1998 vs Providence 4-1 loss
The Worcester IceCats jumped out to an early lead, and then along with 9,471 fans at Worcester Centrum Centre watched it all fall apart in a 4-1 loss to the Baby-Bs. Robert Petrovicky got the ‘Cats on the board at 4:48 of the first period with a power play goal assisted by Justin Hocking and Michal Handzus. But that would be it for the IceCats as their special teams units allowed the next four goals. Ed Ronan tied the game with a power play marker at 17:23, and 29 seconds into the middle stanza Kirk Nielsen had a shorthanded goal to give Providence the lead. At 15:59 Shawn Bates scored on the power play to make it 3-1, and in the third Ronan would score again, this time for a shorthanded empty net goal. Brent Johnson made 18 saves.
2004 vs Hershey 5-2 win
(BEARS) Blake Evans led the way with two goals as Hershey dropped its second game in as many days in New England. The IceCats won with three third period goals to win 5-2. The Bears fell behind 1-0 less than two minutes into the game when Worcester’s Blake Evans tipped in a puck past Peter Budaj. Hershey rallied with a short handed goal by Cody McCormick at the 5:08 mark of the first, followed by the 25th goal of the season by Steve Brule at the 12:17 mark of the period. Brett Clark and Pascal Trepanier assisted on Brule’s goal to give the Bears a 2-1 lead at first intermission. Worcester’s Greg Black, who earlier in the game served a five-minute major for high sticking, scored his second goal of the season to tie the game at 2-2. The goal came at the 7:05 mark of the second period. The Icecats outshot Hershey in the second period 13-4 to score the only goal. Jeff Panzer picked up assists on each of the first two goals for Worcester. The IceCats exploded for third period goals from Peter Sejna, Blake Evans and Jeff Panzer to take a 5-2 lead and run away for their 27th win of the season.
2005 at Portland 2-1 OTL
It was a rematch of last Thursday’s game for the Worcester IceCats and Portland Pirates, but the score remained the same as the ‘Cats lost 2-1 in overtime. After a scoreless two periods Dennis Wideman gave the IceCats the lead with a power play goal assisted by Jay McClement and Konstantin Zakharov at 3:33. Graham Mink tied the game for the Pirates at 14:47, and then Brian Willsie would get the unassisted game winner with just ten seconds left in the extra session. Curtis Sanford made 30 saves in the contest.
2009 vs Philadelphia 4-1 win
(WORSHARKS) Matt Fornataro scored two goals and Riley Armstrong recorded his 20th mark of the season as the Sharks spooked the Phantoms in a 4-1 win at the DCU Center on Friday night. After nine minutes of scoreless hockey, the Phantoms would strike first when Boyd Kane beat Sharks goaltender Taylor Dakers off a feed from former Shark Nate Raduns to give the Phantoms a 1-0 lead at 9:20. The lead would be short-lived as Worcester would take advantage of a Philadelphia penalty with a power play goal from Matt Fornataro off the rebound of a Derek Joslin blast from the blue line to even the score 1-1 at 15:30. The Sharks would take the lead 7:10 into the second stanza when Fornataro set the puck just inside the top of the Phantom crease for Tom Cavanagh to poke in his 12th goal of the season and put the Sharks up 2-1. Moments later, Dakers would make a sprawling pad save on a loose puck inches from the goal line to maintain the Shark lead. With less than a minute to go in the 2nd period, Ryan Vesce would find Fornataro in front of the Phantoms’ net to set up his 2nd goal of the night and his 8th of the season at 19:38 which gave the Sharks a 3-1 advantage. The Sharks would outshoot Philadelphia 22-14 through two periods. Worcester would ice the victory when Riley Armstrong tapped home his 20th of the season as the puck sat inches from the goal line after Philadelphia goaltender Scott Munroe fell out of position after he made the initial stop from the point which give the Sharks a 4-1 win. The win brings Worcester’s record to 31-27-1-2 with 65 points.
2010 at Abbotsford 2-1 win
(WORSHARKS) Dan DaSilva scored a power play goal late in the third period as the Sharks defeated the Heat 2-1 at the Abbotsford Entertainment & Sports Centre in Abbotsford, BC on Saturday night. The Sharks finished the four game road trip in Canada 2-2-0-0. Dwight Helminen broke a scoreless tie in the second period and Frank Doyle made 27 saves for Worcester in his first victory in net for the Sharks. With the win, the Sharks take a three point advantage over the 2nd place Portland Pirates in the Atlantic Division. There was no scoring in the opening period as both Frank Doyle and David Shantz were solid in net. Brandon Mashinter (13th fighting major) and Ryley Grantham (18th fighting major) dropped the gloves at 16:24 in a great tilt with Mashinter winning the decision landing several right hands. Worcester outshot the Heat 21-12 after a scoreless twenty minutes. More stellar goaltending would rule the second period as both teams had several great chances to score. T.J. Trevelyan had a goal disallowed on a 5-on-3 power play chance with just under five minutes remaining in the period as it was ruled he kicked the puck into the net. Dwight Helminen (12th) scored on a breakaway after a terrific pass by Steven Zalewski from behind his blue line at 19:46 to give the Sharks a 1-0 lead. Helminen raced up the middle and finished with a backhander through the pads of Shantz. The Sharks outshot the Heat 35-17 after forty minutes of play. Jason Jaffray (22nd) scored a rebound goal on the power play at 8:31 to break the shutout bid by Doyle. John McCarthy was cut by a high stick by Shawn Weller late in the third period and drew a four minute power play. On the power play advantage, Derek Joslin’s shot from the point was deflected on top of the crease by Dan DaSilva (15th) at 16:32 to give the Sharks a 2-1 victory. Worcester’s record improves to 38-20-2-3 (81points) and are currently in first place in the Atlantic Division, three points ahead of the Portland Pirates with 17 games left in the regular season. The Sharks improve to 18-10-0-2 on the road.
2011 vs Connecticut 7-2 loss
(WORSHARKS) Connecticut dominated play Sunday afternoon as they defeated the Sharks 7-2 at the DCU Center. With the win, Connecticut moved ahead of Worcester for sole possession of 3rd place in the Atlantic Division. Cory Quirk and Brandon Mashinter scored for the Sharks in the hard hitting affair. Wade Redden scored twice for the Whale as five players recorded multi-point games for Connecticut. The two Atlantic Division rivals combined for a very physical and chippy first period of play. Brandon Mashinter and Stu Bickel dropped the gloves at 7:53 of the first after several post-whistle scrums between the two teams. Connecticut was responsible for all the scoring in the period as John Mitchell (3rd) scored on a deflection on the power play at 8:56 and Pavel Valentenko (2nd) fired a slap shot from the point at 11:21 to give the Whale a 2-0 lead. Shots were 10-7 in favor of Worcester. Connecticut added to their two goal lead in the second as Evgeny Grachev (15th) put home a pass from Kelsey Tessier after a Sharks turnover in front of Daren Machesney at 1:44. Worcester would begin their comeback as Cory Quirk (3rd) put home a shot into an empty net after Tommy Wingels’ drive to the net forced goalie Cameron Talbot out of the net. Brandon Mashinter (12th) would cut the lead to 3-2 on the power play as he slammed home a rebound off a Benn Ferriero shot. Just 0:42 later, the Whale would get their two goal lead back as Dale Weise (13th) one timed a feed from Kris Newbury from behind the Sharks goal. Connecticut led 4-2 after two. The Whale pulled away in the third period as Connecticut would score three unanswered goals. Wade Redden (6th) scored on a slap shot from the point at 2:29 and would follow that with a breakaway goal (7th) at 7:16 as he left the box after his minor expired. Oren Eizenman (4th) would complete the scoring as he finished a tic-tac-toe passing play by Connecticut. The Sharks record falls to 28-23-4-8 with 68 points and to 16-10-2-4 at the DCU Center.
2012 vs Bridgeport 3-2 loss
(WORSHARKS) Brandon Mashinter scored twice for Worcester, but the Sound Tigers scored three power play goals as the Sharks dropped game 1 of a five game home stand by the score of 3-2 to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Tuesday night at the DCU Center in Worcester. Harri Sateri made 22 saves in the loss and John McCarthy added two assists as the Sharks dropped to .500 on home ice. The Sharks went 0-for-6 on the power play but remain in the 8th and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. After a 68 minute ice delay, the Sharks and the Sound Tigers took the ice with Bridgeport scoring the only goal in the opening frame. Rhett Rakhshani ( 11th) sent a one timer rocket from on top of the left circle past Harri Sateri on a 5-on-3 Sound Tigers power play at 7:06. Worcester went 0-for-3 on the power play and outshot Bridgeport 8-6 in the opening frame but trailed 1-0. Brandon Mashinter (13th) extended his point streak to four games with a beautiful deflection on a Matt Irwin point shot past goaltender Kevin Poulin at 9:28 to tie the score at 1-1. Bridgeport struck again on the power play after Tomas Marcinko (7th) slid a puck across the crease and off a skate past Sateri at 18:27 to put the Sound Tigers ahead 2-1 through two periods of play. Rhett Rakhshani (12th) was set up at the side of the net after a great feed by Michael Haley on another power play strike 3:53 of the 3rd period to put Bridgeport ahead 3-1. Brandon Mashinter (14th) tapped in a Tim Kennedy feed on top of the crease to get Worcester back within a single score at 5:48. The Sharks fired 13 shots in the third period but could not tie the score as the Sound Tigers took the 3-2 advantage for the victory. Worcester’s record falls to 25-21-4-7, with 61pts and currently percentage points ahead of the Manchester Monarchs for the 8th and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with three games in hand.
2015 vs Hartford 5-2 win
(WORSHARKS) The Worcester Sharks (31-19-4-2, 68pts) scored five goals in the second period to top the Hartford Wolf Pack (30-19-5-3, 68pts) 5-2 in front of 2,692 fans on Friday night at the DCU Center. Forward Micheal Haley (2-0-2, +2) led the way for Worcester, scoring two goals in an explosive second period, along with three additional goals scored by Gus Young (1-0-1, -1), Taylor Fedun (1-0-1, -1), and Daniil Tarasov (1-0-1, E). The Wolf Pack had two goals in the first period by Oscar Lindberg (1-0-1,-1) and Marek Nehring (1-0-1, -1).The Sharks set a franchise-record in the second period for fastest two goals scored (6 seconds apart). Troy Grosenick picked up his 17th win, making 33 saves on 35 shots from Hartford. After losing 17 of their last 21 against Hartford, the Sharks beat the Wolf Pack for the first time since January 10th of last season.
Hartford kicked off the scoring at 8:33 of the first period when center Oscar Lindberg (17th) found the net down close after a short pass from Carl Klingberg on a power play, giving the Wolf Pack a 1-0 lead. At the 16:35 mark, Hartford tacked on another after Marek Hrivik (9th) stuffed the puck in at the goalie crease to give the Wolf Pack a two-goal advantage. Worcester only managed 8 shots on goal to Hartford’s 14 and were down two goals heading into the first intermission. Worcester turned the switch on in a one-sided second period, scoring five unanswered goals on 22 shots. Sharks’ left winger Micheal Haley (16th) got Worcester on the board at 1:34 of the second period when he pushed it past Hartford’s goalie Jeff Malcolm after a shot from Willie Coetzee. Just over a minute later, Worcester defenseman Taylor Fedun (5th) ripped a one-timer into the net from the left point after a feed from fellow defenseman Matt Taormina, knotting the game at two. On a power play at 13:04, Sharks’ defenseman Dylan DeMelo ripped a shot from the right point that found the net after the puck was deflected off two more defenseman including Gus Young (3rd), who was awarded with the Worcester’s third goal. At 16:47, Worcester’s right winger Daniil Tarasov (11th) slammed the puck home in tight on a power play after a feed by forward Bryan Lerg. Six seconds later, the Sharks scored once again when Haley (17th) pushed it in the net down close for his second goal of the period, giving the Sharks the 5-2 lead through forty minutes. At the 6:44 mark of the final frame, Worcester right winger Chris Crane got into a scuffle with Wolf Pack’s center Chad Nehring by the Sharks’ net, resulting in five-minute fighting penalties for both sides. The fight would be the only action in the third period, as the Sharks hung on for the 5-2 victory. The Sharks overall record improve to 31-18-4-2, 68pts and 18-8-2-1, 39 pts at the DCU Center this season. [210Sports note: Gus Young’s goal was the first time in franchise history three defenseman got points on the same goal. Matt Tennyson left the penalty box after serving a tripping minor he joined an odd man rush up ice, and his pass to Dylan DeMelo was the secondary assist on Young’s deflection of DeMelo’s blast.]
2019 at Adirondack 5-0 win
(RAILERS) The Worcester Railers HC (26-22-5-4, 61pts) extended their point streak to four games (3-0-1-0) after a commanding 5-0 win over the host Adirondack Thunder(31-21-5-2, 69pts) in front of 2,109 fans at the Cool Insuring Arena anon Wednesday evening. With the win, the Railers are now threepoints behind the Manchester Monarchs (64pts) for the 4thspot in the North Division with two games in hand. Barry Almeida (2-0-2), Ryan Hitchcock (1-1-2) Tommy Kelley, and Nick Sorkin all scored for Worcester while Mitch Gillam made 38 saves in net for his 17th win and first shutout of the season. Logan Thompson made 24 saves in net for the Thunder as the Railers improved to four games over .500 for the first time this season. It was the fourth straight win for Worcester over Adirondack overall and now 5-4-0-0 vs. their North Division rivals. Mitch Gillam was very sharp in the first period turning away 12 total shots in the opening 20 minutes. Worcester would score the only goal at 14:14 as Ryan Hitchcock sent a diagonal pass from inside the blue line down low to Barry Almeida (17th) who then ripped a quick shot top self at 14:14 past netminder Logan Thompson to give the Railers a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. Worcester exploded for three goals in the second period to grab a 4-0 lead through two periods of play. Barry Almeida (18th) stole the puck in front of the Thunder net and stickhandled around the netminder at 8:57 to give Worcester a 2-0 lead. Ryan Hitchcock (12th) stole the puck at center ice and barreled down the right wing around a defender and sent a backhander top shelf at 15:01 to put the Railers ahead 3-0. Tommy Kelley (3rd) followed in a Matty Gaudreau rush at 16:56 to put Worcester up 4-0 through 40 minutes. Shots were 29-22 for the Thunder after two periods as Gilly stood tall. Yanick Turcotte (13th FM) took care of Alexandre Carrier at 2:08 of the third period with a quick scrap for the only real fireworks in a feisty hockey game. Nick Sorkin (13th) netted the Railers 5th goal of the game at 19:20 after a nice feed from Josh Holmstrom as the Railers took away the 5-0 road victory.
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