1996 vs Adirondack 4-1 win
The Worcester IceCats were outshot 40-19 by the Adirondack Red Wings but came out ahead 4-1 on the scoreboard. Lindsay Vallis had the only goal of the first period at 10:59, with Alex Vasilevskii and Harry York picking up assists. Fred Knipscheer made it 2-0 with a strike at 6:57 of the middle stanza, with Jamie Rivers and Vallis picking up points on the play. Kurt Miller scored at 9:49 on the power play to cut the ‘Cats lead in half. To the third period the squads went, and as time was winding down the IceCats would score twice into the empty Red Wings net. Paul Broten got the first one at 18:54, assisted by Knipscheer and Ken Sutton. Craig Darby had the second at 19:48, with Jason Widmer and Vallis helping. Jamie McLennan made 39 saves for the win.
1998 at Springfield 7-4 loss
The Worcester IceCats played a good opening 20 minutes and then weren’t very good over the final 40 as they dropped a 7-4 contest to the Falcons. Jeff Shevalier opened the scoring at 5:01 of the opening period. Libor Zabransky tied it at 10:45 on the power play with a 50-foot bomb from the left point. Michal Handzus and Lubos Bartecko had the assists on the goal. Matt Smith scored his first pro goal to give the ‘Cats a 2-1 lead on a 50-foot slap shot from the right point. Stephane Roy had the lone helper. Scott Levins tied it for Springfield at 12:31, but Robert Petrovicky made it 3-2 at 14:30 when he outworked the Falcons defense behind the net and banked the puck off goaltender Scott Langkow and in. Mike Prokopec had the lone helper. In the second period Springfield grabbed the next three goals, from Chris Brooks (:45,PP), Sean Gagnon (9:52), and Shevalier (14:05). Chris Kenady stopped the bleeding at 18:01 when he took Bob Lachance’s pass and blasted a shot past Langkow. Nick Naumenko had the secondary assist. Jocelyn Lemieux made it a four goal frame for the Falcons at 19:10. Trevor Letowski added a shorthanded empty net goal at 19:07 for the 7-4 final. Fred Cassivi made 28 saves in the game.
1999 vs Hartford 6-3 win
The Worcester IceCats got multiple point nights from four different players and five goals on special teams in their 6-3 win over the Wolf Pack. Bryan Helmer got the scoring started 1:47 into the opening period with a power play goal assisted by Marty Reasoner and Jochen Hecht. Christian Dube would then tie the game on an extra attacker goal during a delayed penalty call at 2:10. Just 23 seconds later Jamie Thompson had the IceCats only even strength goal of the night when he was set up by Jeremiah McCarthy at 2:33. Shayne Toporowski, from Jaroslav Obsut and Helmer, added a power play goal at 3:51 and the IceCats led 3-1 after 20 minutes. At 1:20 of the middle period Tyson Nash grabbed a shorthanded marker assisted by Stephane Roy, and Reasoner added a power play strike at 8:06. Hecht and Helmer had the assists on the goal. Daniel Goneau got one back for Hartford at 4:39 of the third, but another Helmer power play tally at 12:57, assisted by Reasoner and Obsut, made it 6-2. Dube added another Wolf Pack goal at 13:04 for the 6-3 final. Brent Johnson had 26 saves for the victory.
2002 vs Manitoba 4-2 win (Eastern Conference Qualifier, tied 1-1)
(ICECATS) The Worcester IceCats defeated the visiting Manitoba Moose, 4-2 last night and forced a deciding Game Three tonight (Thursday) at Worcester’s Centrum Centre. Goaltender Reinhard Divis ate up 34 Manitoba shots and made the ‘if necessary’ game in the best-of-three series necessary. Mimicking Game One on Tuesday night, Worcester took a 2-0 advantage into the dressing room after two periods. Unlike the opening game of the series, however, the IceCats held onto the lead. Five minutes and five seconds into the opening period, Joe Hulbig scored his first goal in an IceCats uniform. His snap shot from the left circle went by the outstretched left leg of Moose netminder Alfie Michaud for the 1-0 lead. Hulbig dressed in seven games during the regular season and was competing in his second post season tilt behind the IceCats crest.
Daniel Tkaczuk, who played arguably one of his finest games as a member of the ‘Cats, bagged the second a little over 11 minutes later. Cruising around the crease area, Tkaczuk shoveled a power play goal from close range. The IceCats had to be feeling a bit of déjà vu when the Moose scored their first goal of the affair just one minute into the third. Tuesday night, Manitoba fired in three third period goals for the win, including the first in the infant stages of the stanza. The AHL’s regular season MVP made sure the Moose did not have a repeat performance. Eric Boguniecki’s power play goal at 4:44 gave the IceCats their two-goal lead back. The Moose did make it interesting with a power play goal of their own at 14:44, but Marc Brown sealed the game for Worcester with an empty netter.
2003 at Binghamton 3-2 loss OT (Eastern Conference QF, trail 1-0)
The Worcester IceCats gave up a goal on the last shot of regulation and the first shot of overtime to turn a potential 2-1 win into a 3-2 loss against the Senators. Jame Pollock had the first goal of the contest on the power play at 9:40 of the second period, but Brian Pothier evened the score for Binghamton on the power play at 11:50. Sergei Varlamov made it 2-1 at 6:54 of the third with Jeff Panzer picking up the assist. With time winding down on regulation Brad Smyth scored an extra attacker goal at 19:44. Josh Langfeld then scored at 1:10 of overtime to give Binghamton the win. Curtis Sanford made 28 saves in the loss.
2004 vs Providence 0-0 tie
(ICECATS) The Worcester IceCats and Providence Bruins battled 65 minutes to a 0-0 tie Saturday night at Worcester’s Centrum Centre. Worcester goalie Curtis Sanford and Providence counterpart Tim Thomas combined for 67 saves in Worcester’s third scoreless deadlock in franchise history.
Sanford made 29 saves for his fifth shutout of the season. The blanking was Thomas’s fifth in six games and sixth in 10 games. The scoreless tie extended the franchise record shutout total to 11 games. (210Sports note: This is the last tie in Worcester pro hockey history.)
2005 vs Springfield 4-2 loss
(FALCONS) Rookie defenseman Paul Ranger scored the game-winning goal with 1:39 left in regulation to propel the Springfield Falcons to a 4-2 victory over the Worcester IceCats before a crowd of 4,560 at the DCU Center on Sunday. Linemates Evgeni Artukhin and Jason Jaspers continued their strong play as each put forth multiple-point efforts and goaltender Brian Eklund turned aside 35 of 37 shots in the Springfield net. Ranger received a pass from left wing J.F. Soucy to blast a shot past ‘Cats netminder Curtis Sanford from the high slot to break a 2-2 tie at 18:21 of the third period. It was the second pro goal for the rookie blue liner and turned out to be his first game-winner. Jaspers backhanded the puck into an empty net to seal the game with 17 seconds left to play. Artukhin notched his second assist and third point of the game on the marker. It was the fifth goal in the last five games for Jaspers. Both the Falcons and IceCats converted one of five power plays in the game. For the fourth straight contest, the Falcons struck first on Sunday when left wing Ryan Craig scored on the power play 10:15 into the opening frame. Craig blasted a shot past Sanford from the slot for his team-leading 26th goal of the season after Artukhin centered the puck from the goal line. Defenseman Andreas Holmqvist collected an assist for the third consecutive game on the play. Worcester pulled even with 1:51 remaining in the period on a goal by right wing Eric Boguniecki. A pass by defenseman Mike Mottau sent Boguniecki in alone on Eklund for the score. Following a scoreless second period, Artukhin scored 6:58 into the third stanza during a scramble in front of the net. Jaspers and defenseman Harlan Pratt recorded assists on the goal, the ninth of the season for Artukhin. However, Boguniecki and Mottau again combined to knot the game with 7:08 remaining in regulation. During a power play created by a call for too many men on the ice against the Falcons, Boguniecki deposited the rebound of a shot by Mottau into the net for his second goal of the day and 14th of the campaign in just his 29th game with the IceCats this season. Boguniecki scored 22 goals with the St. Louis Blues in his last healthy and full season of hockey in 2002-03.s with a goal in overtime.
2009 vs Manchester 3-1 loss
(WORSHARKS) A season low three first period shots set the tone for a tough night as the Worcester Sharks dropped a 3-1 decision to the Manchester Monarchs on Friday evening at the DCU Center. With the loss and Portland’s win over Providence, the Sharks fall back to fourth place with one regular season game remaining. After a slow start which saw shots tied at 1-1 after six minutes, the Monarchs got on the board at 7:54 via Scott Parse’s 15th goal of the season. On a 3-on-1, Parse’s initial shot was stopped by Worcester netminder Thomas Greiss, but he gathered the rebound, made a move around Greiss and slipped the puck into the open net for a 1-0 advantage. Richard Clune was credited with the only assist on the play. The Sharks netted a power play goal to tie the score at 12:14 of the second period. Riley Armstrong put a shot toward net from in between the left wing circle and the blue line. It went through traffic before being tipped by Lukas Kaspar past Manchester netminder Jonathan Bernier for his 17th goal of the season. Jason Demers was also credited with an assist on the play. Manchester answered only 1:37 later on the shorthand to retake the advantage. Matt Moulson led a 2-on-1 rush down the left wing side. He made the cross ice pass to Trevor Lewis, who finished past a scrawling Greiss for his 19th goal of the season and the 2-1 lead which stood after two periods of play. The Monarchs added insurance at 14:11 of the third period when Matt Moulson converted his 20th goal of the season. It was Marty Murray who found Moulson in the slot, setting him up beautifully for the tally. The loss brings Worcester’s record to 41-35-1-2 with 85 points through 79 games. Worcester is currently fourth in the Atlantic Division, one point behind the Pirates with one game to go.
2010 vs Providence 3-0 win
(WORSHARKS) The Sharks added another feat to an already lengthy record-setting season with a 3-0 victory over the Providence Bruins on Saturday night at the DCU Center clinching the Atlantic Division crown in front of a sell-out crowd of 7,296. Derek Joslin’s goal in the second period was all Worcester would need with Steven Zalewski and Dan DaSilva providing the insurance for the Sharks. Alex Stalock was tremendous in net once again as he won number 39 in his 4th shutout on the season and should he win against Portland on Sunday, he would become just the second goalie in the last 45 years to win 40 games in a season. Worcester wanted to come out with a strong opening period, something they were unable to do a night ago against Hartford. Although they were unable to gain an advantage, Mike Moore set the tone early as he fought Providence tough guy Guillaume Lefebvre. The Bruins were snake bit twice in the period as Alex Stalock was stellar in between the pipes. Both teams were held scoreless and each fired 10 shots on net in the opening frame. The Sharks found the first goal of the game, 9:22 into the second period, when Joslin (5) sent a shot from the point that trickled through the pads of Nelson Hamilton. Cory Quirk, who won the faceoff in the attacking zone, assisted on the tally. Zalewski made the score 2-0 when he redirected a Moore drive from the blue line. After a tremendous effort to keep the puck in the zone, Zalewski camped in front of the net and was able to collect goal number 22 on the season. Michael Wilson assisted on goal as well. It was all Sharks from then on as they outshot the Bruins 15-3 in the second period. DaSilva (21) stretched Worcester’s lead to 3-0 when he tipped home a hard Wilson pass that snuck through Hamilton at the 7:24 mark. Andrew Desjardins collected the other assist. The Sharks put it on cruise control from there, outshooting the Bruins 10-6 in the final period. Worcester’s record improves to (49-24-3-3, 104 points) with one game remaining in the regular season. The Sharks are the Atlantic Division champions.
2012 vs Manchester 4-1 win
(WORSHARKS) Harri Sateri made 49 saves and Sena Acolatse scored two third period power play goals as the Sharks defeated the Manchester Monarchs 4-1 at the DCU Center on Tuesday night. With the win, Worcester is now five points away from the 8th and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with three games remaining. Sebastian Stalberg and Ben Guite also scored for Worcester as the Sharks stayed alive in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. Things got nasty right off the bat between the two division rivals as all 40 players came together at the red line during warm-ups with a few scrums breaking out between the two clubs. Coach Roy Sommer separated the crew along the penalty benches as cooler heads prevailed. When the official game started, rookie Sebastian Stalberg (3rd) gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead after a wicked snap shot from the right circle past Jeff Zatkoff at 5:26 for the only score in the opening frame. Goaltender Harri Sateri was sharp in net making 15 first period saves for Worcester. Manchester had four power plays in the second period and Harri Sateri stood tall and made 15 more saves in a scoreless middle frame for Worcester. Frazer McLaren had the best chance in the 2nd period for the Sharks after he sent a puck from the right corner towards the crease and almost snuck by Zatkoff. The Sharks led 1-0 after 40 minutes of play. In the third period, Sharks rookie defenseman Sena Acolatse scored two laser beam slap shot power play goals late in the third period as the Sharks pulled away in the final frame for the victory. Acolatse (7th) gave the Sharks a 2-0 lead at 14:51 with a rocket from the left point through the pads of Zatkoff. But Manchester got the score right back, with a power play goal of their own at 17:05 as David Meckler (10th) scored on Manchester’s 48th shot on goal as he jammed home a loose puck on top of the crease of Harri Sateri. Sena (8th) blasted his 2nd of the night at 18:35 with another hard slap shot, this one from the right point to put the Sharks ahead 3-1. Ben Guite (3rd) would cap off a three point night (1-2-3) with an empty net tally at 19:49 to close out the scoring and the game at 4-1. Worcester’s record improves to 30-31-4-8, with 72pts and currently in 14th place in the Eastern Conference with 3 games remaining.
2015 at Providence 5-1 loss
(WORSHARKS) The Worcester Sharks (40-25-4-2, 86pts) closed out their five game road trip with a 5-1 loss to the host Providence Bruins (39-23-7-2, 87pts) in front of 10,237 fans at the Dunkin Donuts Center on Friday evening. With the loss, the Sharks fall to 7th place in the Eastern Conference with five games remaining in the regular season. Aaron Dell allowed five goals and had his seven game win streak snapped while Daniil Tarasov scored the only Worcester goal. The Bruins had five different goal scorers and Jeremy Smith made 30 saves as the Bruins won their 4th straight game. The Sharks finished 3-2-0-0 on their five game road trip. Brian Ferlin (10th) was able to bank the puck of off Dylan Demelo’s stick and past Arron Dell just 69 seconds into the contest to give the Bruins an early 1-0 lead. Providence outshot Worcester 10-7 in the first period as goaltender Jeremy Smith was barely tested in net. Providence went ahead 2-0 as Rob Flick (16th) stole the puck away from Aaron Dell in the left wing corner and carried the puck into an empty net with a shorthanded tally at 3:01. Worcester got on the board with a nice deflection by Daniil Tarasov (14th) from the left slot after a point drive by Gus Young at 8:56. Rookie Barclay Goodrow picked up the secondary assist for his first AHL point on the score. The Sharks outshot the Bruins 15-6 in the second frame but Worcester trailed 2-1 through 40 minutes of play. The Bruins would pull away with three third period goals for the 5-1 victory over the Sharks. Justin Florek (11th) at 5:16 made it 3-1 followed by Andrew Cherniwchan (10th) at 8:28 to put the Sharks down by three. Tommy Cross (3rd) finished the scoring at 15:14 with a blast from on top of the circles past Aaron Dell. Shots in the third period were 10-9 in favor of Providence. The Sharks overall record falls to 40-25-4-2, 86pts and 18-15-2-1, 39pts on the road this season.
2022 at Adirondack 6-4 loss
(RAILERS) The Worcester Railers HC (31-31-4-2, 66pts) fell to the Adirondack Thunder (27-37-3-0, 57pts) on Sunday afternoon by the final score of 6-4 in front of a crowd of 2,878 at Cool Insuring Arena. The Railers are in Trois-Rivières, QC at the Colisée Vidéotron on Wednesday, April 13th to take on the Trois-Rivières Lions at 7:00 p.m. Adirondack jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first before Steve Jandric (1-0-1) was able to get the Railers on the board with his second goal in two nights for the Railers. As Worcester was down 2-1 to open up the second period, the Railers rushed down ice off of the opening draw and Liam Coughlin (1-0-1) was able to tie the game just 10 seconds into the frame. Back-to-back goals from Anthony Repaci (2-0-2) midway through the second and early in the third put Worcester ahead 4-2. Adirondack however responded with four unanswered goals in the third, giving them the 6-4 victory on Sunday afternoon. The Thunder got on the board early in the first. Billy Jerry (2nd) intercepted a pass in front of the Railers net from Nolan Vesey and redirected it past Ellis to make it 1-0 4:23 into the game. 7:16 later, another Railers turnover led to another Adirondack goal. Worcester coughed up the puck back to the point, where Jordan Kaplan found Shane Harper (21st) at the left dot, who then one-timed a blast past Ellis to make it 2-0 Thunder with 8:21 left in the first. For the second straight night for Worcester, Max Newton found Steve Jandric (4th) out in front as he redirected the puck past Alex Sakellaropoulos in net for the Thunder to get Worcester on the board and make it 2-1 with 7:38 to go in the first. Worcester would get on the power play with 3:44 left in the period, but their struggles on the power play continued, as they were unable to convert. Worcester outshot Adirondack 13-9 in the first period. Just 10 seconds into the second period of play, Liam Coughlin (9th) grabbed the rebound left over from a quick rush up ice between Ethan Price and Jacob Hayhurst. Coughlin unleashed a wrist shot that just snuck through Sakellaropoulos and tied the game 2-2 early in the second. Then, with 8:52 to go in the period, Connor McCarthy picked up the puck along the right point and threw it on net, where Anthony Repaci (21st) redirected it past Sakellaropoulos to give Worcester their first lead of the day at 3-2. Worcester would hold onto their lead heading into the third, as shots were dead even in the period at 11-11. The Railers outshot the Thunder through two periods 24-20. Anthony Repaci (22nd) found the back of the net for the second time on the afternoon to give the Railers a 4-2 lead just 84 seconds into the period. Repaci was parked out in front as Brendan Less placed a perfect pass right onto the tape of Repaci, who then deked around Sakellaropoulos for the tally. Adirondack responded 5:34 later as Patrick Grasso (25th) barreled down the left side and unleashed a backhander that went upstairs over the right shoulder of Ellis to bring Adirondack within one. Adirondack would tie the game as Jordan Kaplan (11th) hammered a shot off the end glass which then deflected off of Connor McCarthy and into the net to make it 4-4 with 5:56 left in the game. Adirondack tacked on two more as Billy Jerry (3rd) scored on an odd-man rush, and Shane Harper (22nd) finished in front on a feed from Jordan Kaplan to make it 6-4 Adirondack. Worcester failed to score with Ellis pulled for the remanding two minutes, as they would fall in Glens Falls by a final score of 6-4. Shots in the third were even at 11 apiece, as Worcester outshot Adirondack 35-31 on the game. Notes: Three Stars: 3rd Star: Anthony Repaci (2-0-2, +0, 3 shots), 2nd Star: Shane Harper (2-1-3, +0, 4 shots), 1st Star: Billy Jerry (2-0-2, GWG, +3, 5 shots)… Final shots were 35-31 in favor of Worcester… Alex Sakellaropoulos (10-15-1) made 31 saves on 35 shots for Adirondack… Colten Ellis (15-12-5) made 25 saves on 31 shots for Worcester, while Ken Appleby served as the backup… Worcester went 0-for-4 on the power play while Adirondack went 1-for-1… Bobby Butler (DNP), Jordan Lavallee-Smotherman (DNP), Matt Sredl (DNP), Blake Christensen (IR), and Grant Jozefek (IR) did not dress for Worcester… Anthony Repaci led the Railers in shots with 6… The Railers are now 29-16-2-0 all-time vs. the Thunder and 16-8-1-0 at the Cool Insuring Arena against Adirondack.
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