Saturday Night Hockey: Three Goal First Lifts Worcester Sharks Over Portland Pirates
By Ryan Bayer
Portland Pirates at Worcester Sharks
DCU Center
February 23, 2013
Meeting 10 of 12 vs. the Pirates
Sharks are 4-5-0-1 vs. the Pirates this season
By Matt Metcalf
Portland Pirates @ Worcester Sharks. Mandatory Credit: Ron Morin
Worcester, MA– The Worcester Sharks (24-21-1-5, 54pts) defeated the division rival Portland Pirates (30-19-1-1, 62pts) by a score of 4-1 on Saturday evening in front of 5,045 fans at the DCU Center. The Sharks wore specialty jerseys in the game to benefit the Autism Resource Center of Central Massachusetts and broke a seven game home losing skid at the DCU Center.
First period goals by Danny Groulx (3rd), Bracken Kearns (13th), and Jimmy Bonneau (1st) was the difference-maker in the game, as the Sharks got the early lead and never looked back. Matt Tennyson (5th) also added a goal of his own in the second period to give the Sharks a 4-0 lead, before Phil Lane (5th) got the Pirates on the board early in the third period. Alex Stalock was awesome in net, stopping all but one of the 37 shots that he faced in the game. This win was Stalock’s 14th of the season.
After a back-and-forth start to the first period, the Sharks were finally able to strike first at 13:15 on a missile from the point by defenseman Danny Groulx (3rd) that beat Portland goaltender Mike Lee glove-side, giving the Sharks a 1-0 lead. Just over two minutes later, Bracken Kearns (13th) increased the Sharks lead on a shorthanded bid, when he stole the puck from a Portland defenseman and went in on a breakaway and beat Lee five-hole, making it a 2-0 game. The Sharks didn’t let up there. After the Sharks killed off Jimmy Bonneau’s (1st) penalty, he stepped out of the box and scored to give the Sharks a 3-0 lead on a low shot far-side. The Sharks outshot the Pirates 13-10 in the opening period.
There wasn’t much action until the late stages of the second period. With just over three minutes left in the period, James Livingston made a great cross-ice feed to a wide open Matt Tennyson (5th), who walked in and buried a wrist shot to the left of Louis Domingue, who replaced Mike Lee in net following the first period, extending the Worcester lead to 4-0. The Sharks continued their offensive pressure in the second, firing 14 more shots on the cage.
The Pirates cut into their four-goal deficit 4:47 into the final period, when Phil Lane (5th) curled out from behind the net and beat Alex Stalock glove side, trimming the Worcester lead to 4-1. Stalock played great down the stretch to secure the victory for the Sharks, including a big save on a breakaway by Portland’s Chris Brown and a number of saves on quality shots on a Portland power play following their first goal, eliminating any chance that the Pirates had of getting back in the game.
The Sharks overall record improves to 24-21-1-5 (54pts in 51gp) and 9-10-1-3 (22pts in 23gp) at home this season.
Worcester Sharks Official Logo. Mandatory Credit: Worcester Sharks media department.
Notables:
Final shots were 37-36 in favor of Portland. Mike Lee made 10 saves on 13 shots, while Louis Domingue made 22 saves on 23 shots for Portland. Alex Stalock made 36 saves on 37 shots for Worcester. Worcester went 0-for-6 on the power play while Portland went 0-for-6
***Post Game Report provided by the Worcester Sharks.****
Official Link: http://www.sharksahl.com/story.asp?story_id=3432
3 Stars of The Game:
1. WOR – 43 Jimmy Bonneau
2. WOR – 16 Bracken Kearns
3. WOR – 32 Alex Stalock
Be sure to follow all of your BoT staff on twitter!!!
Blades of Teal: Tape to tape “WITH THE PASS” of expert analysis on San Jose Sharks, Worcester Sharks, and San Francisco Bulls hockey