1997 vs Springfield 6-3 win
The Worcester IceCats got a third period natural hat trick by Bob Lachance as part of a four goal third period as they defeated the Falcons 6-3. Juha Ylonen gave Springfield the 1-0 lead with a power play goal at 5:52 of the first period, but Rory Fitzpatrick evened the score with an unassisted power play tally for the ‘Cats at 10:13. Chad Kilger added a pair for the Falcons, at 10:55 and 16:52, to chase IceCats starter Mike Buzak (10 saves) and give Springfield the 3-1 lead after twenty minutes. Daniel Guerard got Worcester within one with the only goal of the middle stanza, with Lachance and Marquis Mathieu picking up the helpers at 1:10. In the third frame Lachance struck for the first time at 1:16 on the power play, assisted by Chris Kenady and Mathieu. Lachance then connected on a shorthanded breakaway at 5:45, with Mike Maneluk sending him off with a nice pass. Lachance had to avoid a loose helmet in front of the Springfield net on his way in, but did so with ease. Lachance then scored another shortie, sans helmet in the way, at 7:39 when Maneluk once again sent him off on a breakaway bid. Konstantin Shafranov capped the scoring at 17:32, assisted by Mathieu. Travis Scott earned the win, making 27 saves in just over two periods of action.
1998 at Fredericton 3-2 loss
The Worcester IceCats got an early third period goal to take the lead but couldn’t hold on in a 3-2 loss to the Canadiens. Bob Lachance put the ‘Cats up 1-0 at 11:09 of the first period when he banged home his own rebound, assisted by Jamal Mayers. Martin Gendron tied it for Fredericton at 2:30 of the middle period. Robert Petrovicky gave Worcester the lead again with an unassisted goal at 2:36 of the third when he made a clean steal in the Canadiens zone and whistled a wrist shot past Jose Theodore. Stephane Robidas then tied the score 2-2 at 7:40. It was a bad bounce that gave Fredericton the game winner when Jason Ward slid a centering feed that banked off an IceCats defenseman, hit netminder Brent Johnson, and rolled into the net at 12:02. Johnson finished the game with 24 saves.
2002 at Springfield 5-2 win
(ICECATS) Thursday night at the Springfield Civic Center, the IceCats left with a 5-2 victory. Justin Papineau set a new IceCats franchise record for most goals in a single season with his League leading 37th of the season. Recently named 2001-2002 AHL All-Rookie Team member, Barret Jackman also tallied for Worcester. Ed Campbell, Marc Brown and Daniel Tkaczuk rounded out the scoring for the ‘Cats. Thursday night also saw the return of Eric Boguniecki, Eric Nickulas and Joe Hulbig to the ‘Cats lineup. Hulbig pitched-in with two assists and was named the number one star of the game.
2003 at Manchester 5-3 win
(ICECATS) Friday night in Manchester, New Hampshire, the IceCats defeated the Monarchs, 5-3. Defenseman Terry Virtue and center Johnny Pohl both had a goal and two assists. Jason Dawe registered a goal and an assist. Dawe’s 15th goal of the season proved to be the game-winner. Goaltender Reinhard Divis made his fifth appearance in net for the IceCats, turning aside 33 shots to improve to a perfect 5-0 on the season. Ernie Hartlieb and Mike Stuart had the other Worcester goals.
2004 vs Providence 3-1 win
(ICECATS) The Worcester IceCats scored twice on the power play and it proved to be the difference in a crucial 3-1 Atlantic Division victory over the Providence Bruins last night. Jeff Panzer and Peter Sejna each had a pair of points as third place Worcester gave themselves a thin three point cushion over the Baby-B’s. The Bruins struck first at 6:08 of the opening period, with the scoring sequence yielding the first two shots of the game for Providence. Pat Leahy followed an Ivan Huml shot for his 12th of the season. The IceCats responded on the power play, as Worcester Captain Jeff Panzer redirected a Peter Sejna bid between the legs of Tim Thomas to tie the affair at 17:25. The ‘Cats used a span of 43 seconds to essentially win the game in the second period, as Blake Evans and Greg Black scored back-to-back goals for the IceCats. The Centrum crowd of 8,878 erupted as Evans caught a piece of a Panzer shot heading into the Bruins cage. It was Worcester’s second straight man advantage goal and turned out to be the game-winner. Black, who had a strong weekend for the IceCats, banged home a loose puck on the next shift for the 3-1 final. After the early goal, Sanford battened down the hatches and made 28 saves in his 17th win of the season. It was his 10th straight start and third in three nights. Thomas, meanwhile, was strong for Providence with 36 saves. The Cats now have 81 points and seven games remaining in the regular season
2008 at Hartford 3-2 loss
(WORSHARKS) A late Tom Cavanagh goal proved to be too little too late as the Worcester Sharks dropped their eighth and final decision to the Hartford Wolf Pack, 3-2 on Friday evening at the XL Center in Hartford. With the loss, the Sharks (27-32-5-6) fall to 12 points behind the Manchester Monarchs for the fourth and final Atlantic Division playoff spot. Despite no first-period scoring, both teams came out with an edge in an extremely hard-checking and physical stanza. At 52 seconds, Pierre Parenteau stole the puck and passed to Mike Oullette in front of the net. Worcester goaltender Thomas Greiss came out strong and made the solid positional save to keep the game scoreless. One of the Sharks’ best opportunities came when Oren Eizenman made a bid for his first-career AHL goal. The play did draw a penalty though, giving Worcester its second power play opportunity. Early in the second period, Greiss was whistled for delay of game after playing the puck outside of the trapezoidal area. The Wolf Pack capitalized on the man advantage when Hugh Jessiman scored his 14th goal of the season. Greg Moore made the pass from the left wing circle across to Jessiman who subsequently found the inside of the left post for the 1-0 advantage at 2:57. Moore and Thomas Pock were credited with the assists. Hartford extended its lead at 13:23 when Corey Potter took a shot from the left point. Greiss made the save, but Dane Byers was right at the doorstep and readjusted to his forehand, easily finding the open net for his 22nd goal of the season. Jessiman picked up the other assist on the play. Brennan Evans scored his first goal of 2007-08 at 18:23 on one of the strangest bounces off the back boards. His shot came from just inside the left point. The wide shot bounced off the boards and back in front where Hartford netminder David LeNeveu inadvertently kicked the puck into the net. Tom Cavanagh tallied the lone assist on the play. The Wolf Pack answered right back with a crucial tally, extending their lead to two goals heading into the second intermission. Off the faceoff, Ivan Baranka carried the puck in between the circles and unleashed a shot that was blocked. Lauri Korpikoski collected the loose puck and beat Greiss inside the left post for the 3-1 score. Moore was credited with his second assist of the game on the play. The Sharks cut the lead to 3-2 when Lukas Kaspar made a pass from behind the net in front to Cavanagh. His ensuing shot found the top left corner of the net for his 16th goal of the season at 19:19. Worcester made a late rush, but was unable to tie the score giving Hartford the 3-2 victory.
2009 vs Lowell 1-0 loss
(WORSHARKS) Two goals were waved off in the third period, the Devils had a power play before the opening faceoff, and the Sharks lost to the Lowell Devils on Saturday on “Be a Leader” night at the DCU Center. Andrew Desjardins was whistled for slashing before the opening faceoff to give the Devils a power play before the puck was dropped. The Devils did nothing on the power play but took an early 1-0 lead when Alexander Vasyunov skated in and fired a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle past Worcester goaltender Thomas Greiss at 2:30 in the 1st frame on the games first shot. Worcester outshot the Devils 15-11 in the 2nd but the score remained 1-0 in favor of Lowell. The game appeared to get tied up early in the 3rd period when Derek Joslin fired a shot that drew Frazee out of position for Trent Campbell to clean up the rebound. But Frazee would make an incredible glove save reaching back across the crease behind the goal line. The shot appeared to be a goal but following a review of the play it was announced that the puck did not fully cross the goal line and thus dubbed no goal. Fans threw teddy bears on the ice to benefit Project Smile. The 1-0 edge would be questioned again in the 3rd as Riley Armstrong fired a loose puck past Frazee during a scrum in front of the net but the referee Ryan Fraser blew his whistle before the puck crossed the goal line. Fan would again throw teddy bears on the ice thinking the Sharks had tied the score. The loss brings Worcester’s record to 36-34-1-2 with 75 points through 73 games.
2010 at W-B/Scranton 2-1 win
(WORSHARKS) Sharks captain Ryan Vesce scored with 8.1 seconds left in regulation to propel the Sharks to a stunning 2-1 come-from-behind victory in Wilkes-Barre Scranton at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza on Sunday afternoon to close out a tough three-in-three weekend on the road 2-1-0-0. Frank Doyle was great in net for Worcester, collecting his 5th win of the season making 26 saves in net and Dan DaSilva scored his 18th to tie the score early in the third period. The Sharks collected their franchise record 21st road win of the season and a record 97 points on the season. Worcester arrived in Wilkes-Barre at 6am after a seven + hour bus ride from Norfolk and came out with good jump early. Brad Thiessen made 14 first period saves for the Penguins while Frank Doyle made eight saves for the Sharks in a scoreless first period. Joey Haddad scored his first AHL goal with a nice deflection in front of the crease of Doyle after a shot from the point by Brian Strait to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 16:01 of the second period. The Sharks trailed 1-0 after forty minutes of play despite outshooting the Penguins 25-18. Dan DaSilva (18th) tied the game at 3:27 of the third period to tie the game at 1-1. Dennis McCauley and Danny Groulx dug out a loose puck in the right wing circle deep in the Penguins zone and found a wide open DaSilva alone in front of the Penguins net. DaSilva fired the puck past Thiessen’s glove to even the score. Ryan Vesce (14th) won the game for Worcester after a great keep in at the point by Danny Groulx along the left wing wall. Groulx found Vesce behind the net and the Sharks captain carried the puck in front and fired it into the Penguins net with just 8.1 seconds remaining to stun the home crowd. Win the win, Worcester’s record improves to (46-22-2-3, 97 points) and they now lead the Atlantic Division by three points over Portland. Worcester has seven regular season games left this season (5 road, 2 home) and have a franchise best 97 points this season. (210Sports note: This was the only WorSharks road game ever broadcast on local TV in Worcester)
2013 at Connecticut 3-0 loss
(WORSHARKS) The Worcester Sharks (29-28-1-6, 65pts) were shut out by the Connecticut Whale (33-26-5-3, 74pts) 3-0 on Thursday evening at the XL Center. With the loss, the Sharks remain six points behind the 8th place Hershey Bears in the Eastern Conference playoff picture with one game in hand and 12 games remaining. Harri Sateri made 10 saves on 11 shots in his 11th straight start in goal for Worcester before he was run over by Whale forward and former Sharks player Brandon Mashinter early in the 2nd period and replaced by Thomas Heemskerk. The Sharks have dropped three straight games in regulation for the first time this season. Worcester outshot Connecticut 13-7 in a scoreless first period with each team getting two power play chances. Cameron Talbot made 13 saves and Harri Sateri had seven stops as the two teams headed into the first intermission tied 0-0. Rookie Christian Thomas (18th) gave the Whale a 1-0 lead at 1:23 with a power play strike from the left circle with a screen in front of Harri Sateri. Less than two minutes later, former Sharks winger Brandon Mashinter bowled over Harri Sateri with a rush down the left wing side. With Sateri down, Taylor Doherty (1st FM) fought Mashinter at 3:09. Thomas Heemskerk replaced Sateri as Harri went back to the Sharks dressing room with athletic trainer Matt White. There was no more scoring the rest of the period but the physical play picked up and the Sharks trailed 1-0 after 40 minutes. The Whale scored twice early in the third period as Brendan Segal (21st) lit the lamp with a rebound strike at 2:07 and Sam Klassen (1st) scored his first AHL goal in 105 games to close out the Sharks 3-0 at 6:53. Cameron Talbot made seven more saves for his 2nd shutout of the season.
2014 at Manchester 5-1 loss
(WORSHARKS) The Worcester Sharks (32-30-3-1, 68ts) dropped a 5-1 decision to the Eastern Conference leading Manchester Monarchs (43-17-2-6, 94pts) in front of 6,104 fans at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Friday evening. With the loss, the Sharks remain nine points behind the 8th place Admirals for the final playoff spot in the East with 10 games remaining. Manchester secured a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference by scoring four goals in the first period and was led offensively by Brian O’Neill (2-1-3). Dylan Demelo (2nd) score the only goal for Worcester in the third period while Harri Sateri made 21 saves in the loss. Manchester charged out to a 4-0 lead in the opening frame as former Sharks forward James Livingston (7th) scored at 1:21, Hunter Bishop (6th) at 9:18, Steve Quailer (3rd) at 14:55, and Brian O’Neil (22nd) scored on the power play at 18:46. Manchester outshot Worcester 13-6 through 20 minutes as Harri Sateri made some big saves early when the score was still close. Worcester outshot Manchester 12-5 in the second period but neither team found the back of the net. Each team had 18 shots through 40 minutes as goaltender J.F. Berube and his teammates took a 4-0 lead into the second intermission. Rookie defenseman Dylan Demelo (2nd) swatted home his own rebound for the only Worcester score at 3:36 of the third period assisted by Adam Schmidt and Travis Oleksuk. Brian O’Neill (23rd) put the game away with his 2nd power play goal of the contest at 6:40 as Manchester secured a playoff spot with the 5-1 victory. The Sharks overall record falls to 32-30-3-1, 68pts and 16-17-3-0, 35pts on the road.
2015 vs St. John’s 3-2 win OT
(WORSHARKS) The Worcester Sharks ( 36-23-4-2, 78pts) won their 4th straight game with an exciting come from behind overtime victory over the St. John’s IceCaps (30-30-8-2, 70pts) in front of 3,641 fans at the DCU Center on Saturday night. With the victory, the Sharks remain in 8th spot in the Eastern Conference with 11 games left on the schedule. Worcester had goals from Evan Trupp (1-1-2, +1), John McCarthy (1-1-2, +1), and Matt Taormina (1-0-1, +1), who notched the game-winning goal in sudden death overtime to give the Sharks their fourth consecutive win. St. John’s had goals from Chase Balisy (1-0-1, -1) and Blair Riley (1-0-1, +1). Worcester outshot St. John’s 36-20 as Sharks’ goaltender Troy Grosenick made 18 saves on 20 shots, picking up his 19th win of the season. The Sharks went 5-2-1-0 in eight games against the IceCaps this season. Worcester struck first at 10:49 of the first period when center Evan Trupp (15th) found the back of the net from the slot after a Bryan Lerg breakaway to make it 1-0 Sharks. At the 15:03 mark, a scrap broke out by the Worcester net between Sharks’ defenseman Taylor Doherty and St. John’s forward Blair Riley, resulting in penalties on both sides. With 2:21 left in the first frame, St. John’s evened the game on a power play after defenseman Brenden Kichton ripped a shot from the left circle, which was deflected in the net by IceCaps’ left winger Chase Balisy (17th), making the score 1-1. The Sharks held the 13-7 shot advantage through twenty minutes. St. John’s took the lead at 10:28 of the second period when Blair Riley (6th) snuck it past Worcester’s goaltender Troy Grosenick on a breakaway from the crease, giving the IceCaps the 2-1 lead. That would the lone goal of the period. Worcester outshot St. John’s 8-7 in the second frame, but the IceCaps had the one-goal advantage heading into the second intermission. The Sharks tied up the game at the 10:11 mark of what proved to be a chippy third period after Trupp passed from behind the net to veteran John McCarthy (14th), who slammed it home in front of the crease on the power play to knot the game up 2 a side. The game remained tied at the end of regulation. At 2:39 of the overtime period, Worcester defenseman Matt Taormina (9th) ripped a shot from the point to give the Sharks the 3-2 victory. The Sharks overall record improves to 36-23-4-2, 78pts and 21-10-2-1, 45pts at the DCU Center this season.
2018 vs Adirondack 2-0 win
(RAILERS) The Worcester Railers HC (32-26-4-4, 72pts) kicked off a three game homestand with a 2-0 win over the visiting Adirondack Thunder (38-23-3-4, 83pts) in front of 2,453 fans at the DCU Center on Wednesday evening. Nick Saracino and Matt Lane found the back of the net for Worcester while Mitch Gillam made 27 saves for his ECHL leading 5th shutout of the season. The Thunder had three power plays in a scoreless first period as Mitch Gillam made 12 saves in net for the Railers. Ken Appleby made eight saves in net in the opening 20 minutes for the Thunder in his first ECHL start of the season. The Railers finally found the back of the net as Barry Almeida entered the offensive zone and left the puck at the blue line for Ben Masella who then ripped a shot that went off Nick Saracino (11th) in front and past netminder Ken Appleby at 8:41 of the second period. Worcester held a 21-19 shot advantage through 40 minutes of play. Matt Lane (14th) gave the Railers an insurance goal at 16:55 of the third period after a great rush by Woody Hudson and a deflection in front of the net by Jake Randolph to give Worcester a 2-0 lead. Mitch Gillam made eight more saves in the third period as the Railers held on for their 5th straight win on home ice.
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