Today in Worcester hockey history: March 29

1995 at Rochester 3-1 win
(AP) Cal McGowan scored one goal and assisted on another and rookie Chris Gordon made 25 saves in outdueling his former college teammate as the Worcester IceCats defeated the Rochester Americans 3-1 in the AHL last night. McGowan’s short-handed goal put the IceCats ahead 1-0 at 10:08 of the second period. Denis Chalifoux extended the lead to 2-0 at 12:28 of the second period by scooping in Blair Atcheynum’s rebound. Mikhail Volkov cut the lead to 2-1 at 18:17 of the second period but former Americans defenseman Dave Baseggio provided the insurance goal for Worcester at 3:54 of the third period. Gordon and Americans goalie Steve Shields were teammates for four seasons at the University of Michigan. While Shields set an NCAA victory record of 111, Gordon made only six starts. Gordon is 4-8-0 for the IceCats since a promotion from Huntington of the East Coast Hockey League. Shields fell to 3-7-0 for Rochester, his first loss since going 3-0-0 after a March 17 recall from South Carolina of the ECHL.

1996 vs Cornwall 4-2 win
The Worcester IceCats got a hat trick from Harry York to defeat the Aces 4-2. Jason Widmer got the ‘Cats on the board with a power play goal at 9:54, with assists going to Craig Darby and Terry Virtue. York had the next two for Worcester, scoring at 11:09 assisted by Lindsay Vallis and Ken Sutton and at 17:54 with Sutton and Chris Kenady providing the helpers. Vesa Viitakoski got Cornwall on the board at 2:50 of the middle period on the power play, but York got the ‘Cats their three goal lead back at 9:11 when he completed his hat trick. Sergei Kharin and Kenady had the assists. In the third Pascal Trepanier scored unassisted at 1:36 for the Aces for the 4-2 final. Jamie McLennan had 27 saves in the win.

1997 at Albany 5-4 win
The Worcester IceCats broke a third period tie with two goals and then withstood a huge River Rats push at the end to skate away 5-4 winners. Bobby House gave Albany the lead with a first period goal at 3:28, but Jamie Rivers tied it at 11:29 when his lazy 60-foot wrist shot went through a lot of traffic untouched and beat Peter Sidorkiewicz just inside the far corner. Terry Virtue and Marquis Mathieu had the assists on the goal. In the second period Nick Naumenko made it 2-1 when the rebound of Rob Pearson’s shot off the end boards went right to him. Daniel Guerard made it a two goal lead at 6:45 when he banged home a rebound of Justin Hocking’s shot. Rivers had the secondary helper. But Albany would tie it after forty minutes on goals by Eric Bertrand (9:55,pp) and Petr Sykora (13:46). Jason Zent gave the ‘Cats the 4-3 lead with a booming 45-foot slapshot at 7:55, with Hocking and Guerard earning points on the goal. Konstantin Shafranov added a goal, assisted by Virtue, at 9:02, and that turned out to be an important goal when Patrik Elias scored for the River Rats with an extra attacker at 19:13. But that would be all the scoring in the game. Travis Scott made 39 saves for the win.

2000 vs Portland 5-4 loss
(TICKER) Mike Peluso scored two goals to lead the Portland Pirates to a 5-4 victory over the Worcester IceCats. Peluso scored at 6:15 of the first period and added his 23rd goal at 10:31 of the second, giving Portland a 3-2 lead. Richard Pitirri and Jakub Ficinec each collected a goal and assist for the Pirates, who have gone three games without a loss (2-0-1). Sebastian Charpentier made 39 saves to earn his sixth win. Ladislav Nagy scored twice and added an assist for Worcester. Brent Johnson made 35 saves for the IceCats, who lost their fourth straight game.

2002 vs Lowell 3-3 tie
(ICECATS) With all the makings of playoff-style hockey, the Worcester IceCats and the Lowell Lock Monsters skated to a 3-3 deadlock last night at Worcester’s Centrum Centre. The ‘Cats, who began the night as the Eastern Conference’s seventh seed with 79 points, scraped and clawed with the American Hockey League’s first place team for 65 minutes. Eric Boguniecki opened the scoring just 2:23 into the contest. Eric Nickulas sent the puck from behind the Lowell net to the recently named AHL First Team All-Star. Without hesitating, Boguniecki fired home his 35th of the season for Worcester’s 1-0 lead. As was the case all night long, Lowell had an answer. The Monsters leading scorer, Jeff Heerema, banged in a power play goal 6:11 later. In the second, with Worcester skating with an extra attacker, Jame Pollock fired a point shot that deflected off Lowell netminder Jean-Marc Pelletier and into the cage. For Pollock it was his 18th of the season and ninth on the power play. This one goal lead only lasted 1:54. After winning the faceoff in the ‘Cats zone, Lowell’s Mike Zigomanis lost his IceCats defender and found a loose puck to the right of Reinhard Divis. In the third, Darren Rumble bagged his third of the season. The trusty veteran’s high-slot slapper lit the lamp 5:36 into the final stanza. Justin Papineau, later named the number one star, earned his second assist of the night on the play. Following the pattern, the Monsters responded. With 4:40 on the board, recent United Hockey League call-up Keith Aucoin knotted the affair for the final time.

2003 at Portland 3-0 loss
(ICECATS) Saturday night at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, Maine, the IceCats were defeated by the Pirates, 3-0. The loss was just the second loss in 10 games for the ‘Cats (6-2-2). The game featured three consecutive fighting majors in the span of 4:18 in the second period. Defenseman Brett Scheffelmaier went toe-to-toe with respected and seasoned pugilist, Mel Angelstad. The ‘Cats rookie landed four consecutive and solid rights to force Angelstad to the ice. Despite racking up 3332 career PIM’s, Angelstad was Portland’s Man of the Year and Most Popular Player last season. Worcester was unable to convert on any of their eight power play opportunities.

2007 at San Antonio 3-2 win OT
(WORSHARKS) Mathieu Darche scored two goals, including the overtime game-winner, with less than a second remaining giving the Sharks their sixth consecutive win, 3-2 at San Antonio. Graham Mink scored the other Worcester goal helping the team move into sole possession of third place in the Atlantic Division standings. For the third time in his illustrious career, San Antonio’s Donald MacLean scored 30-goals in a season. He reached the plateau just 1:56 into the opening frame for the period’s only goal. Alex Leavitt and Chris Ferraro assisted on the goal, the Rampage’s 29th time this season that they have registered the game’s opening goal. Thomas Greiss, extending his franchise record appearance streak to 16 games, made six saves as the Sharks out-shot San Antonio 8-7 in the opening stanza. Josh Tordjman made all eight saves for San Antonio in his 32nd appearance of the year. A dominant effort in the second period led to the Sharks tying the game 1-1 through forty minutes. Mathieu Darche tied his career high for goals in a season with his 32nd at the 14:44 mark on an assist from Tom Cavanagh. Worcester out shot San Antonio 13-4 in the period for a 21-11 lead in shots after two periods of action. The period was a quick moving twenty minutes featuring just one minor penalty to the Rampage. Trading goals in the third period set up overtime heroics for the Sharks win. Chris Ferraro gave his San Antonio team a one-goal lead at the 9:33 mark on a power play goal, his ninth of the year. But, the Sharks were able to battle back on a deflection goal from Graham Mink with 3:32 left in regulation. Mink’s score was delivered on a deflection from a wrist shot of Garrett Stafford during a delayed penalty against San Antonio that brought an extra Sharks skater on to the ice. The overtime period saw both teams make some critical errors leading to scoring chances at both ends during the five minutes sudden death session. The Rampage, defending a Sharks scoring chance, took a penalty with 36-seconds remaining setting up power play heroics for the Sharks. Mathieu Darche, on a set up from Garrett Stafford and Tom Walsh, potted the game-winner and second of the night with less than a second remaining to win it 3-2. The goal for Darche was a career high for a season with 33 and gave the Sharks sole possession of third place with their sixth consecutive win.

2008 at Lowell 4-3 loss
(WORSHARKS) Matt Jones scored his first professional goal for the Worcester Sharks, and Tom Cavanagh would score his 17th late in the 3rd period but the Lowell Devils held on to defeat the Sharks 4-3 in Lowell on Saturday night. With the loss, the Sharks (27-33-5-6) remain 12 points behind the Manchester Monarchs for the fourth and final Atlantic Division playoff spot. The Devils got on the board mid way through the first period after the Sharks were unable to clear the puck out of their own zone. Devil’s defenseman Mark Fraser fired a shot from the left wing point which was deflected by Pierre-Luc Leblonde in front and past Dmitri Patzold at 8:56. The Devils took a 1-0 lead into the locker room after twenty minutes of play. Shots were 8-7 in favor of Worcester after one period. The Sharks would tie the game at 1-1 behind Graham Mink’s 22nd goal of the season. After nice work along the boards, Tom Cavanagh fed Dennis Packard in the high slot who then found Graham Mink all alone in front of the Devils’ netminder David Caruso. Mink went top shelf to knot the score at 1-1. The Devils would strike right back, with Mike Iggulden in the penalty box for holding; Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre found the back of the net from 50 feet after a nice dish from Petr Vrana. The Devils led 2-1 after 40 minutes of play. Each team would score two goals in the final period. Worcester Shark forward Matt Jones scored his first professional goal in his second professional game after he stuffed in a rebound chance after the initial shot by Jamie McGinn at 7:06 of the 3rd period. With the Sharks trailing by two late in the contest, Tom Cavanagh would record his 17th goal of the season after Dimitri Patzold was pulled for the extra attacker. Nick Palmieri scored his first professional goal for the Devils and Petr Vrana scored his 18th of the season to lead the Devils to the 4-3 victory.

2009 at Providence 4-2 win
(WORSHARKS) Three goals in the third period lead the Sharks to an exciting come from behind victory over the Bruins in Providence on Sunday afternoon to leap frog the Sharks into the 4th and final playoff in the Atlantic Division. The Sharks thought they would enter the 1st intermission in a scoreless tie but Zach Hamill poked in a loose puck in front with .8 seconds remaining in the period to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead. Greiss made several great saves in the first period but the Sharks trailed 1-0 after twenty minutes. The Bruins would extend their lead and make it 2-0 as Vladimir Sobotka tipped a bouncing puck over the glove of Greiss at 4:45 after a feed from the blue line by Martin St. Pierre. Frazer McLaren would get the Sharks on the board with his 6th tally of the season poking in a loose rebound in front past Kevin Regan after an initial shot from the right wing by Matt Jones at 6:04. Tempers flared at the end of the period after Mike Moore dumped St. Pierre in front of the Sharks net but cooler heads prevailed as the Sharks skated into the 2nd intermission trailing 2-1. Shots were tied 22-22 after forty minutes. Trent Campbell tied the score at 2-2 at 7:46 with his 4th goal of the season, his first in a Sharks uniform after he jumped on a rebound in front on the power play. Dan DaSilva deflected a shot from Patrick Traverse in between the two faceoff circles to give the Sharks their first lead of the game at 15:58. Trent Campbell would cap the comeback with an empty net tally to seal the victory at 19:55. The win brings Worcester’s record to 37-34-1-2 with 77 points through 74 games and the Sharks currently sit in 4th place in the Atlantic Division with just six games remaining.

2014 at Albany 4-3 win SO
(WORSHARKS) The Worcester Sharks (33-30-3-1, 70ts) improved to 10-1 in the shootout with a 4-3 victory over the Albany Devils (34-21-4-8, 80pts) in front of 5,111 fans at the Times Union Center on Saturday evening. With the win, the Sharks are now seven points behind the 8th place Norfolk Admirals for the final playoff spot in the East with nine games remaining. Matt Tennyson (7th), Travis Oleksuk (16th), and Eriah Hayes (9th) scored for Worcester in regulation before the game headed to OT. After the five minute overtime period, Dan DaSilva was the only scorer in the shootout while Troy Grosenick stopped all five shooters to improve to 6-0 in the skills competition this season. Grosenick improved to 2-0 against fellow Union College alum goaltender Keith Kinkaid while Mathias Tedenby recorded three points (1-2-3) for the Devils in the Sharks win.
Each team scored twice in the first period with the Devils holding a one goal advantage on two separate occasions. Albany went ahead 1-0 at 8:26 as rookie Stefan Matteau (13th) drilled home a shot from on top of the Worcester crease past Troy Grosenick after a nice pass from behind the goal line by Mattias Tedenby. The Sharks tied the score with a 45 foot snap shot by Matt Tennyson (7th) past goaltender Keith Kinkaid at 11:07 after a clean faceoff win by Travis Oleksuk. Albany went ahead 2-1 just 21 seconds later with a terrific rush down the left side and finish by Tedenby (9th) at 11:28. Worcester tied the score at 2-2 after the Devils turned the puck over behind their net and Travis Oleksuk (16th) snapped home an unassisted tally with one minute remaining in the opening frame. The Sharks held a 15-10 shot advantage through 20 minutes. The Sharks grabbed their first lead of the night with a second period strike by Eriah Hayes (9th) at 6:14. Hayes deflected home a nice centering feed by Brock Higgs past the Devils netminder. Kelly Zajac (10th) snapped a shot past his former Union College teammate Troy Grosenick on the power play at 14:39 to tie the score at 3-3. Shots were 9-7 in favor of Worcester in the second period. Neither team generated too many scoring chances in the third period with Worcester outshooting Albany 7-4 in the third period as the game headed to overtime tied 3-3. The Sharks recorded the only shot in overtime before the game went to the shootout. Troy Grosenick stopped all five shooters and Dan DaSilva sent a back hander past Keith Kinkaid in the third round for the game winner as the Sharks won 4-3. The Sharks overall record improves to 33-30-3-1, 70pts and 17-17-3-0, 37pts on the road.

2015 vs Springfield 4-1 win
(WORSHARKS) The Worcester Sharks (37-23-4-2, 80pts) notched their fifth straight win with a 4-1 victory over the Springfield Falcons (34-27-8-0, 76pts) in front of 5,276 fans at the DCU Center on Sunday afternoon. With the victory, the Sharks bump up to the 7th spot in the Eastern Conference with 10 games left. Worcester is now tied in points with the seventh-place Portland Pirates with one game in hand and one point behind the sixth-place Providence Bruins. Four different players scored goals for Worcester in the 4-1 victory, including Evan Trupp (1-0-1, +1), Karl Stollery (1-0-1, +2), Matt Willows (1-0-1, +1), and Daniel Ciampini (1-1-2, +2). Springfield forward T.J. Tynan (1-0-1, -2) picked up the lone goal for the Falcons. Worcester outshot Springfield 27-23 as Sharks’ goaltender Aaron Dell picked up his 12th victory, making 22 saves on 23 shots. The Sharks went 3-1-1-1 against the Falcons this season. The Sharks came out biting when center Evan Trupp (16th) fired a one-timer from the right circle after a feed from fellow forward Bryan Lerg, giving Worcester the 1-0 advantage at 6:15 of the first period. The Sharks would strike again on a power play at the 12:56 mark, as defenseman Karl Stollery (7th) launched a one-timer from the right point on a feed from fellow blueliner Dylan DeMelo, which snuck past Springfield’s netminder Joonas Korpisalo to give the Sharks the 2-0 lead. Worcester had the 11-3 shot advantage and held the two-goal lead through twenty minutes. With 2:30 left in the second frame, Worcester’s new forward Matt Willows (2nd) lit up the lamp on his own rebound in front of the goalie crease to give the Sharks the 3-0 lead. Worcester’s goaltender Aaron Dell made 12 saves on 12 shots in the second period as the Sharks had the 3-0 advantage heading into the second intermission. Springfield center T.J. Tynan (10th) got the Falcons on the board at 4:35 of the third period after ripping the puck from the top of the right circle, beating Aaron Dell to make the score 3-1 Worcester. Aaron Dell stopped Sean Collins on a breakaway bid just minutes later to keep the Sharks up by two goals. The Sharks would tack on another with 1:02 left in the game when Daniel Ciampini (3rd) scored an empty-netter on a breakaway, making the score 4-1. The Sharks outshot the Falcons 27-23 as Aaron Dell picked up his 12th win of the season. The Sharks overall record improves to 37-23-4-2, 80pts and 22-10-2-1, 47pts at the DCU Center this season.

2023 vs Trois-Rivieres 5-4 OTL
(RAILERS) All things considered, and there was a lot to consider, this turned out to be a point well taken by the Railers. They lost to the Trois-Rivieres Lions, 5-4, in overtime Wednesday night at the DCU Center and Worcester really needed the two points seeing as Adirondack won again. However, it looked like no points at all until Bobby Butler scored with five seconds left in the third period and Henrik Tikkanen on the bench in favor of an extra skater. The playoff race looks like this: The Railers have 68 points, the Thunder 66. Adirondack has two games in hand, though. Do all the math you want; Worcester still has a magic number and it is six. The Railers have six games left in the regular season, five of them against Adirondack. If Worcester wins all six of those games it makes the playoffs, simple as that, at least numerically. It will take a big turnaround, though. Adirondack has won four games in a row and has at least one point in nine straight. Worcester has lost four in a row, earning just one point in that span, the one it got Wednesday night. The Railers next four games are all at the DCU Center, three of them against the Thunder. That includes both Friday and Saturday nights. Wednesday night the Railers survived a flat first period in which they trailed by just 2-1. They scored twice in the second period and were up by 3-2 with a little more than five minutes to go in the third period then surrendered two goals in less than two minutes to fall behind. Butler rescued the point, then the Railers had a two-minute power play early in OT but could not convert. Ryan Francis got the winner for the Lions at 4:49 with a wrist shot from the right wing that broke through Tikkanen and went in. The Railers got goals from rookie defenseman Artem Kulakov, Steve Jandric, Anthony Repaci and Butler. Jandric also had an assist. Nicolas Guay scored twice for Trois-Rivieres. Matthew Barron, Anthony Beauregard and Francis had the others. The Lions victory was backstopped by goaltender Etienne Montpetit making his first professional appearance. Montpetit was so far off the pro radar screen that on the ECHL official game scoresheet, his first name was listed as “?” Montpetit played well especially early in the third period when the Railers really pressed to take a two-goal lead. Guay and Barron scored in the first period as Worcester was outshot, 21-12. Kulakov’s goal was sandwiched in at 8:52. He became merely the fifth Railer ever to score in his debut game, the first since Nick Albano in the first game of last season. It was also the first even-strength goal by a Railers defenseman since Trevor Cosgrove on Feb. 24. Anthony Callin got an assist on Kulakov’s goal. His brother, Drew, is one of the other Railers with a debut game goal. Jandric made it 2-2 at 3:42 of the second period on the power play. Repaci gave the Railers their first lead in almost 11 periods at 16:58. The lead lasted for a while but not for long enough. Butler’s game tying goal came on a snap shot from the left circle. He tied Tyler Barnes for the latest tying goal. He also scored at 19:55 on Dec. 5, 2018 versus Brampton. Worcester lost that one in overtime, too. MAKING TRACKS – Brent Beaudoin had an assist to hit the 50-point plateau. He has not gone more than two games in a row this season without getting at least one point. … Attendance was 2,501. … The Lions are a big numbers team. Five of their starters were above 50. The average number for their 18 players was 32. … Worcester’s four goals were one more than it had in the three previous games combined.

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