1995 vs Springfield 5-4 win
The IceCats scored two early third period goals and then held on late for the 5-4 win over the Falcons. Brad Jones opened the scoring for Springfield at 4:07 of the first period, but Jim Nesich would tie it at 6:55 with assists going to Sean Whyte and Jarrett Deuling. Cal McGowan would give Worcester the lead at 12:11, with Blair Atcheynum and Denis Chalifoux earning points on the goal. Jones would tie the score for Springfield at 15:25. At 1:21 of the middle period Ross Wilson gave Worcester the 3-2 lead with the assists going to Mark Ouimet and Shawn Heaphy, but nine seconds later the Falcons would tie it again on a goal by Luciano Borsato. In the third period McGowan would score again, with Dave Baseggio and Heaphy assisting on the go-ahead goal at 4:45. Baseggio had the eventual game winner at 10:04, with Atcheynum and Chalifoux each getting their second assist of the game. Borsato added an extra attacker power play goal with four seconds left for the 5-4 final. Chris Gordon made 24 saves in the win.
1996 at Rochester 4-1 win
The Worcester IceCats got the last three goals of the game to defeat the Americans 4-1 in Rochester. Jason Widmer opened the scoring at 4:23 of the first period assisted by Lindsay Vallis and Terry Virtue. Craig Charron then tied it for the Amerks at 14:51. Chris Kenady got the ‘Cats the lead for good at 11:31 of the middle period with Harry York and Alex Vasilevskii getting the helpers. In the third period York would score at 12:37, assisted by Vasilevskii and Kenady, to make it 3-1. Paul Broten scored at 18:14 for the 4-1 final. Terry Virtue and Fred Knipscheer had the assists on the play. Jamie McLennan made 25 saves in the game. The win qualified the IceCats for the Calder Cup playoffs.
1999 at Springfield 4-2 win
The Worcester IceCats got two badly needed points from a team they were chasing for a playoff spot in a 4-2 win over the Falcons. Derek Bekar gave the ‘Cats a 1-0 lead at 1:32 with a shorthanded goal assisted by Tyler Harlton. Stephane Roy made it 2-0 at 3:38. Jochen Hecht made it a three goal lead at 8:25 of the third period, assisted Marty Reasoner. The Falcons came roaring back with two quick goals by Joe Dziedzic and Sean McCann to make it 3-2, but Bekar hit an empty net in the final few seconds for the 4-2 score. Brent Johnson made 42 saves and earned an assist in the win.
2002 vs Hartford 8-2 win
(ICECATS) Eight Worcester players had multiple points last night as the IceCats clobbered the Hartford Wolf Pack 8-2 at Worcester’s Centrum Centre. The win brought the ‘Cats record to 38-31-7-1 for a total of 84 points in the American Hockey League’s (AHL) Eastern Conference. Going into the game, three teams were tied with 82 points and the IceCats stood in seventh place in the Conference. The ‘Cats, on their way to scoring a season-high eight goals, grabbed a 4-0 lead in the first period with markers from Eric Nickulas, Ed Campbell, Jame Pollock and Eric Boguniecki, respectively. For Pollock, it was the first of three. Nickulas scored on the power play just 2:03 in to get things started. He took a pass from Boguniecki to give the ‘Cats their 1-0 lead. With just 41 seconds remaining in the opening frame, Boguniecki scored one of his own. His League-leading 38th goal of the season came with the ‘Cats again skating with a man advantage. Worcester extended its lead to five goals at 5:06 of the second period when Boguniecki set Nickulas up for the second time. For Nickulas, it was his 11th of the season. Hartford’s efforts did yield a pair of goals. The Pack scored once in the second and again in the third. Mike Mottau and Rico Fata cut Worcester’s lead to three goals by the 1:27 mark of the third period. The ‘Cats were relentless, though, and scored three more times to give them the 8-2 final. Pollock scored at 7:31 of the third and then with just 21 seconds remaining in regulation to get the hat trick. Both goals came with the extra skater, as Worcester scored a season-high four power play goals. Jeff Panzer had the other Worcester goal. “We played tonight’s game with a sort of business sense,” said Pollock, who added an assist to his three-goal output. “Donny (Head Coach Don Granato) was very pleased with our efforts.” Reinhard Divis made his 19th consecutive start in the Worcester net and turned aside 21 of 23 shots. Johan Holmqvist began and ended the game in the Hartford net and stopped 35 of 43. Bryce Wandler briefly took over goaltending duties for the Pack after Worcester’s third goal, but did not face any shots.
2004 at Hartford 3-1 win
The Worcester IceCats spotted the Wolf Pack a 1-0 lead, but then scored single goals in all three period to take the Saturday night contest 3-1. Bryce Lampman had the goal for Hartford at 14:50, but Blake Evans would tie the score with a power play marker at 16:09. Jame Pollock and Peter Sejna had the assists. Mike Glumac, from Marc Brown and Trevor Byrne, made it 2-1 with a tally at 16:35 of the middle stanza. Sejna capped the scoring with a power play goal of his own at 13:14 of the third period, assisted by Byrne and Evans. Curtis Sanford had 30 saves in the win.
2005 vs Albany 6-2 loss
After playing two overtime games and then having to make a mad dash from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, PA to the DCU Center the Worcester IceCats had very little left in the tanks and it showed in a Sunday afternoon 6-2 loss to the Albany River Rats. In the opening period Ahren Nittel scored at 1:30 to give Albany the lead, but an unassisted goal by Brendan Brooks at 7:19 tied it. Dean McAmmond would give Albany the lead for good at 9:03. In the second period the River Rats scored twice, with Ivan Khomutov getting an unassisted goal at 3:46 and Ryan Murphy tallying at 11:34. Dennis Wideman made it 4-2 with a power play goal assisted by Eric Boguniecki and Jay McClement at 4:06, but that would be all the scoring for the IceCats. Murphy completed his hat trick with two late empty net goals for the 6-2 final.
2009 at Albany 3-2 win
(WORSHARKS) Riley Armstrong and Steven Zalewski each had three points and Thomas Greiss made 26 saves in net for Worcester as the Sharks won their 4th straight road game with a 3-2 win in Glens Falls over the River Rats on Friday. The Sharks came out flying in the first period taking a early 11-1 shot advantage aided by two power play chances but goaltender Justin Peters made several nice saving including on a break by Sharks rookie Logan Couture playing in his first professional game. The Rats came back with some offensive chances of their own, but Thomas Greiss was sharp in net for the Sharks. Just as the Sharks killed off a power play, Steven Zalewski banged in his own rebound with just: 14 seconds remaining in the opening period. Zalewski rushed down the right wing, fired a snap shot and then poked in a rebound as he was sent to the ice for his 13th goal of the season to give the Sharks a 1-0 lead after twenty minutes. Fists would fly to start the 2nd period. Logan Couture and Jacob Petruzalek would tangle at 1:59 after Couture took down Nick Dodge behind the Albany net. A few minute later, Mike Moore sent Nick Dodge down with a wicked open ice check and was challenged by several River Rats to fight. Instead, Brett Westgarth and Benn Olson went toe-to-toe in a marathon battle and as they were sent to the penalty boxes, Frazer McLaren and Brad Herauf exchanged heavy blows with Frazer taking the advantage at 4:01. After the dust settled, Riley Armstrong scored his 24th after a nice feed from Steven Zalewski to give Worcester a 2-0 lead at 10:35. Albany would cut the lead in half after a nice give and go from behind the net found Jerome Samson in front who fired a quick shot through the pads of Greiss at 12:48. The Sharks would get the two goal lead right back as Armstrong notched his 2nd of the period after a pass from Zalewski at 14:03. The Sharks led 3-1 after forty minutes outshooting the River Rats 27-19. Albany would have three power plays to work with in the third period, including an: 89 second two man advantage midway through the final period. Bryan Rodney would trim the Worcester lead to 3-2 after a blast from the point found its way through traffic and past Greiss on the man advantage at 13:02. The River Rats would pull their goaltender with a minute remaining but Thomas Greiss stood tall and held off a late attack for the Sharks 4th straight victory on the road and their 3rd straight victory overall. The win brings Worcester’s record to 39-34-1-2 with 81 points through 76 games and the Sharks currently sit tied with Portland in the Atlantic Division standings and one point ahead of Manchester.
2010 at Lowell 3-2 OTL
(WORSHARKS) The Sharks battled back and forced overtime with a late third period power play goal by Derek Joslin but fell 3-2 in overtime in Lowell at the Tsongas Center on Saturday night. Dennis McCauley scored his 10th goal of the season in a feisty affair that could be a preview of the first round of the Calder Cup playoffs. With the point in overtime, the Sharks reached the 100 point plateau for the first time in franchise history. A pregame scuffle involving all 40 skaters during the warm up skate set the tone for a very physical first period with each team finishing their checks with playoff intensity. The Devils took a 1-0 lead after Brad Mills (12th) finished off an odd man rush with a quick snap shot from the left circle that beat Alex Stalock on his glove side at 9:29. A major scrum developed at 19:04 of the first period that saw Mike Moore and Rob Davison drop the mitts and battle it out for fighting major penalties. The Devils went ahead 2-0 at 10:15 of the second period after the Sharks had a clearing attempt intercepted at the blue line and Derek McIntyre (2nd) finished off a rebound chance in front past Stalock. Ryan Vesce had a goal waved off by the linesmen at 11:59 as it was ruled the net was off its moorings. The two teams came together at 13:53 after Louis Robitaille drilled Andrew Desjardins after the whistle which resulted in a Lowell power play. The Sharks got on the board at 17:50 as Dennis McCauley (10th) stole the puck at the Devils blue line, skated down the left wing and roofed the puck past Mike McKenna with a terrific shot to trim the Sharks deficit to one. The Sharks trailed 2-1 after two periods and were outshot 25-20. Derek Joslin (4th) tied the score at 2-2 on the power play with a rocket shot from the center point with just 4:15 remaining in the third period to force overtime. Rookie Nick Schaus slid a pass over to Joslin as Frazer McLaren provided the screen in front of Mike McKenna. The Sharks outshot the Devils 19-3 in the third period. In overtime, Nick Petrecki took a holding penalty at 3:30 and the Devils made the Sharks pay. Lowell won an offensive zone faceoff and Cory Murphy (6th) fired a bomb past Stalock from 48 feet for the overtime game winner at 3:48 as the Devils won 3-2. Win the loss, Worcester’s record falls to (47-23-3-3, 100 points) and they now lead the Atlantic Division by two points over Portland. Worcester has four regular season games left this season (2 road, 2 home) and have a franchise best 100 points this season.
2011 at Providence 2-1 win
(WORSHARKS) The Sharks defeated the Providence Bruins 2-1 in front of 7,332 fans at the Dunkin Donuts Center on Sunday afternoon. Worcester kept pace with the Connecticut Whale, who defeated the Portland Pirates 4-2 in Hartford. TJ Trevelyan and Jamie McGinn were the goal scorers for the Sharks while Harri Sateri made 33 saves in a stellar individual effort. Both teams failed to put a tally on the board as defense was the name of the game in the first. The Sharks outshot the Bruins 14-7 in the opening frame as the score remained 0-0 heading into the second period. Harri Sateri stole the show in the second period as he made two highlight reel saves. Sateri stoned Jordan Smotherman point blank as he stuck out the right pad to turn away the cross crease one timer with 3:02 remaining. With Worcester on a late power play, Sateri once again came up big. Bruins leading scorer Jamie Arniel skated in on a shorthanded breakaway but was turned away by an emphatic catching glove save. Both saves allowed the Sharks to take the lead as TJ Trevelyan (18th) scored on the power play to put Worcester up 1-0. Jamie McGinn and Dan DaSilva picked up assists on the go-ahead goal. Worcester would grab an all important second goal, which would turn out to be the game winner. Jamie McGinn rushed in for a short breakaway and would eventually poke a loose puck in during a goalmouth scramble after the initial save at 7:56. The Bruins would get on the board as Maxime Sauve (21st) would one time a centering feed from behind the Sharks net from Alain Goulet at 8:54. But that was all Harri Sateri would give up as he was spectacular in goal including a late kick save while Providence had an extra attacker. The Sharks record is now 36-29-4-8 with 84 points. Worcester has 3 games remaining on their 80 game AHL regular season schedule (1 home, 2 away)
2015 at W-B/Scranton 4-2 win
(WORSHARKS) The Worcester Sharks (39-23-4-2, 84pts) notched their seventh straight win with a 4-2 victory over the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins (39-23-3-4, 85pts) in front of 5,821 fans at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza on Friday evening. With the victory, the Sharks move within one point of the 4th place Penguins in the Eastern Conference with eight games remaining in the regular season. Nikolay Goldobin and Daniil Tarasov each had a goal and an assist while Aaron Dell won his 6th straight start with 27 saves in net. Willie Coetzee and Ryan Carpenter also scored for the Sharks as Worcester improved to 2-0-0-0 on their five game road trip. San Jose Sharks first round draft selection Nikolay Goldobin (1st) gave Worcester a 1-0 lead at 19:48 of the opening period with a beautiful wrap-around attempt past goaltender Jeff Zatkoff for the only strike in the first period. Aaron Dell made eight saves to keep the Penguins off the board. The Penguins tied the score on the power play at 11:15 of the second period as Danny Syvret (6th) sent a quick wrist shot from the blue line through a screen and past Aaron Dell. But the Sharks would strike right back after Travis Oleksuk won an offensive zone faceoff to Willie Coetzee (10th) who sent a shot that just broke through Zatkoff at 13:57. Worcester led 2-1 after 40 minutes and held a 29-15 shot advantage through two periods. Ryan Carpenter (11th) gave Worcester a 3-1 advantage as he ripped a shot from the center slot after a great feed on the rush by Daniel Ciampini at 5:33 of the third period. The Sharks went ahead 4-1 at 9:49 as Daniil Tarasov (13th) deflected home a centering feed from Micheal Haley on the power play. Wilkes-Barre got back within two goals at 11:35 as Dominic Uher (12th) poked a loose puck on top of the Sharks crease past Dell for the final score of the game. Aaron Dell made 13 saves in the third period as the Sharks took home the 4-2 victory. The Sharks overall record improves to 39-23-4-2, 84pts and 17-13-2-1, 37pts on the road this season. [210Sports note: While not listed as a scratch Friday night Worcester Sharks broadcaster Eric Lindquist was unable to call the entire game due to a respiratory issue, so Jimmy Bonneau helped with the play by play duties after the first period. You could tell Bonneau was nervous but in the opinion of this writer and many others on Twitter and various hockey message boards Jimmy did a really good job. With Lindquist healthy enough to provide color commentary and toss out some stats it was almost like the two of them were having a conversation about the game, which really worked for the pair. Doing play by play is just another line in the Legend of Jimmy Bonneau here in his stint with Worcester.]
2019 vs Manchester 4-3 OTL
(RAILERS) The Worcester Railers HC (30-28-7-4, 71pts) played well enough to win but dropped their seventh straight game in a 4-3 overtime loss to the visiting Manchester Monarchs (37-29-2-2,78pts) in front of 2,212 fans at the DCU Center on Wednesday evening. With the overtime loss, the Railers are now five points behind Brampton for the fourth and final playoff spot in the North Division with three games remaining and are still mathematically alive. Tyler Mueller (1-2-3), Nick Sorkin, and Rob Powers scored for Worcester as Mitch Gillam made 20 saves on 22 shots in net through 40 minutes of play before Blake Wajtala made 18 saves to close out the game. Pavel Jenys (1-2-3) and Tim Shoup (1-1-2) led the way offensively for Manchester and Daniil Miromanov scored at 2:25 of overtime for the winner as Charles Williams made 38 saves in net as Worcester dropped their seventh straight game (0-5-2-0) overall. Each team kept a solid pace in the first period of play as each team found the back of the net once. Tony Cameranesi (23rd) buried a 2-on-1 attempt after a Railers turnover in their own zone at 4:18 to put Manchester up 1-0. Defenseman Tyler Mueller (3rd) sent a rocket from 50 feet away on the right side that beat Charles Williams over the shoulder at 10:51 with Ryan Hitchcock and Barry Almeida assisting to tie the score at 1-1. Worcester outshot Manchester 17-9 in the first 20 minutes of play. A feisty second period saw the Railers have plenty of chances and a total of 42 penalty minutes between the two clubs which featured a scrap between Ross Olsson and Boko Imama. Worcester fired 17 shots on goal, but Charles Williams stood on his head to keep the Railers at bay. Manchester would get a late strike as Tim Shoup sent a 58-foot wrist shot from the point that went off Mitch Gillam’s blocker and into the net at 18:25 to give Manchester a 2-1 lead through 40 minutes of play. Shots were 34-22 in favor of Worcester through two periods of play. Blake Wajtala replaced Mitch Gillam to start the third period and allowed a goal on the first shot he saw after a puck pinballed straight to Pavel Jenys (14th) in the right circle to give the Monarchs a 3-1 lead. Nick Sorkin (15th) would get the Railers within a goal at 5:05 with a nice deek on top of the crease at 5:04 and Rob Powers (5th) sent a seeing eye shot from the point through a screen for the game tying score at 16:15 to force overtime. Shots were 18-6 in favor of Manchester in the third period of play. Daniil Miromanov (13th) raced down the middle and alone on Blake Wajtala and had a nice backhand finish at 2:25 of the overtime frame to give Manchester the 4-3 overtime victory.
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