SHARKSPAGE

WorSharks begin seven game road trip with 2-1 shootout loss in Manchester

The Worcester Sharks started their longest road trip of the season with a short journey north to Manchester to take on the Monarchs Sunday afternoon, and their offensive woes continued as the WorSharks dropped a 2-1 shootout decision in a fight filled contest at the Verizon Wireless Center.

Monarchs netminder Jeff Zatkoff is a pretty good goaltender, but the WorSharks made him look like an all-star in the opening period by firing 20 shots on goal and connecting on none of them. Worcester had multiple high quality scoring chances, but has been the issue for most of this season no one on the roster can seem to put the puck into the net. At the other end of the ice Tyson Sexsmith made ten saves, including a couple tough ones to keep the game scoreless after 20 minutes.

The opening period saw two fights, with Jimmy Bonneau and Justin Johnson renewing their rivalry at center ice just 2:49 in the game in a bout that looked pretty even. At 17:17 Tommy Wingels had enough of being slashed by Richard Clune and dropped the gloves against the much more experienced opponent. If given a second chance Wingels would probably choose to just slash him back and skate away.

Worcester’s inability to connect on their multiple chances came back to haunt them in the second period when Dwight King took a Brandon Kozun feed to the left wing circle and beat Sexsmith at 2:55. Despite outshooting the Monarchs 9-8 in the period the WorSharks couldn’t get any real offense going. Their one occasion of extended play in the Monarchs zone was ended when Andrew Campbell intentionally knocked the net off the pegs. Worcester didn’t have shot on goal on the resulting power play.

There were two more fights in the middle stanza, with Matt Pelech taking on Jordan Nolan behind the WorSharks net at 15:14. Pelech was the easy victor, but after both went to the ice Nolan continued to throw punches with the linesmen involved, drawing the ire of the WorSharks. His bump of Sexsmith as he skated away from the fight should have resulted in a misconduct but none was forthcoming. Nathan Moon and Justin Azevedo got together at 18:18 of the period in a bout that saw Moon land several good shots.

The one line that has been putting the puck into the net on occasion lately has been the third line, so it’s no surprise that they would be the ones to draw the WorSharks back to even when James Livingston threw a pass from behind the goal line to Tony Lucia in the slot. Lucia’s shot beat Zatkoff just under the crossbar at 8:46 of the third period for his first goal since March 27, 2010, which was his first AHL game while still an amateur.

Both teams had chances throughout the remainder of regulation and overtime but Sexsmith and Zatkoff were up to the task. The teams then headed to the shootout where Brodie Reid and Lucia scored for Worcester, but that wasn’t enough as Robert Czarnik connected in round seven to give the Monarchs the extra point.

GAME NOTES
The WorSharks went with the same line-up as Saturday night. Scratches were Mike Connolly (unknown), Taylor Doherty (unknown), Ben Guite (foot), Brandon Mashinter (unknown), Mike Moore (head), and Sean Sullivan (lower body). Harri Sateri was the back-up netminder.

Worcester entered the day as the second worst shooting team in the AHL and with the Providence Bruins idle will end the day as the worst, dropping from 7.5% to 7.2%. How bad is the WorSharks offense? Tyson Sexsmith has a 1.80 goals against average and a .931 save percentage and is just 4-5-2.

The three stars of the game were:
1. MCH – Zatkoff (38 saves)
2. MCH – Czarnik (so gwg)
3. WOR – Lucia (g)

The Sharkspage player of the game is Tyson Sexsmith.

Even Strength Lines
McCarthy/Ferriero/Wingels
MacIntyre/Moon/Reid
Lucia/Del Monte/Livingston
Gogol/Viedensky/Bonneau

Irwin/Braun
Petrecki/Acolatse
O’Hanley/Pelech

BOXSCORE

Worcester 0 0 1 0 – 1
Manchester 0 1 0 0 – 2

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Bonneau Wor (fighting), 2:49; Johnson Mch (fighting), 2:49; Kaunisto Mch (hooking), 6:45; Del Monte Wor (holding), 9:51; Wingels Wor (fighting), 17:17; Clune Mch (fighting), 17:17; Bonneau Wor (roughing), 18:28.

2nd Period-1, Manchester, King 2 (Kozun), 2:55. Penalties-Deslauriers Mch (charging), 3:27; Ferriero Wor (roughing), 4:42; Paddock Mch (roughing), 4:42; Campbell Mch (delay of game), 8:55; Lucia Wor (slashing), 11:51; Pelech Wor (fighting), 15:14; Nolan Mch (fighting), 15:14; Moon Wor (fighting), 18:18; Azevedo Mch (fighting), 18:18; Hill Mch (interference), 19:43.

3rd Period-2, Worcester, Lucia 1 (Livingston), 8:46. Penalties-Bonneau Wor (hooking), 4:34.

OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties

Shootout – Worcester 2 (Ferriero NG, Wingels NG, Viedensky NG, Reid G, Braun NG, Lucia G, Del Monte NG), Manchester 3 (Vey NG, Kozun NG, Nolan NG, Azevedo G, Meckler NG, Cliche G, Czarnik G).
Shots on Goal-Worcester 20-9-7-3-0-39. Manchester 10-8-7-4-1-30.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0 / 4; Manchester 0 / 4.
Goalies-Worcester, Sexsmith 4-5-3 (29 shots-28 saves). Manchester, Zatkoff 6-3-1 (39 shots-38 saves).
A-4,012
Referees-Keith Kaval (40), Graham Skilliter (48).
Linesmen-Landon Bathe (80), Brian MacDonald (72).