray scored his first professional goal and it came on his 68thshot of the season…. Nic Pierog led all Worcester skaters with six shots…. Bo Brauer and Dante Salituro collected assists for Worcester…. Bryce Nielsen made his ECHL debut after signing with Worcester earlier today and wore number 21…. The Railers have scored 14 goals in their last 33 periods…. Phil Johansson was put on waivers earlier toady…. Dylan Sadowy was placed on the IR earlier today…. the Railers are now 13-19-1-0 under GM/Coach Cunniff…. Worcester has 24 games left and eight will be against Maine…. The Railers are now 7-10-4-3 all-time vs. the Mariners and 1-7-2-2 at the Cross Insurance Arena.
2023 at Reading 4-3 win
(RAILERS) The Worcester Railers HC (23-20-3-0 49 points) defeated the Reading Royals (26-14-2-0 56 points) by a final score of 4-3 Tuesday morning in front of a crowd of 5,459 at the Santander Arena. Worcester is home this weekend for two games, including their annual Pink in the Rink game, against the Reading Royals to close out their season series. Reading struck first when Devon Paliani (0-1-1) left the puck for Brendan Hoffman (1-0-1) to wrap around the far post from beneath the net. Anthony Repaci (0-1-1) and Brent Beaudoin (1-2-3) connected on the Railers power play to tie things up. The Railers took their first lead of the game after Jimmy Lambert (1-1-2) tapped one in. Billy Jerry (1-0-1) scored within the last minute of the second making it a two-goal game. It took forty-seven seconds for the Railers to score in the third. Andrei Bakanov (1-0-1) scored his first goal in a Railers uniform giving them a three-goal lead. Dominic Cormier (2-0-2) made it a two-goal game soon after. Cormier scored again late in the third making it a one goal game before the Railers behind Tikkanen’s 49 saves locked up a 4-3 win. It didn’t take long for the scoring to start in this early morning contest. Four minutes into the game, Devon Paliani was playing the puck behind Railers goalie Henrik Tikkanen and left it behind for Brendan Hoffman (7th) while rising up from the near side. Hoffman rose to the far side of the net and wrapped it around for the first goal of the game. Worcester responded not long after. While on their first power play of the game, Anthony Repaci sent a pass into the slot which bounced off Brent Beaudoin’s (12th) skate and in for the first Railers goal of the game. Reece Newkirk and Dominic Cormier each went to the box for two minutes, but neither team would score on the ensuing two minutes of four-on-four play. Shots in the first favored Reading 13-4. It only took Worcester five minutes to score in the second period. Brent Beaudoin was skating up ice with the puck, and Jimmy Lamber was moving with him. Beaudoin went wide with the puck and found Lambert (10th) open in the slot for Worcester’s first lead of the game. It took until the last minute of the period for another goal to be scored. This time it was Worcester’s Billy Jerry (3rd) who scored the goal. Jerry went top shelf on Reading goalie Pat Nagle after he received a perfect feed up-ice from Nick Fea, and gave the Railers a two-goal lead going into the third. Reading outshot Worcester 16-11 in the second, and were ahead 29-15 through two The Railers came out with speed in the third period. Andrei Bakanov (1st) hammered a one-timer off a pass from Lambert to beat Nagle for the fourth Railers goal and his first goal in a Railers uniform. The Royals were not deterred. Dominic Cormier (6th) scored three minutes after Bakanov to make it a two-goal game. Cormier (7th) scored again late in the third to make it a one goal game after his wrist shot soared past Tikkanen. Despite the Royals pulling Nagle for an extra skater, Worcester was able to hold on for the win.Worcester was outshot 23-8 in the third, and 52-23 for the game. Notes: 3rd: Star: Jacob Gaucher (0-2-2, 2 shots) 2nd Star: Dominic Cormier (2-0-2, -1, 5 shots) 1st Star: Jimmy Lambert (1-2-3, +2, 4 shots). Reading outshot Worcester 52-23. Henrik Tikkanen had 49 saves. Pat Nagle had 19 saves.
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