Goaltender Braden Holtby knocks James Sheppard of the Worcester Sharks down while making a kick save during the shoot out won by the Sharks, 4-3. Mandatory credit: JOE HERMITT, The Patriot-News December 15, 2012.

Tonight the Worcester Sharks played hosts to Hershey for their third meeting of the season.  Worcester entered the contest holding 2-0 season series lead over the Bears.  The last time these two clubs was back on January 6, 2013 that featured a Sharks 2-1 victory over the Hershey Bear at the Giant Center.  The game winner of that contest was scored by Sharks forward #11 Jon Matsumoto who recorded his ninth goal of the season during that matchup.

At 7:33 of the first period newly signed Michael Wilson was called for an interference minor.  Seven seconds into the penalty kill for Worcester, the Bears converted to put them up 1-0 with a quick strike from Kane.  The goal by Kane was his seventh goal of the season with assists from both Kundratek and Potulny.

After a face-off situation, Hershey Bears defenseman Tomas Kundratek was caught for an interference penalty at 11:24 of the first.  Worcester did not make anything of their power play situation as Hershey protected their one goal lead.

As the period come to a close the Bears held a one shot lead of the Sharks on the shot clock with a 11-10 lead.

Worcester Sharks defenseman #37 Denny Urban. Mandatory credit: Worcester Sharks media department.

15 seconds into the second stanza Sharks defensemen Denny Urban blasted the puck past Hershey Bears goaltender Philipp Grubauer to tie the game up a 1.  His shot caused the goal to be reviewed by the AHL officials.  Upon further review, the  officials ruled in favor that Urban’s tally was indeed a good goal.  Urban goal was his third of the year with assists that came from Banwell and Hamiliton.

At 2:39 of the second, Hershey’s TJ Syner was charged with a holding minor.  While Worcester was on their second power play of the contest the Sharks had problems setting up as the Bears denied them from going ahead.

Right after Syner served his penalty, he stoled the puck from Rissmiller and scored five hole on Stalock to put the Bears back on top 2-1. Syner’s unassisted goal made it his third of season.

In a mad scramble at the Sharks net Yanni Gourde made undisciplined decision as he cross-checked a Hershey Bears player and received a two minute minor at 10:38.  The good news for the Sharks was that the Bears failed to convert on the power play, thus keeping the game at 2-1 Hershey lead.

With 6:40 left in the second period Worcester went back on the power play when Hershey’s Schilling was caught for a high sticking minor.  Much like their previous power play situations the Sharks failed to convert as the visiting Bears remained a perfect 3-3 on the penalty kill.

Less than two minutes left of the second Zack Hamill of Hershey went off to the box for a slashing minor.  With Worcester’s fourth man advantage opportunity they came up empty as time expired.  With the 2nd period came to a close the Sharks would go into the final period with some carry over power play time.

With 40 minutes in the books, the Bears increased their lead on Worcester with 22-16 advantage on the shot clock.

Worcester Sharks forward # 19 Danill Tarasov Mandatory credit: Worcester Sharks media department.

Worcester entered the final period with 47 seconds of power play time.  Unfortunately they did not convert on special teams as the score remain 2-1 Hershey.

With 10.7 seconds left of regulation Sharks forward Daniil Tarasov tied the game up at 2-2.  This marked Tarasov’s first ever AHL goal.  His goal was assisted both Denny Urban and Mikael Tam.

At the end of regulation, both Worcester and Hershey were knotted up a 27 shots apiece.

In the overtime period, the Bears put four shots on net to Worcester’s one.  Ultimately the Hershey Bears prevailed as they defeated the Worcester Sharks in the shootout to come away with a 3-2 victory.  This victory for the Bears made their first win of the season series as Worcester maintains a 2-1 series lead.

3 Stars of the game:

1. WOR – 19 Daniil Tarasov
2. WOR – 37 Denny Urban
3. HER – 17 T.J. Syner

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@KingShark49 @bluelineboomer @81Bayer

Blades of Teal: Tape to tape “WITH THE PASS” of expert analysis on San Jose Sharks, Worcester Sharks, and San Francisco Bulls hockey

#19 Zach Hamill of the Hershey Bears has his shot blocked by #32 Alex Stalock of the Worcester Sharks during the shoot out won by the Sharks, 4-3. Mandatory credit: JOE HERMITT, The Patriot-News. December 15, 2012

Today the San Jose Sharks AHL affiliate Worcester is in action for some Wednesday night hockey.  The Sharks are coming off of a disappointing weekend as they were defeated by the Albany Devils by a 4-1 final and by the Portland Pirates by a final score of 3-1.  For the Hershey Bears they will try and continue their two game winning streak as they swept the weekend series over the Connecticut Whale.  In game one of the weekend series against the Whale, Hershey defeated them 4-3 in a shootout, while game two that featured a lopsided 5-0 score.

As of today, Worcester is currently 19-15-1-2, 41pts and are in second place of the AHL’s Atlantic Division and fifth overall in the Eastern Conference.  Meanwhile, for the Hershey Bears, they are 19-17-1-1, 40pts and are sitting in third place team in the East Division behind Binghampton and Syracuse with a seventh overall position in the Eastern Conference.

Entering into tonight’s contest, the Worcester Sharks, have had success against the Bears so far this season with two victories on the road on December 15th and January 6th.  In addition, tonight’s matchup will be the third meeting of four between these two clubs with their fourth and final meeting of the season coming on March 24th.

The Sharks new signings of Patrick Rissmiller and Michael Wilson all have recorded a point in their new Sharks uniform.  The new signings will play key roles in the second half of the season as the Sharks push toward the playoffs.  Jon Matsumoto will lead the Sharks attack as he’s tallied 9 goals and 13 assists on the season.  Accompanied by newly appointed assistant captain James Livingston and the Sharks work horse Freddie Hamilton, the Sharks and Matsumoto will look to beat Hershey for the third time in a row and continue the streak.

# 24Mattias Sjogren of the Hershey Bears is sandwiched by #27 Mike Brennan and #22 Tim Kennedy of the Worcester Sharks during the first period. Mandatory credit: JOE HERMITT, The Patriot-News. December 15, 2012.

Stats Report:

ALL-TIME: The two teams clash tonight for the 15^th time in history. The BEARS have an all-time record of 4-7-3 (W – L/OTL – T/SOL) against the Sharks. HERSHEY posted a record of 0-1-0-1 against Worcester last season.

BEARS vs. SHARKS – TEAM LEADERS:

EARS vs. SHARKS – SPECIAL TEAMS:

****Stats tracking courtesy of the Hershey Bears.*****

link to stats: http://www.hersheybears.com/news/detail.php?id=3996

Tonight’s game has a 7pm puck drop and can heard on WTAG News/Talk 580 and 94.9 FM.  In addition, the contest can be seen live for subscribers at AHL Live on their website.

Let’s Go Worcester!!!!!!!!

Be sure to follow all of your BoT staff on twitter!!!  

@KingShark49 @bluelineboomer @81Bayer

Blades of Teal: Tape to tape “WITH THE PASS” of expert analysis on San Jose Sharks, Worcester Sharks, and San Francisco Bulls hockey

Worcester Sharks forward #11 Jon Matsumoto scores the game winning shootout goal on Hershey Bears goaltender #1 Braden Holtby at the Giant Center on 12/15/2012. Mandatory credit: Kyle Mace

Tonight marked the first of four meetings of the season for the Worcester Sharks and Hershey Bears.  In addition, it also marked the first of the season as the Bears played hosts to the San Jose Sharks AHL affiliate.  Coach Roy Sommer elected to start #32 Alex Stalock in net as his most recent victory at the Giant Center dated back on November 24th, 2010 where he stopped 41 of 43 shots he faced in a game that featured 30 minutes of penalties as Stalock came out on top with a 3-2 win.  The struggling Sharks net minder entered tonight’s contest with just a single win in his last five starts and held an 8-5-1-1 record on the season. For the Hershey Bears goaltender Braden Holtby entered the contest who has won his last three starts with the most recent victories courtesy to back to back starts against the St. John Ice Caps last Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

Worcester Sharks forward #15 James Sheppard. Mandatory credit: Worcester Sharks media department.

Just at the start of the game, there was equipment issue at the Giant Center with the time clock that caused a short delay. After the delay was over, on the games first shift, the Bears won the puck and went in the Sharks zone as Hershey and opened the scoring to put the Bears up 1-0 early in the first.  Goal was scored from the point by rookie Cameron Shilling as he tallied his third of the season with at 36 seconds and the assists were awarded to Jeff Taffe and Ryan Potulny.  Less than five minutes later, Hershey’s Zach Hamill got the games first penalty when he was called for a two-minute slash and that put Worcester on the games first power play at the 4:41 of the first.  On the power play for the Sharks, forward Jon Matsumoto scored on a deflection to put the puck past Holtby to tie the game up at 1 with assists from Tennyson and Oleksuk at 6:17 of the opener.  The goal marked Matsumoto’s fourth of the season.  Over four minutes later on a deflection in front of the Worcester’s net, Hershey’s Mike Cameron scored to put the Bears ahead once again to make 2-1 at 10:33 of the first frame.  With that go ahead goal it marked Cameron’s third of the season.  Shortly after the Bears went ahead, Worcester’s Matsumoto nearly scored his second of the game as Holtby shut the door to keep it 2-1 Bears.  On the following shift for Hershey, they went in the Worcester zone on a three on two as Hamill fired the puck past Stalock to make 3-1 Bears at 13:26 to make it his ninth of the year with assists from Syner and DiSalvatore.  Over a minute following Hershey’s third goal of the game, Worcester’s Brandon Mashinter and Hershey’s Alex Berry drop the gloves for the game’s first fight that would end in a draw as they would each get five minutes for fighting.  Immediately following the first fight of the game, Yanni Gourde of the Sharks vs Matt Pope of the Bears connected with one another to make it the second fight of the night as Gourde would get the knockdown blow as the two of them would just two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct at 14:28.  One second after the the send fight, Tam of Worcester went off to the sin bin for a slashing minor.  On the man advantage for the Bears, they were unable to convert as the scored remained at 3-1 Hershey.  With less than a minute to go in the first, Stafford of Hershey went to the box for hooking and as they period died down, Worcester would carry over the remaining power play time into the second stanza.  As both teams went into the first int, Hershey edged out Worcester on the shot clock with a 9-8 advantage.

Worcester Sharks forward #5 Matt Tennyson. Mandatory credit: Worcester Sharks media department.

The Sharks entered the middle frame on the man advantage thanks to minor that was assessed to the Bears from the previous period.  While Worcester was on the power play, they too were unable to convert to cut into the Bears 3-1 lead.  At the early stages of the middle period, the third fight of the game ensued as Tam of Worcester and Mitchell from Hershey would go at one another with Tam getting the best shots for decision as both would get five for fighting.   During the scrap between Tam and Carmen, the Bears were called for an extra penalty when the refs saw a slash that was committed by Kundratek at 3:23.  On the power play for Worcester, James Sheppard scored as he blasted it from the high slot at 4:05 to cut the Bears lead to one as the score became 3-2 Hershey.  The goal by Sheppard made it his fourth of the season with assists from Matsumoto and Tennyson.  Shortly after Sheppard’s goal, Pelech went it on Holtby to try to tie the game as the Hershey net minder made a huge save to keep it at 3-2.  Moments later Worcester would get another power play opportunity as Hershey was called for delay of game.  On their fourth power play opportunity the Sharks would come up short as they were unable to put the puck past Braden Holtby to keep the score at 3-2 Bears.  At 8:43 of the second, Hamill was called for delay of game as Worcester went on the man advantage.  During the Sharks power play opportunity they came up short as the pk unit of the Bears stepped up to protect their one goal lead.  Following the successful penalty kill by Hershey another penalty was charged to the Worcester Sharks as Livingston called for cross checking at the 12:00 mark.  The Bears would come up short as the Sharks pk unit stopped the Bears from adding to their one goal lead.  Shortly after Worcester killed of the penalty to Livingston, Mikael Tam would go to the box for holding to put the Worcester pk unit back to work.  While Worcester was shorthanded, the opportunity presented itself as they went in on Holtby on a 2 on 1 as Kearns fired a shot that went wide that caused the Bears to go into the Worcester’s zone with a 2 on 1 of their own as Stalock made a huge save to keep the score at 3-2 Hershey Bears lead.  In the dying seconds of the second Sharks Captain McCarthy nearly tied it at two as the puck hit the post as time expired as the score remained 3-2 Bears.  As the two teams went into games final intermission Worcester overtook Hershey on the shot clock with a 21-14 margin.

Worcester Sharks goaltender #32 Alex Stalock. Mandatory credit: Worcester Sharks media department.

Entering the final frame of the game, the Sharks were 5-6-0-1 when trailing after two periods this season and marked it the best in the AHL when coming from behind.  As the period went on, Worcester’s shot clock advantage increased as they lead the Bears with a 24-16. In the final frame, Worcester would get the periods first penalty as Bracken Kearns would go off for interference at 4:41 of the third period as Hershey went on its fourth power play of the night, just 30 seconds into Hershey’s man advantage, Bears Jon DiSalvatore is called for high sticking as both teams would skate a 1:30 of 4-on-4. Shortly after the two teams skated 4 aside, Worcester went on a brief 30 second pp as the Bears pk unit stepped up to keep at 3-2 Hershey lead.  At 9:44 of the final period, Hershey’s Marshall went to the box for tripping to put Worcester back on the power play.  Just three seconds into the man advantage Tennyson fired a shot from the point that deflected off of Sheppard’s stick to put puck past Holtby on the far side to tie the game up a 3 apiece.  The goal marked it Sheppard’s second of the night a fifth of the year with the assists from Tennyson and Oleksuk.  Less than three minutes later, Sharks forward Brandon Mashinter would go to box for a roughing minor at 12:32 of the third.  During the shorthanded situation for Worcester, the Sharks went in for their second 2 on 1 shorthanded attempt as Kearns was unable to put the rubber past Holtby as the game remained locked at 3-3.  Business picked in the late stages of the final stanza as both teams stepped up their attacks thus keeping each other on their toes with end to end action.  The Sharks Brandon Mashinter took advantage when an opportunity presented itself with breakaway chance as he would get hooked from behind and was awarded a penalty shot at 2:01 left in the third period.  On the penalty shot situation Mashinter’s shot was stopped by Holtby with a spectacular save by the Hershey goaltender to keep at a 3-3 deadlock.  The contest would go into overtime with Worcester outshooting Hershey at 32-22.  In the short overtime period, there was no scoring as Hershey put three shots on Stalock.  As the extra time expired, the game would be decided in the shootout competition round   In the shootout round, Sharks Jon Matsumoto would get the lone goal to seal the deal for the Sharks as they would complete to comeback with a 4-3 victory.

3 Stars of the game:

1. WOR – 15 James Sheppard
2. WOR – 5 Matt Tennyson
3. HER – 19 Zach Hamill

Be sure to follow all of your BoT staff on twitter!!!  

@KingShark49 @bluelinebomber @81Bayer

Blades of Teal: The Final Word On San Jose Sharks, Worcester Sharks, and San Francisco Bulls