SHARKSPAGE

Old And New Lift WorSharks Over Portland, 5-3

The Worcester Sharks got three players back from the NHL after San Jose made a couple of roster additions, and along with all three of those players scoring goals the WorSharks got multiple point nights from defensemen Nick Schaus and Jody Pederson and forward Tommy Wingles in a 5-3 victory over the Portland Pirates Wednesday night at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts.

The night didn’t look like it would start off great for Worcester, who found themselves killing a two man advantage just five minutes into the contest. But sound penalty killing limited the Pirates to just a single shot during their 89 seconds of two man advantage and without a shot in another power play just a minute later. The WorSharks would make the most of their first chance with the man advantage when Pederson blasted a one timer from the blue line off a feed from Schaus. Pirates netminder Jhonas Enroth had a good look at the shot and was in great position to make the save, but then had no chance when Brandon Mashinter at the top of the crease tipped the puck over Enroth to light the lamp at 16:28.

The WorSharks would continue to pepper shots on Enroth throughout the remainder of the opening period and into the middle stanza, and the netminder would make several great saves to keep Portland within a goal. With about 6:30 remaining the second period Worcester would have its best effort, but Andrew Desjardins’ blast rang off the far post and bounced away from the net. He would not miss on his second attempt a few seconds later. As Worcester continued to press in the offensive zone Schaus collected a clearing attempt and fired the puck deeper into the zone. Dan DaSilva picked the pass out of the air and settled the puck, and fired a pass right to the stick of Desjardins, who buried the puck in the net at 13:41.

A lucky bounce would get the third returning player a goal just 27 seconds later. With Worcester again hemming the Pirates in their own zone Justin Braun ended up with the puck at the right point. With all his passing lanes blocked the rookie defenseman attempted to fire the puck into the far corner, but the puck hit Portland defenseman Tim Conboy and banked into the net to make it 3-0. Wingles and Joe Loprieno had the assists on the goal.

But the bane of Worcester has been the third period, and that held true again Wednesday. After outshooting Portland 32-9 over the first two periods Worcester couldn’t get out of their own way in the last 20 minutes, and it turned what should have been a laugher into a nail biter. After leaving WorSharks captain Jay Leach standing still in the left wing corner Igor Gongalsky stuffed a Dennis McCauley pass from behind the goal line past WorSharks goaltender Alex Stalock at 2:44 to get Portland on the board.

Wingles would get Worcester’s three goal lead back on a goal that looked a lot like the WorSharks opening goal. This time it was Steven Zalewski that fed Pederson, and Wingles would get a stick on the shot and deflect it through Enroth’s five hole just as a Portland penalty was expiring at 5:23.

Despite fighting a three goal deficit again Portland never stopped playing hard, and after Leach was called for a crosschecking minor Derek Whitmore would connect off a rebound of a Colin Stuart shot at 12:49. WorSharks killer Mark Mancari would get Portland within one at 17:19 when Stalock misplayed a shot and the rebound landed right on the winger’s stick.

After seeing their lead drop to a single goal Worcester woke up from its slumber and started to carry the play again, keeping Enroth in his net with solid forechecking. Portland was finally able to pull their goaltender for an extra attacker, but after a dump in to the WorSharks zone Stalock collected the puck behind the net and fired it along the glass where Ryan Del Monte gathered the puck and passed it ahead to T.J. Trevelyan, who buried the puck into the open net with 3.7 seconds remaining.

GAME NOTES
Wednesday’s game was originally scheduled for December 26th, but a blizzard postponed the game until January 18. An ice storm on Tuesday postponed the game again to Wednesday. With the additional delay Andrew Desjardins, Brandon Mashinter, and Justin Braun were all available to play after being assigned to Worcester Tuesday afternoon. The scratches for Worcester were Tony Lucia, James Marcou, Sean Sullivan, Mike Moore, Ryan Lannon, and Nick Petrecki. Prior to the start of the game Worcester released Chris Lawrence from his PTO and returned him to Stockton (ECHL).

There was one fight in the contest, with Cam MacIntyre (6’1″ 220#) and former WorSharks enforcer Dennis McCauley (6’3″ 225#) going at it for the second time this season. Like their first bout, McCauley landed the quantity of shots, but MacIntyre had the clear edge in quality to earn his second win over McCauley.

Alex Stalock’s assist on the empty net goal was his second of the season, and it moves him to first all-time in points by a WorSharks goaltender with five.

The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 6 Nick Schaus (2a)
2. WOR – 17 Tommy Wingels (g,a)
3. WOR – 25 Jody Pederson (2a)

Nick Schaus was also the #3 star in the AHL Wednesday night.

The Sharkspage player of the game was Justin Braun.

Even strength lines
Cheechoo/Trevelyan/MacIntyre
Mashinter/Zalewski/Wingles
Henderson/Desjardins/DaSilva
McLaren/Quirk/Del Monte

Irwin/Braun
Leach/Schaus
Loprieno/Pederson

Penalty kill lines
Desjardins/Henderson(DaSilva)
Quirk/McLaren

Irwin/Braun
Leach/Schaus

Power play lines
Cheechoo/Trevelyan/MacIntyre
Mashinter/Zalewski/Wingles

Irwin/Braun
Pederson/Schaus

BOXSCORE
Portland 0 0 3 – 3
Worcester 1 2 2 – 5

1st Period-1, Worcester, Mashinter 8 (Pederson, Schaus), 16:28 (PP). Penalties-McLaren Wor (interference), 4:44; DaSilva Wor (holding), 5:05; Wingels Wor (hooking), 8:10; Crawford Por (high-sticking), 14:52.

2nd Period-2, Worcester, Desjardins 6 (DaSilva, Schaus), 13:41. 3, Worcester, Braun 2 (Wingels, Loprieno), 14:08. Penalties-Stuart Por (unsportsmanlike conduct), 7:58; MacIntyre Wor (unsportsmanlike conduct), 7:58; McCauley Por (fighting), 15:16; MacIntyre Wor (fighting), 15:16.

3rd Period-4, Portland, Gongalsky 2 (McCauley), 2:44. 5, Worcester, Wingels 7 (Pederson, Zalewski), 5:23. 6, Portland, Whitmore 15 (Stuart, Byron), 12:49 (PP). 7, Portland, Mancari 19 (Ellis, Crawford), 17:19. 8, Worcester, Trevelyan 9 (Del Monte, Stalock), 19:56 (EN). Penalties-Gongalsky Por (hooking), 3:23; Leach Wor (cross-checking), 11:01.

Shots on Goal-Portland 6-3-20-29. Worcester 18-14-5-37.
Power Play Opportunities-Portland 1/4; Worcester 1/2.
Goalies-Portland, Enroth 13-12-1 (36 shots-32 saves). Worcester, Stalock 17-16-3 (29 shots-26 saves).
A-2,439
Referees-Mark Lemelin (84). Linesmen-Brian MacDonald (72), Todd Whittemore (70).