Worcester Sharks Vs. Hershey Bears Game Day Report
By Ryan Bayer
#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 15th 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:
HERSHEY |
Worcester
Games Played
Garrett Mitchell, Tomas Kundratek (38)
Freddie Hamilton (37)
Goals
Tomas Kundratek (12)
Tim Kennedy (12)
Assists
Jeff Taffe (27)
Tim Kennedy (18)
Points
Jeff Taffe (35)
Tim Kennedy (30)
PIMs
Steve Oleksy (111)
Matt Pelech (133)
Plus/Minus
Garrett Mitchell (+12)
Tim Kennedy (+5)
Power-Play Goals
Tomas Kundratek (6)
Bracken Kearns (6)
Shorthanded Goals
Garrett Mitchell (2)
Yanni Gourde (1)
Game-Winning Goals
Zach Hamill (3)
Jon Matsumoto (3)
Wins
Dany Sabourin (6)
Alex Stalock (12)
Goals-Against Average
Philipp Grubauer (1.77)
Alex Stalock (2.78)
Save Percentage
Philipp Grubauer (.940)
Harri Sateri (.909)
EARS vs. SHARKS – SPECIAL TEAMS:
HERSHEY |
Worcester
Power Play
27-for-178 (15.2%) –20th in AHL
30-for-179 (16.8%) – 17th in AHL
Penalty Kill
142-for-169 (84.0%) – 15th in AHL
138-for-169 (81.7%) – 20th in AHL
****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!!!!!!!!
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