2000 at Hartford 6-3 loss (New England Division F, trail 1-0)
(TICKER) Jason Dawe and Ken Gernander each scored a pair of goals to power the Hartford Wolf Pack past the Worcester IceCats, 6-3, in Game One of their best-of-seven, second-round playoff series. Dawe, who also had an assist, put Hartford on the board with 6:49 left in the first period and broke a 2-2 tie at 2:35 of the second. Gernander scored a shorthanded goal 52 seconds into the middle period and notched his second tally of the game early in the third session. Jean-Francois Labbe recorded 30 saves to improve to 4-1 in the playoffs. Brad Smyth added a goal and a pair of assists for the Wolf Pack, who won six of 10 games against Worcester in the regular season (6-3-1). Sylvain Blouin and Marc Brown each had second-period goals for the IceCats. Brent Johnson stopped 35 shots for Worcester, which will remain in Hartford for Game Two on Tuesday.
2001 vs Providence 4-3 loss (New England Division F, trail 2-0)
The Worcester IceCats had two leads in the game but allowed four third period goals, including the game winner with 16 seconds left in regulation, in a 4-3 loss to Providence. The IceCats opened the scoring at 12:21 with a shorthanded marker from Sebastien Bordeleau, assisted by Mark Rycroft and Jaroslav Obsut. The ‘Cats made it 2-0 with a goal by Ed Campbell at 2:14 of the second period, with Andrei Troschinsky and Jame Pollock assisting. In the third period the Baby-Bs tied it on goals by Andre Savage (8:06) and Eric Nickulas (11:09), but at 11:37 Doug Friedman got Worcester its lead back, with Bordeleau and Darren Rumble getting the helpers. But two more goals by Providence, the first by Terry Hollinger at 15:37 and Shawn Bates at 19:44 handed the IceCats a hard to take 4-3 loss. Dwayne Roloson made 33 saves in the game.
2004 at Manchester 3-2 win 3OT (Atlantic Division SF, lead 3-2)
(MONARCHS) Center Brendan Brooks’ goal six minutes into the third overtime put an end to the 11th longest game in the history of the American Hockey League’s Calder Cup Playoffs, and gave the Worcester IceCats a 3-2, come-from-behind victory over the Manchester Monarchs in Game 5 of a best-of-seven Atlantic Division semifinal series at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Thursday night. A crowd of 4,652 witnessed the game longest game ever played by either team. With the win, the IceCats gained a 3-2 series lead. Brooks, a former Monarch who suited up in nine games for the home team during the 2001-02 season, punched a rebound past goaltender Adam Hauser moments after the second-year pro fought off left wing Peter Sejna’s short-side wrister. Center Blake Evans also registered an assist on Brooks’ first goal of the series. Goaltender Curtis Sanford (3-2) kept the Monarchs off the board long enough for Brooks to be the hero. The netminder stopped 28 shots in the three extra sessions. He finished with 60 saves in the game. Equally as strong on the other end of the ice was Hauser (2-1), who recorded 34 saves in his first playoff start at the Verizon Wireless Arena. The Monarchs opened a two-goal first period lead with goals from right wings Scott Barney and Pavel Rosa. Barney snapped his second goal of the series past Sanford 12:23 into the period. He worked himself out of the corner and triggered his shot from the left circle with assistance from Muir and Rosa. Center Yanick Lehoux started the play by tying up a Worcester defenseman in the corner. Lehoux’s stick work opened a lane for Barney to score. Rosa tapped his third goal of the series into an open net 4:03 later to give the home squad a two-goal cushion. Center Jerred Smithson and Clarke shared assists on the play as Smithson’s quick wrister deflected off the right pad of Sanford and bounced to Rosa, who was waiting in the crease. The IceCats broke a string of 10 consecutive Monarchs goals in the series 1:02 into the middle period with left wing Scott Pellerin?s second goal of the playoffs. Pellerin launched his shot from the left circle and sliced the puck into the right corner of the net. Right wing Mike Glumac and center Jeff Panzer each notched assists on the goal. Pellerin’s marker was the first for the IceCats since he netted a game-winner in overtime of Game 2. Pellerin’s strike also ended Hauser?s shutout streak in the series at 141 minutes and two seconds. The former University of Minnesota Golden Gopher pitched shutouts against the IceCats in Game 3 and in Game 4 of the series, totaling 51 saves in the two contests. Pellerin’s night of hockey came to an abrupt end just 2:13 later when he started a skirmish with Rosa near the Monarchs net. IceCats defenseman Terry Virtue and Lehoux also got involved in the fracas, which resulted in 45 minutes of penalties, 10-minute misconducts for Lehoux and Virtue, and a game misconduct for Pellerin. The IceCats knotted the game at 2 apiece with the first goal of the series for defenseman Aris Brimanis, who hammered the puck over the left shoulder of Hauser with 6:03 remaining in the frame. Brimanis took Sejna’s feed at the right point, slid into the right circle, and then fired. Defenseman Aaron MacKenzie also recorded an assist on the goal. The teams skated through a scoreless third period, although Brooks nearly gave the IceCats the lead at the 6:30 mark. The diminutive skater gathered the puck off the right boards and wheeled toward the net, but his backhander clipped the left post.
2009 vs Hartford 6-0 win (Atlantic Division SF, tied 2-2)
(WORSHARKS) The Sharks were flying on all cylinders as they exploded in the 3rd period with five goals to claim Game 4 with a score of 6-0 Wednesday night at the DCU Center to tie the series at two game a piece against the Hartford Wolf Pack. With the victory, the Sharks will host Game 6 at the DCU Center on Saturday, April 25th at 7:05pm. Kyle McLaren netted his 1st goal of the playoffs at 3:19 in the 1st period with a blast from just inside the blue line that beat Hartford goaltender Matt Zaba that gave Worcester an early 1-0 advantage. The Sharks offensive attack was crisp in the 1st as they challenged the Wolf Pack defense with several scoring threats through the first twenty minutes of play. No penalties were whistled as Worcester outshot Hartford 11-10. The 1-0 lead would hold through a high tempo 2nd frame with continued stellar play by Worcester netminder Thomas Greiss. Thomas anchored the defense as the Sharks were outshot 12-6 in the 2nd. Worcester came out blazing in the 3rd and produced four goals within the opening 7:21 of the period on just five shots on Matt Zaba. Logan Couture started the rally at 1:23 when he scored his 1st professional goal to put the Sharks up 2-0. Couture drove home a feed from behind the net by Tom Cavanagh. Just 2:22 later, Lukas Kaspar would fight through traffic and find the top corner of the net to take a 3-0 lead at 3:45. Moments later, Ryan Vesce recorded his 3rd goal in two games after Kaspar fought through traffic once again and dished to Vesce for the bang-bang score in front of the crease at 6:16. Tom Cavanagh continued the goal parade and extended the Sharks lead to 5-0 with an assist from Riley Armstrong at 7:21. The rough stuff ignited at 14:56 when Andrew Desjardins exchanged blows with a frustrated Brodie Dupont around the Worcester net following a team scrum along the boards. With :47 seconds left in the game T.J. Fox scored his 1st goal of the playoffs as the Sharks cruised on to shutout the Wolf Pack 6-0 in Game 4 and tie the series 2-2.
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