1996 vs Baltimore 6-2 win
(BALTIMORE) The Baltimore Bandits’ performance in losing 6-1 to the Worcester IceCats last night left much to be desired. Baltimore was outshot 42-36. The defense let in numerous odd-man breaks on Bandits goalie Mike O’Neill, who added to his own troubles with a pair of soft goals. Worcester, benefiting from the Bandits’ troubles, got two goals from Jarett Deuling. Terry Virtue got a goal and three assists. Both teams started cautiously, but late in the first period, the Bandits’ defense opened up, and the IceCats scored three goals in 1:35. With five minutes remaining, Baltimore’s Darren Van Impe was whistled for a rarely called penalty for closing his hand on the puck. It took the IceCats’ Fred Knipscheer just five seconds to capitalize, banging in Dave Roberts’ cross-ice pass from the slot.
While O’Neill couldn’t be faulted for that goal, he gave up a soft one to Craig Johnson just 53 seconds later, as Johnson put one on his pads from just inside the blue line. Things got worse for the Bandits, who were outshot 18-11 in the period, when Deuling scored from close range. It got uglier for the Bandits less than a minute into the second period when Patrice Tardif beat Van Impe to a loose puck in the corner, moved in, and shot it past O’Neill. Soon after, Baltimore went on the power play and seemed to be moving the puck well, with Jarrod Skalde testing Fichaud’s glove hand. But Steven King was called for hooking, ending the Baltimore man advantage. King, the Bandits’ leading goal-scorer, later atoned when he ripped in a shot from the slot for his sixth goal of the season.
1998 vs Saint John 3-2 OTL
The Worcester IceCats came back from a two goal deficit but then lost the game in the first shot of overtime in a 3-2 loss to the Saint John Flames. Martin St. Louis would give the Flames a 2-0 lead by lighting the lamp twice in the opening period, the first just 37 seconds into the contest and the second at 9:23. The middle stanza belonged to Stephane Roy, as he scored an even strength goal at 8:51 assisted by Justin Hocking and Terry Hollinger and then added a power play marker at 11:32 with Rory Fitzpatrick and Terry Virtue providing helpers. Into overtime the game would go, where Eric Landry scored an unassisted shorthanded goal just nine seconds in for the 3-2 Flames win. Tyler Moss made 42 saves for Saint John while Frederic Cassivi had 20 for Worcester.
2002 vs Hartford 3-2 loss
(ICECATS) Wednesday night, the Hartford Wolf Pack upended the Worcester IceCats, 3-2 at Worcester’s Centrum Centre. IceCats forwards Marc Brown and Jeff Panzer registered the goals for Worcester. Both players also had assists. Winger Jame Pollock chipped in with a pair of helpers. Reinhard Divis made 21 saves.
2004 at Lowell 4-2 loss
The Worcester IceCats fired a lot of shots on goal in their Saturday night contest against the Lock Monsters, but not enough of them lit the lamp in a 4-2 loss. Jeff Panzer gave the ‘Cats the lead at 6:34 of the opening period, with help from Brendan Brooks and Terry Virtue. The second stanza belonged to Lowell, with Jim Henkel scoring at 1:21 and Martin Sonnenberg giving the Lock Monsters the lead at 6:27. In the third period Garett Bembridge made it a two-goal lead at 4:06, but Scott Pellerin would score a power play goal at 13:25 to make it 3-2. Mike Glumac and Johnny Pohl had the assists on the play. But that was a close as the ‘Cats would get as Lynn Loyns put the game out of reach with a goal at 14:44. Patrick DesRochers had 36 saves in the win, and Curtis Sanford made 24 in a losing effort.
2005 vs Philadelphia 4-1 loss
(ICECATS) The Worcester IceCats allowed four unanswered goals after scoring the first one and dropped a 4-1 decision to the Philadelphia Phantoms last night at the DCU Center. The loss snapped the IceCats’ winning streak at three games. Worcester’s Jon DiSalvatore opened the game’s scoring on the power play at 8:15 of the first period, converting on a scramble in front of Philadelphia netminder Antero Niittymaki. It was DiSalvatore’s team-leading 19th goal of the season. The lead was short-lived, however. Patrick Sharp snapped a 10-foot wrist shot from the slot past IceCats’ goalie Curtis Sanford off a two-on-one break to even the score at 1-1 just 91 seconds after DiSalvatore?s goal. R.J. Umberger scored just 24 seconds into the second period to give Philadelphia the lead for good. At 5:44 of the period, Ben Eager took the rebound of a Jon Sim shot and put it into a virtually open net to make it a 3-1 lead for the Phantoms. Todd Fedoruk added an empty net goal with 13 seconds remaining to seal the Philadelphia victory. Niittymaki wound up with 32 saves on 33 shots in an impressive performance. Sanford stopped 26 shots in the losing effort. During the game, the IceCats auctioned off the special green St. Patrick’s Day jerseys they wore this weekend and raised over $25,000 for the Worcester Parks and Recreation Department. Since the IceCats first began wearing the St. Patrick’s themed sweaters in 1995-96, they have raised over $141,000 for the cause.
2009 vs Hartford 4-2 loss
(WORSHARKS) Down 2-0, the Sharks would score two goals in the third period from T.J. Fox and Patrick Traverse, but the Wolf Pack howled back as the Sharks fell short 4-2 at the DCU Center Friday. Worcester would outshoot Hartford 13-9 through the 1st period and the game was scoreless after one period. At 4:31 of the 2nd period, the Wolf Pack would take advantage of a 5 on 3 power play when Artem Anisimov redirected a blast from Patrick Rissmiller past Worcester goaltender Thomas Greiss to take a 1-0 advantage. Each squad would make several rushes on goal in the 2nd period but had trouble finding the back of the net as both Greiss and Hartford net minder Miika Wiikman made several crucial saves to keep the score to 1-0 after 40 minutes of hockey. Hartford would notch their second tally after a Dale Weise drive drew Greiss out of position and allowed for Greg Moore to clean up the rebound in front of the net at 4:31 in the 3rd period. Worcester would retaliate: 55 seconds later when Tom Cavanagh set up Patrick Traverse in between the face off circles for a blast that would clang off the cross bar and cut the Wolf Pack lead to 2-1. The Sharks would continue to rally with an equalizer from T.J. Fox as he snuck the puck past Wiikman to tie the game 2-2 at 10:52. However, the Wolf Pack would quickly pull ahead once more when Parenteau kicked a pass from Rissmiller up in the air inside the Worcester crease and batted the puck in to take a 3-2 lead at 14:46. With 17.4 seconds left in the game, Greg Moore would score his 2nd of the game into an empty Worcester net as the Sharks lost to Hartford 4-2. The loss brings Worcester’s record to 32-30-1-2 with 67 points through 65 games.
2011 vs Connecticut 5-4 win
(WORSHARKS) The Sharks wrapped up a 4-game-in-5-day stretch with a big victory over the Connecticut Whale, 5-4, Sunday afternoon at the DCU Center. With the win, Worcester tied the Whale for 3rd place in the Atlantic Division in the race for the playoffs with 13 games remaining.
John McCarthy had two goals in the second period and Kevin Henderson had the game winner in the third for the Sharks. Carter Hutton made 29 saves for his 4th straight victory. Worcester grabbed six out of eight points this week as they continue to jockey for a playoff spot for the 4th time in five seasons. Dan DaSilva (14th) got the Sharks on the board first, wristing one past goalie Cam Talbot glove side at 5:29, finishing a pretty feed from Mike Swift. After a Whale goal was waived off for a Francis Lemieux high stick on goalie Carter Hutton, the Sharks took advantage on the ensuing power play. Tommy Wingels (15th) one timed a pass from Jamie McGinn to give Worcester the 2-0 lead. DaSilva nearly scored his second of the period as he was stopped on a late breakaway. The Sharks led 2-0 after twenty minutes of play. Twos were wild in the second period as Worcester and Connecticut scored twice each. John McCarthy (1st) finished a two-on-one break shorthanded at 1:19 as he wristed a shot past Cam Talbot from the right circle. Kris Newbury (14th) would get the Whale on the board as he buried a pass in the slot from Kelsey Tessier to cut the lead to 3-1. The Whale scored their own shorthanded two-on-one goal, the second of the period, as Brodie Dupont (14th) fired a shot past Carter Hutton at 17:04. Kris Newbury picked up the assist and his second point of the period. The Sharks answered right back as John McCarthy (2nd) scored his second of the period as he slid the puck past Talbot on a wrap-around at 18:59. Worcester led 4-2 heading into the third. Worcester scored an important insurance goal early in the period to put them up three. Off a face-off win by TJ Trevelyan, Matt Irwin ripped a slap shot from the point that bounced around and found itself in the back of the net off Kevin Henderson (7th) just 1:49 in. The Whale scored the next two goals just 3:11 apart as Kelsey Tessier (8th) put home a loose puck in the crease to cut the lead to 5-3. Jeremy Williams (28th) would pick the top corner with a wrist shot at 17:48 to make it 5-4. The Whale would pull the goalie late but the Sharks would hang on for the 5-4 victory. The Sharks record improves to 31-24-4-8 with 74 points and to 18-10-2-4 at the DCU Center. Worcester has 13 games remaining on their 80 game AHL regular season schedule (6 home, 7 away)
2013 vs W-B/Scranton 5-1 win
(WORSHARKS) The Worcester Sharks (28-23-1-6, 63 points) extended their home point streak to five games (4-0-1) with a 5-1 victory over the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins (33-22-3-2, 71 points) in front of 2,419 fans at the DCU Center on Wednesday evening. Harri Sateri led the way for the Sharks, making 28 saves on 29 shots, earning his 13th victory of the season. Marek Viedensky (4th), Adam Comrie (1st), Bracken Kearns (16th), and Daniil Tarasov (9th) scored power play goals for the Sharks against the Penguins, who are the best penalty killing team in the league. Kearns (17th) also added an even-strength goal for the Sharks in the win. Comrie added three assists in addition to his goal, for a four point night. Warren Peters (10th) scored the lone goal for the Penguins in the third period. Neither team was able to find the back of the net in a back-and-forth first period. Although neither team scored, there wasn’t a lack of scoring opportunities in the period, as each team had prime scoring chances in the final two minutes of the first. Wilkes-Barre / Scranton’s chance came when defenseman Dylan Reese rang the post on a blast from the point that beat Harri Sateri to his left, while Worcester’s Adam Comrie was denied by a sprawling Jeff Zatkoff on a power play chance in the final minute of the period. Worcester held a 15-13 shot advantage in the period, while going scoreless on the power play in three chances. It didn’t take long for the Sharks to get on the board in the second period. With 1:10 remaining on their power play chance from the first period, the Sharks capitalized just 16 seconds into the second. After a blast from the point by Adam Comrie that went just wide, the puck ricocheted off of the boards to a wide open Marek Viedensky (4th) out in front who buried the puck into an empty cage, giving the Sharks a 1-0 lead. The Sharks added another power play goal late in the period to increase their lead to 2-0, when Daniil Tarasov (9th) received the puck on the doorstep, dangled, and roofed a backhand shot past Jeff Zatkoff. The Sharks continued to dominate in shots, edging the Penguins 13-6 in the second as well. The Sharks scored their third power play goal of the game at 9:20 of the third period, when Bracken Kearns made a nice feed out to Adam Comrie (1st), who buried a one-timer past Jeff Zatkoff for his first AHL goal, giving the Sharks a 3-0 lead. The Penguins answered back shortly after, when Warren Peters (10th) snuck the only shot of the game past Harri Sateri, cutting their deficit to 3-1. However, the two-goal lead didn’t last long. Just over a minute after the Penguins scored, Bracken Kearns (16th) went in on a breakaway and scored a highlight reel goal after a lob pass in the neutral zone, giving the Sharks a three goal lead once again. The Sharks weren’t done there. The Sharks added their fourth power play goal of the game, when Comrie made a perfect cross-ice feed to a wide open Kearns (17th) who buried the puck into an empty cage, making it a 5-1 final. The Sharks overall record improves to 28-23-1-6 (63pts in 58gp) and 12-10-1-4 (29pts in 27gp) on home ice this season.
2015 at Albany 3-2 loss
(WORSHARKS) The Worcester Sharks (32-22-4-2, 70pts) fell 3-2 to the host Albany Devils (27-23-5-5, 64pts) in front of 3,122 fans at the Time Union Center on Friday evening. With the loss, the Sharks fall to 8th place in the Eastern Conference with 16 games remaining. Taylor Fedun and Karl Stollery scored second period goals for Worcester while Troy Grosenick was solid with 31 saves between the pipes for the Sharks. Darcy Zajac scored the only goal of the third period for the eventual game winner as Scott Clemmensen made 27 saves in net for the Devils. For the 7th straight game, the Sharks would not score in the first period as the Devils would take a 2-0 lead. Paul Thompson (25th) gave the Devils a 1-0 lead at 7:36 with a quick shot from the left circle that beat Grosenick on the short side. Albany grabbed a 2-0 advantage at 15:14 after captain Rod Pelley (6th) rang a shot off the post from the left slot after a great feed behind the Worcester net. Albany held a 14-8 shot advantage through 20 minutes. Worcester would tie the score with a pair of goals in the second period by a pair of blue liners. Taylor Fedun (6th) fired a one timer past goaltender Scott Clemmensen at 4:57 from on top of the right circle as John McCarthy was in front providing a screen. Karl Stollery (6th) scored his first goal as a member of the Worcester Sharks to tie the score at 2-2 at 10:20 after Ryan Carpenter sent the puck off the wall down the left wing side and Stollery sent a quick blast through Clemmensen from a tough angle. Albany would score the only goal of the third period as Darcy Zajac netted the game winner at 5:45 after the Sharks turned the puck over in their own zone and Zajac pushed a rebound past Troy Grosenick from on top of the Sharks crease. Worcester fired 10 shots in the third period on Scott Clemmensen but came up empty as the Devils held on for the 3-2 home win. The Sharks overall record falls to 32-22-4-2, 70pts, and 14-13-2-1, 31pts on the road this season.
2024 vs Reading 2-1 loss
(RAILERS) The ECHL standings do not included a CTW category — Chance To Win. If they did the Railers might lead the entire league. Instead, Worcester lives on the edge in the North Division and Wednesday was edged by the Reading Royals, 2-1. The visitors scored single goals in the first and second periods. The Railers got their’s in the third and as has happened frequently this season, created chances that should have led to more goals but could not capitalize. Worcester has scored 25 goals in its last 12 games, an average of 2.1 a game. That it remains in fourth place in the division is a result of strong defensive play and the goaltending of John Muse. That keeps the Railers in the game and in contention but at some point they have to score more. “It’s not a mystery,” coach Jordan Smotherman said. “We’re not hard enough on our chances. The shots we’re taking — we’re leaning back, we’re not driving them through the net. It’s all on our back foot. It’s on our heels. It’s not on our strong leg. “It’s the little piece that’s missing.” Reece Newkirk had the Railers goal. He made it a 2-1 game at 8:04 of the third period with a low 45-foot wrist shot that beat Royals’ goalie Nolan Maier through traffic. Reading’s goals were scored by Joseph Nardi in the first period and Yvan Mongo in the second. Maier made 36 saves and was voted the game’s No. 1 star. He was solid through two periods and excellent in the third when Worcester controlled play. His most important stop came early in the third period when he turned back Andrei Bakanov on a clean breakaway at 1:28. Bakanov came in hard and got off a short backhander. Maier held his ground, forced Bakanov in close and was able to smother the shot. A goal that early in the period could have provided a emotional turning point — not to mention a lot of time — for the Railers. Worcester was all over Maier in the final five minutes or so and came close to tying it several times. The closest the Railers got was at 19:15 when Newkirk hit the post from just above the goal line on the right side. With Blade Jenkins in Hartford and Anthony Repaci injured, Newkirk has been a lifesaver. He has four goals in eight games in back-and-forth time between here and Bridgeport. Artyom Kulakov and Christian Krygier assisted on Newkirk’s goal which came right after Kulakov made an excellent offensive play and tested Maier. Kulakov just turned 21 last month and is the youngest player on Worcester’s active roster. He has gotten better by the week throughout the season and has begun to add some offense to his game. Kulakov was 0-2-2 through the season’s first 26 matches. He is 4-5-9 in 23 games since then. Wednesday was Reading’s first game at the DCU Center in more than a year, or since Feb. 11, 2023. The Royals are here again Friday night with a chance to tighten the North Division playoff race a little more. The Railers had a 37-25 advantage in shots on goal. They have lost two in a row and scored two goals on 68 shots, one on 55 shots in the last four periods. “It’s a matter of wanting to put the puck through the back of the net instead of just getting it there,” Smotherman said. That would make all the difference between having a chance to win, and winning. MAKING TRACKS – Worcester had a goal disallowed at 12:38 of the first period. Zsombor Garat put a shot over Maier’s glove from the right circle but the wave-off was immediate via goalie interference. It was clearly the right call. … Ryan Scarfo, the Railers’ newly acquired forward, is on the way from Savannah so was not in uniform. He is not yet officially on the roster. … Carson MacKinnon made his home-ice debut after playing his first five Worcester games on the road. … The Royals roster featured a Mingo (Dajon) and a Mongo. That is probably a first in hockey history. … Maier had lost five straight starts against the Railers before Wednesday. … Newkirk’s goal was his 33rd as a Railer, tying him with Ross Olsson for fifth on the team’s all-time list. … Worcester was not penalized for just the eighth time in franchise history. Four of those games have been with Reading.
2025 vs Norfolk 4-1 loss
(RAILERS) The Railers played a strong game against the Norfolk Admirals, but ultimately fell 4-1 on Thursday night. They remained tied with Reading for fourth in the North Division with both teams at 60 points. For the second straight game Worcester was victimized by superb goaltending. This time it was Thomas Milic, who stopped 30 of 31 shots. At Trois-Rivieres Sunday, Lions goaltender Luke Cavallin repulsed 45 of 46 Railers shots in a 3-1 Trois-Rivieres triumph that included an empty net goal. The totals for the two games have Worcester outshooting the opposition by 77-46 but being outscored, 7-2, including two into empty nets. Both goalies, Milic and Cavallin, are among the ECHL’s best, certainly in the top five category. Cavallin has the league’s best numbers at 17-7-1 with a 1.87 goals against average. Milic is 8-4-0, 1.83 but has not played enough to qualify as a league leader. This victory improved his career record versus Worcester to 4-1-0 with a 1.79 goals against mark. He has stopped 134 of the 143 shots the Railers have fired at him. Thursday night, anyway, most of those shots were good ones. Worcester did not hit him with a lot of 50-footers into the gut. The Lions took an early 2-0 lead on goals by Brady Fleurent, his 25th, at 7:15 of the first period and Filip Fornaa Svenson, also his 25th, at 10:31. Andrei Bakanov tallied two for the Admirals in the third to make it a 4-1 game. Anthony Callin had the Railers goal, his 18th of the year. It came on the power play at 7:17 of the second period to make it a 2-1 game. Connor Welsh and Anthony Repaci got the assists as Repaci returned after an absence of 12 games due to injury. He had missed 15 of 18 games prior to Thursday. Hugo Ollas made 17 saves on 20 shots for Worcester on the night. The teams meet again here Friday and Saturday nights. Meanwhile, Reading will be playing host to first place Trois-Rivieres on the same schedule. MAKING TRACKS – There has been a lot of roster movement since Worcester’s last homestand. Riley Piercey is back from Bridgeport; Cam McDonald is up. Mark Cheremeta was released and defenseman Pito Walton was acquired in a trade. Forward Alec Cicero, who spent four years at Holy Cross, was signed out of Canisius. Walton made his Railers debut. Cicero did not play. … Welsh’s assist gave him 46 points for the season. That is tied for the second-most points by a Worcester defenseman. Nick Naumenko also had 46 for the 1997-98 IceCats. … The Railers had to kill two penalties and were successful on both. They are are 50 for 56 (.893) in their last 19 games. They were 103 for 140 (.736) in their first 40 games. … Attendance was 1,968. … The last 2:22, tied for the shortest of the season at the DCU Center.
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