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

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Worcester Sharks vs. Portland Pirates. Mandatory Credit: WGME News 13.

Scouting Report:

A Look at Portland:

The Portland Pirates (30-18-1-1, 62 points) are in second place in the Atlantic Division, trailing Providence by one point and fifth place in the Eastern Conference. The Pirates have been a constant offensive force as they lead the Atlantic Division in goals scored with 147 goals, but have needed every single one of their goals, as they also lead the  Division in goals allowed with 143 goals. They have twice scored seven goals against Worcester this season, which is the most that Worcester has given up in a single game this season. In their last ten games Portland has a record of (6-4-0-0).
Pirates Watch Report:

With Portland’s captain, Alexandre Bolduc returned from his call up to the Phoenix Coyotes, he is one of the players to watch as he has posted 36 points (19 goals and 17 assists) in 39 games with Portland. Chris Conner, another dynamic player for Portland seems to save his best for Worcester as he has tallied 10 points (4 goals and 6 assists) out of his 24 points (8 goals and 16 assists) in nine contests this season. Rob Klinkhammer seems to be another Pirate that saves his best for Worcester as he has collected 7 points (3 goals and 4 assists) out of his 40 points (13 goals and 27 assists) in nine games verse the Sharks.

***Special Scouting Report courtesy of the Worcester Sharks.***

Official Link: http://www.sharksahl.com/Story.asp?story_id=3429

Official WTAG Radio Logo. Mandatory Credit: Rick In the News

 

Tonight’s match up has a 7:30p EST puck drop.  In addition the contest can be heard on WTAG News/Talk 580 and 94.9 FM and for AHL Live subscribers they can enjoy live televised coverage of the game at AHLLive.com.

Portland Pirates #14 Chris Conner weaves through Worcester Sharks defenseman #23 Matt Pelech during the November 14th, 2012 contest at the Cumberland County Arena. Mandatory credit: Ron Morin

The Worcester Sharks (18-12-1-2, 39 points) returned to action tonight as they took on the Atlantic Division leading Portland Pirates (20-12-1-1, 42 points) and wrapped up a their four game road trip. The Sharks are coming off a 2-1 win in Hershey this past Sunday trail Portland by three points for the Division lead. Worcester is (3-3-0-0) verse Portland this year and (1-2-0-0) in Portland.  Their last win against the Pirates dates back on November 14, 2012 that featured a 4-2 victory.

Worcester Sharks forward #51 Brodie Reid. Mandatory credit: Worcester Sharks media department.

Portland, ME– The Worcester Sharks (18-13-1-2, 39pts) led 2-0 and 3-2 but the Pirates scored the final five goals as Worcester dropped a 7-3 decision to the Portland Pirates (21-12-1-1, 44pts) on Tuesday evening in front of 2,800 fans at the Cumberland County Civic Center. The Sharks finished 2-2-0-0 on their four game road trip as they return home to the DCU Center to host the Springfield Falcons on Friday at 7:30pm.

Denny Urban scored his first AHL goal while James Sheppard and Jon Matsumoto each picked up two assists in the loss for Worcester. Brodie Reid scored his 6th and 7th goals of the season and Alex Stalock allowed seven goals on 39 shots as the Pirates scored the final five goals for the 7-3 win.

The Sharks came out flying in the first period and grabbed a 2-0 lead while outshooting the Pirates 14-2 through the first ten minutes. Denny Urban (1st) scored his first AHL goal with a 5-on-3 power strike at 5:31 with Jon Matsumoto and Matt Tennyson picking up the helpers. Physical play picked up as Frazer McLaren (6th FM) and Joel Rechlicz (7th FM) had a rockem-sockem brawl at 6:40 that brought the crowd to their feet. Brodie Reid (6th) gave the Sharks a 2-0 lead at 9:31 with a wicked shot from the right slot past the glove of Chad Johnson as Worcester was buzzing early. But the Pirates came back with a pair of goals as Alexandre Bolduc (17th) slammed home a centering feed by Chris Connor past Alex Stalock at 12:09 followed by a rebound power play marker by Brendan Shinnimin (5th) at 18:19 to tie the score at 2-2. Worcester outshot Portland 18-9 in the opening frame.

Brodie Reid (7th) gave the Sharks a 3-2 lead at 2:35 of the second period after he stuffed the puck through the pads of Chad Johnson after a nice feed by James Sheppard. The Pirates would score the next three goals to go ahead 5-3 to end the period. Rob Klinkhammer (10th) evened the score at 3-3 at 3:04 followed by a power play blast by defenseman Michael Stone (6th) at 8:39 to put Portland ahead 4-3. Brendan Shinnimin (7th) scored a breakaway shorthanded tally after he crashed into the net at 12:42 to give Portland the 5-3 lead through 40 minutes.

Chris Brown scored twice in the third period at 9:30 and 13:04 to put Worcester away as Portland outshot the Sharks 16-8 in the final frame.

The Sharks overall record falls to 18-13-1-2 (39pts in 34gp) and 11-8-0-1 on the road this season.

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

Post NHL Lockout news: With the tentative agreement of the new CBA for NHL and NHLPA, the Worcester Sharks could very well be without some key players as the shortened NHL season is just days from starting.  Possible invitees that could come to San Jose for a short training could be James Sheppard and Brodie Reid.  As of right now, Sheppard is in second with 23 points on the season with Worcester that includes, eight goals and 15 assists thru 34 games.  With the injury to Worcester Sharks leading point producer Tim Kennedy, Sheppard is leading candidate on offense.  Brodie Reid has played just 20 games with the Worcester Sharks as has put up seven goals and nine assists.  In addition, I believe that defensemen’s Matt Tennyson and Matt Irwin are also candidates that I think have a shot to join the brief training camp in San Jose.  Tennyson has played 34 games this season with Worcester and has scored three goals with 14 assists.  As for Irwin, he has played only 29 games with the AHL Sharks and scored one goal and 13 assists.  Look for those two to be plug players down the road on the blue line for San Jose in the event of any injuries come into play.  As the old saying goes, “keep your fingers crossed.”

****Official Post Game Report Courtesy of the Worcester Sharks.****

Story link: http://www.sharksahl.com/story.asp?story_id=3359

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