1997 at Springfield 1-1 tie
The Worcester IceCats didn’t play very well, but got a great game from goaltender Jamie McLennan as they escaped Springfield with a 1-1 tie. Terry Virtue had the ‘Cats goal at 19:54 of the middle period, assisted by Rory Fitzpatrick and Jamie Rivers. Juha Ylonen tied the game for the Falcons at 8:50 of the third with a shorthanded goal. McLennan finished the game with 29 saves.
1998 vs Kentucky 6-1 win
The Worcester IceCats turned a close game into a laugher with a four goal third period against the Kentucky Thoroughblades during a 6-1 win. Stephane Roy got the ‘Cats on the board with the only goal of the opening period at 10:27, with Chris Kenady and Lubos Bartecko providing assists. Alexei Yegorov tied the game for Kentucky at 7:51 of the second period, but Ivan Ciernik would get the IceCats their lead right back at 9:27. Bob Lachance and Nick Naumenko had the helpers. Fifty-three seconds into the final period Rory Fitzpatrick would make it 3-1, assisted by Bartecko and Roy. Robert Petrovicky then fired an unassisted goal at 10:20. Reed Low connected on the power play, from Petrovicky and Lachance, at 17:11, and Mike Prokopec capped the scoring with a power play marker at 18:56. Terry Hollinger and Michal Handzus had points on the play. Frederic Cassivi had 27 saves in the victory while Evgeni Nabokov made 38 for the ‘Blades in the loss.
2001 at W-B/Scranton 7-0 loss
(TICKER) Rich Parent turned aside 30 shots as the Wilkes-Barre Penguins blanked the Worcester IceCats, 7-0. Parent’s effort earned him his first shutout of the season as Wilkes-Barre produced its best offensive output since a 7-7 tie with St. John’s on February 24. Toby Petersen, the AHL’s third-leading scorer among rookies with 61 points entering the game, scored two goals and had an assist for his sixth three-point game of the season for the Penguins. Milan Kraft added a goal and two assists and Michal Kozsival and Trent Cull each collected a goal and an assist as Wilkes-Barre evened its season series with Worcester at 1-1-0. Dwayne Roloson allowed four goals on 26 shots to suffer the loss before being relieved by Curtis Sanford in the third period.
2004 vs Lowell 5-1 win
(ICECATS) The Worcester IceCats finally earned a convincing win over the Lowell Lock Monsters, defeating their intrastate rivals 5-1 Sunday at Worcester’s Centrum Centre. Worcester had just one win in eight previous meetings with the Monsters this season. Worcester’s Blake Evans scored shorthanded just 41 seconds into the first period, putting a shortside wrist-shot past Lowell’s Patrick DesRochers. It was the ‘Cats fastest goal to open a game this season. The ‘Cats exploded for three goals in the second, getting power play markers from Aaron MacKenzie and Jame Pollock. Both power play goals looked similar, with each shot being blasted from inside the left circle. Jay McClement scored to make it 4-0 later in the second period, after Jeff Panzer stole the puck in his own zone, forced his way into Lowell’s end, drew two Lock Monsters to him, and then dropped the puck into an open space between the circles. McClement jumped up and drove home his 11th goal of the season. Mike Glumac extended his scoring streak in the third period, converting on a two-on-one to earn his 13th point in nine games. Tomas Kurka ruined Curtis Sanford’s shutout bid on the power play late in the third. Sanford had gone five-plus periods without allowing a goal. Worcester holds third place in the Atlantic Division with 78 points, and remain one point ahead of Providence in the standings, and five points behind second place Manchester.
2007 vs Albany 3-2 win
The Worcester Sharks lost two one-goal leads but held on to their third in a 3-2 win over the River Rats. Garrett Stafford put the WorSharks up 1-0 when he one-timed a Scott Ferguson feed at 17:47 of the opening period while on the power play. Mike Iggulden had the secondary assist. Ryan Bayda tied it for Albany at 5:23 of the middle stanza, but Craig Valette gave Worcester the 2-1 lead at 13:08 when he put back the rebound of Lukas Kaspar’s shot. Riley Armstrong also assisted. Once again the River Rats tied it, this time on a third period goal from Brad Parsons at 2:11. Valette’s second of the game was the game winner, coming at 7:04 on a nice 25-foot wrist shot. Grant Stevenson and Armstrong assisted. Thomas Greiss earned the win making 16 saves.
2008 vs Bridgeport 5-4 OTL
(WORSHARKS) In perhaps the wildest ending in Worcester Sharks history, the Sharks scored two goals in the final 21 seconds of the third period to force overtime, but fell to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, 5-4 in the extra session on Friday evening. The Sharks took a 2-0 lead into the third period before allowing four straight Sound Tiger goals to give Bridgeport a two-goal lead with under 45 seconds remaining in the hockey game. Ashton Rome scored with just 21 seconds remaining and Tom Walsh scored the unbelievable tying goal with just 2.5 seconds left in the third period. Worcester (27-30-5-6, 65 points) did earn a valuable point, moving to within four points of the fifth-place Manchester Monarchs and seven of the fourth-place Springfield Falcons. The Sharks’ defense held the Sound Tigers without a shot on goal until the 10:55 mark of the first period. Worcester finally capitalized on a chance of its own when Derek Joslin scored his ninth goal of the season at 13:59. Tom Cavanagh won the offensive zone faceoff directly back to Joslin at the point. The Sharks defenseman one-timed the puck past Bridgeport goaltender Mike Morrison, finding the top right corner of the net for his ninth goal of the season. Late in the first, Kip Brennan was whistled for a five-minute kneeing penalty. The Sharks did not score on the extended man advantage, but were able to find the back of the net two seconds after the penalty expired. Cavanagh made a pass from the right wing circle intended for Mike Iggulden at Morrison’s doorstep. Bridgeport’s Ben Walter deflected the feed, but Iggulden still scooped up the puck and beat the Bridgeport netminder five-hole for his 24th goal of the season at 1:40 of the second. Dennis Packard was credited with the other assist on the play. The Sound Tigers opened the third period on a furious surge, quickly tying the score at two. It started at 29 seconds when Colton Fretter gathered a loose puck in a goal-mouth scramble and slid the puck past Sharks goaltender Dimitri Patzold for his seventh goal of the season. Sean Bentivoglio and Dustin Kohn were credited with the assists. Less than three minutes later at 2:53, Fretter netted his second of the game to even the score. Trevor Smith carried the puck behind the net and found Fretter just in front of the crease, who subsequently beat Patzold five-hole. Bentivoglio tallied his second assist of the period on the play. Bridgeport took its first lead of the game at 11:49 when Tyler Mosienko scored his first-career AHL goal. Packard was whistled for a two-minute crosschecking minor, giving the Sound Tigers a crucial late-game power play. Walter carried the puck out of the right wing boards and put a shot on net. His initial shot was saved, but Mosienko was on the spot and stuffed it past the goal line. Mark Wotton picked up the other assist on the play. It looked like the game would be over when Tyler Haskins added an empty net goal at 19:21, but the Sharks came back strong. Ashton Rome started the unthinkable rally, taking a pass from Craig Valette and beating Morrison from point-blank range. The Sharks lost the ensuing draw, but had one last push up ice. Tom Walsh took a shot from just inside the left point. It bounced off Wotton and into the net for the 4-4 tie. Bridgeport crashed the party at 4:25 of overtime when Drew Fata took a shot from the point. Patzold made the save, and didn’t get a whistle from referee Kyle Rehman. The puck squirted behind him before Matt Keith finished it off.
2009 at Lowell 3-0 loss
(WORSHARKS) Rod Pelley scored the first goal of the game to set the tone on “Rod Pelley Bobblehead Night” as the Lowell Devils topped the Sharks, 3-0 on a very chippy Saturday night at the Tsongas Arena. The Sharks outshot the Devils, 42-21, but Lowell goalie Jeff Frazee came up big for his third shutout of the season. The shutout for Worcester was its third of the season, and first on the road. Pelley took a feed from Vladimir Zharkov at 9:55 of the first period and found the top right corner of the net on the backhand to give Lowell a 1-0 advantage. It looked like the Sharks would tie the score less than two minutes later when Tom Cavanagh sprung Lukas Kaspar on a shorthanded breakaway, but Frazee made a big stop to keep the score 1-0. Lowell upped its lead to 2-0 at 9:34 of the second period when Nicklas Bergfors scored his 19th of the season. His initial shot from the right wing circle was stopped by Worcester goalie Thomas Greiss, but he followed his rebound and found the open net from the left wing circle. The Devils upped their lead to 3-0 at 6:18 of the third period when Jon DiSalvatore redirected a shot in front for his 18th goal of the season. Matthew Spiller and Mark Fraser were credited with the assists on the play. A very physical third period erupted at the final horn as Frazee skated over to give Steven Zalewski a cross check, starting a scuffle which saw Mike Moore, and Brett Westgarth drop the gloves. The loss drops Worcester’s record to 34-32-1-2 with 71 points through 69 games.
2010 at Lowell 6-5 win SO
(WORSHARKS) Kevin Henderson scored his first professional goal and Frank Doyle went a perfect 4-for-4 in the shootout as the Sharks defeated the Lowell Devils, 6-5, at the Tsongas Center in Lowell, MA on Sunday afternoon. The win was Worcester’s 43rd of the season, a franchise record.
Dan DaSilva and T.J. Trevelyan each had a goal and an assist and John McCarthy scored a shorthanded tally as the Sharks won a see-saw battle against the Devils. Solid defense was the name of the game in the first period as just nine shots were fired between the two teams. (Lowell 7, Worcester 2). The Devils first shot of the period came at 10:51 of the first period by Eric Castonguay from the left circle which was sticked away by Frank Doyle. Brandon Mashinter (19th) deflected in a one-timer shot by Jason Demers past Mike McKenna on the power play to give the sharks a 1-0 lead. T.J. Trevelyan sent a cross ice pass to Demers for the secondary assist. The Devils tied the game at 1-1 on the power play after Cory Murphy’s (5th) blast from the blue line through traffic went past Doyle top shelf at 14:27. The Sharks scored four goals in a wild middle period including the first professional goal by Kevin Henderson. Dan DaSilva (17th) put Worcester ahead 2-1 after he deflected a shot by Danny Groulx from the blue line at 57 seconds of the 2nd period. Michael Swift (18th) tied the game at 2:23 and gave the Devils their first lead at 3:32 with his 19th to give Lowell a 3-2 advantage. The Sharks would then rattle off three straight goals to end the period. Kevin Henderson (1st) scored his first professional goal after a goal mouth scramble past a fallen Mike McKenna at 7:14. T.J. Trevelyan (24th) fired in a loose puck on top of the crease after a centering feed from Ryan Vesce at 12:02. John McCarthy (12th) extended his point streak to six games (4-3-7) with a shorthanded goal at 15:35. McCarthy fired a puck past McKenna after a faceoff win deep in the Devils zone by Andrew Desjardins. The Sharks outshot the Devils 17-14 in the second period and led 5-3 after two periods of play. The Devils would score twice in the third period to tie the score at 5-5. Stephen Gionta (14th) scored at 4:04 and Nick Palmieri (21st) deflected a shot from the point past Frank Doyle at 11:39. In overtime, the Devils had several great opportunities to score, including hitting the post with just under two minutes remaining. Benn Ferriero and T.J. Trevelyan scored in the shootout while Frank Doyle denied all four Devils shooters for the victory. Win the win Worcester’s record improves to (43-21-2-3, 89 points) and continue to hold a three point advantage over the second place Portland Pirates. The Sharks magic number to clinch a playoff spot is six points.
2012 at Albany 6-5 loss
(WORSHARKS) Matt Irwin, Tim Kennedy, John McCarthy and Tony Lucia all had multi point games for Worcester; the Sharks battled back from a 5-1 deficit to tie the score in the third period; but the Devils’ Zladimir Zharkov scored the game winner with 5:36 left in the final frame as the Sharks fell 6-5 in a wild affair to the Albany Devils at the Times Union Center on Wednesday evening. Matt Irwin, Brian O’Hanley, Time Kennedy, Jack Combs, and John McCarthy scored for Worcester and Harri Sateri allowed six goals on 46 shots in the loss. It was a feisty game as the two teams combined for 68 penalty minutes and three sets of fighting majors. The Devils charged out to a 4-1 lead in a feisty first period that saw three separate fights and 40 total penalty minutes. Brad Mills (5th) struck on the power play at 3:09 followed by Stephen Gionta (4th) finishing off a rush down the right wing past Harri Sateri at 7:03 to give the Devils a 2-0 lead. Myles Stoesz (1st) shot the puck off a Sharks defenseman and into the net at 8:58 as the Sharks were down 3-0 early. Soon after, Frazer McLaren (5th) tangled with Myles Stoesz (9th FM) at 9:06 followed by Brandon Mashinter (7th FM) and Eric Gelinas at 9:44. After the pair of scraps, defenseman Matt Irwin (9th) found a bouncing puck rebound on top of the crease and buried the puck past goaltender Keith Kinkaid at 10:11 to get the Sharks on the board and cut the Albany lead to 3-1. The Devils would regain their three goal lead on the power play after a centering feed by Tim Sestito (8th) was deflected off Nick Petrecki and past Sateri at 13:42. Matt Pelech (15th FM) and Harry Young (3rd FM) fought at center ice in a long heavy weight battle at 17:40 to close out a physical opening frame. The Sharks trialed 4-1 through 20 minutes with the Devils holding a 16-7 shot advantage. In the second period, Albany struck again on the power play at :27 seconds as Brad Mills (6th) scored his 2nd of the game to put the Devils up 5-1. But the Sharks would come charging back with three unanswered goals to close out the middle frame. Brian O’Hanley (3rd) sent a blast through the pads of Keith Kinkaid at 3:36 and Tim Kennedy (11th) struck on the power play, skating from the right corner and in front of the crease before zapping the puck off the post and in to cut the Devils lead to 5-3. Jack Combs (15th) scored from short range at 19:12 after great work behind the net by Ryan Del Monte to get the Sharks within single score through 40 minutes. Albany outshot Worcester 17-11 in the second period. John McCarthy (17th) scored his team leading 17th goal on a power play at 5:01 to tie the score at 5-5 after his blast snuck through the pads of Jeff Frazee, who replaced Keith Kinkaid at the start of the period. Vladimir Zharkov (14th) netted the eventual game winner after the Sharks were unable to clear the zone and his one timer got through Sateri at 14:24 to put the Devils ahead again for good at 6-5. Worcester’s record falls to 28-25-4-7, with 67pts and currently in 8th place in the Eastern Conference with 12 games remaining.
2014 vs Springfield 4-2 loss
(WORSHARKS) The Worcester Sharks (30-28-3-1, 64pts) fall to the Springfield Falcons (39-18-1-5, 84pts) 4-2 before 4,241 fans as they had their win streak snapped at six Friday evening at the DCU Center. Dan DaSilva tied the Sharks record for most career points (138) with a goal and an assist in the loss. Springfield lit the lamp first with an early power play goal off a redirection from Andrew Joudrey (11th). In the second period, the Sharks answered with two goals of their own by Bracken Kearns (6th) and Dan DaSilva (14th, PPG), taking their only lead of the night. Springfield then took control of the third period and the game with goals by Dana Tyrell (12th), Matt Taormina (8th) and Sean Collins (13th). The first period resulted in a lone Springfield tally and a score of 1-0. The mark came seven seconds into the Falcons’ first power play at 3:27 after Carter Camper cycled the puck across the point to Denny Urban. Urban then dished the biscuit to Andrew Joudrey (11th) in the slot, who redirected it into the net with his backhand for the first lead. The Falcons outshot the Sharks 13-7 in the period, where Springfield tender Mike McKenna stopped all seven of Worcester’s attempts. The Sharks doubled the Falcons scoring in the middle period and took a 2-1 lead as Grosenick slated Springfield pushing aside all eight shots on goal. Worcester opened their scoring at 5:44 when John McCarthy rifled a shot from the top of the offensive zone that DaSilva tried to stuff behind McKenna in front of the paint. After two initial saves, Kearns (6th) sent it home with a diving finish on the second rebound. Then, with just 1:15 remaining, DaSilva netted a power play goal to give Worcester its only lead. Konrad Abeltshauser sniped a shot from the left point so powerful that it ricocheted off McKenna’s right and into the free space for Dan DaSilva (14th) to send over the goal line. With the goal, DaSilva now ties Tom Cavanagh for the record for most career points as a Shark with 138. The Sharks outshot the Falcons 15-8 in the period. The Falcons took back their lead and then furthered it in the third with three marks to seal the game at 4-2. Springfield opened the period just 22 seconds in when Dana Tyrell (12th) evened the game with a score that he slipped through Grosenick’s five-hole. The Falcons then regained their lead at 4:18 with their second power play goal of the game after the puck trickled through two Sharks defensemen to the stick of Matt Taormina (8th) who finished the play. At 11:41 Springfield added an insurance goal, and the final goal of the evening, when Sean Collins (13th) held onto the puck and put on a deke before Grosenick, subsequently hoisting it top-shelf to solidify the victory. During the period, Jimmy Bonneau (16th FM) dropped the gloves in a victorious bout with Will Weber (5th FM). Shots were close in the final frame at 10-9, with the Sharks holding the edge while McKenna remained solid and kept the Sharks off the board. The Sharks’ overall record drops to 30-28-3-1, 64pts and 15-13-0-1, 31pts at home.
2015 vs Lehigh Valley 6-1 win
(WORSHARKS) The Worcester Sharks (34-23-4-2, 74pts) dismantled the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (29-26-6-1, 65pts) 6-1 in front of 6,131 fans at the DCU Center on Saturday evening. New England Patriots’ Super Bowl hero Malcolm Butler (presented by Scrub-a-Dub) also made an appearance and signed autographs before Sharks’ action got underway. Six players scored for Worcester in the 6-1 rout of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Veteran John McCarthy (1-1-2, +2) scored his franchise-leading 61st goal and rookie Daniel Ciampini (1-1-2, +1) notched his first professional goal. Sharks’ goaltender Aaron Dell picked up his 10th win of the season, making 28 saves on 29 shots from the Phantoms to remain undefeated in regulation on home ice. Sharks’ coach, Roy Sommer, earned his 610th win, which puts him second all-time in the AHL. With the victory, Worcester remains in the 9thth spot in the Eastern Conference, one point behind the Springfield Falcons (Sharks have two games in hand). The Sharks got off to a scorching start, scoring three goals in the first period. Worcester’s new forward from Union College, Daniel Ciampini (1st), ripped a one-timer from in front of the crease after a behind-the-net feed from Jimmy Bonneau 5:46 into the first frame. At the 10:57 mark, defenseman Matt Taormina fired a shot from the left point, which was then tipped into the net by Lerg (13th) for the Sharks’ second goal and Lerg’s fifth in three games. Worcester’s center Rylan Schwartz (4th) got in on the action at 16:03, finding the back of the net from the bottom of the left circle to give the Sharks the 3-0 lead. Worcester’s goaltender Aaron Dell stopped all 9 shots that came his way in the first frame as the Sharks had the three-goal advantage through twenty minutes. Worcester continued to pour it on in the second period. At the 2:57 mark, Jimmy Bonneau ripped a shot from the right point, which was deflected by Ryan Carpenter (10th) into the net for the Sharks’ fourth goal. At 6:29, a skirmish broke out behind the Lehigh Valley net between Sharks’ right winger Eriah Hayes and Phantoms’ blueliner Oliver Lauridsen, resulting in penalties on both sides. Forward Willie Coetzee (9th) netted the puck from the slot after a feed from Micheal Haley for the fifth Worcester goal. Dell added 7 more saves to his total, preserving the Sharks’ commanding 5-0 lead heading into the second intermission. Lehigh Valley finally got on the board at 4:55 of the third period during a power play when blueliner Brandon Manning (11th) found the back of the net from the bottom of the right circle following a feed from forward Zach Stortini, bringing the score to 5-1 Worcester. At the 15:45 mark of the third period, veteran John McCarthy (12th) lit up the lamp for Worcester’s sixth goal after a nice feed across the slot from Eriah Hayes, which made it 6-1 Sharks. Worcester would hold on for the victory, as Aaron Dell made 12 saves on 13 shots from the Phantoms in the final frame. The Sharks overall record improves to 34-23-4-2, 74pts, and 20-10-2-1, 43pts at the DCU Center this season.
2018 at Wheeling 1-0 SOL
(RAILERS) Mitch Gillam made 33 saves for the Worcester Railers HC (30-25-4-4, 68pts) but Worcester could not find the back of the net in a 1-0 shootout loss to the host Wheeling Nailers (32-25-7-1, 72pts) in front of 1,481 fans at the WesBanco Arena on Wednesday evening. Mitch Gillam was spectacular with 33 saves in net and also stopped 3-of-4 shooters in the shootout. Adam Morrison made 28 saves for the Nailers and Chris Francis was the only goal scorer through four rounds of the shootout. Neither team found the back of the net in a rather cautiously played first period of play as shots were 9-5 in favor of the Nailers. Mitch Gillam made nine saves as the Railers killed off two power plays in a period that saw both teams finish their checks. Wheeling came out buzzing in the second period and fired 16 shots on Mitch Gillam as the Railers rookie netminder stood on his head to keep the game scoreless. Adam Morrison made seven saves in the middle frame as the two teams headed to the second intermission in a scoreless tie. The Railers had better chances in the third period as Yanick Turcotte had the best chance with just over two minutes left as he hit the post with a break down the middle. Shots were 12-4 in the third period in favor of Worcester as the two teams headed to overtime in a scoreless tie. Worcester had a power play to start overtime period as each team had four shots in a scoreless overtime as shots were 33-28 in favor of Wheeling through 65 minutes of play. Neither team scored in the first three rounds of the shootout before Chris Francis scored in the 4th round to give Wheeling the 1-0 shootout home victory.
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