Sharks End 2011 with a Thud, Fall 4-2 in Portland
Published on December 31, 2011 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Worcester Sharks News Release
PORTLAND, ME - Tommy Wingels scored his team leading 13th goal of the season but the Sharks could not recover from an early 3-0 deficit in a 4-2 loss to the Portland Pirates at Cumberland County Civic Center on New Year's Eve
Jack Combs also scored for the Sharks and Tyson Sexsmith made 21 saves in the loss for Worcester as the Sharks three game win streak came to an end and finished the month of December with a 10-3-0-1 record. The game featured three fights and 72 penalty minutes.
The Portland Pirates barged out to a 3-0 lead in the first period as the Sharks dug an early hole. Brock Trotter (8th) snuck a sneaky back hander from the low right slot just inside the cross bar at 3:33 for an early Pirates lead. Defenseman Michael Stone (3rd) one timed a loose puck from in between the circles past the glove of Tyson Sexsmith at 5:17 from a 2-0 Portland advantage. Rookie Andy Miele (9th) scored on a breakaway try after he crashed into Sexsmith at 17:25 for the 3-0 cushion after 20 minutes. Nathan Moon (5th FM) fought Pirates captain Dean Arsene (3rd FM) at 5:32 after Moon slashed at goaltender Justin Pogge for the only scrap of the chippy opening frame.
Each team scored in the middle frame that saw a near brawl at 15:13. Tommy Wingels (13th) scored his 10th goal in December with a power play strike from on top of the crease past Justin Pogge at 4:18 to get the Sharks on the board. Portland got the goal back however; at 11:27 with a sneaky shot by Ryan Duncan (7th) from 50 feet past Tyson Sexsmith to give Portland a 4-1 lead. Sharks enforcer Jimmy Bonneau was apparently speared at 15:13 by Maxim Goncharov which led to two separate fights and a near brawl. Matt Pelech (5th) took on Goncharov in front of the Sharks bench and moments later Mike Hoffman (2nd FM) left the Pirates bench and took on Bonneau (11th FM). Hoffman and Bonneau each received five for fighting and game misconducts as the Sharks trailed 4-1 after 40 minutes.
Jack Combs (5th) scored the only goal of the third period to cut the Pirates lead to 4-2 at 6:31. Worcester outshot the Pirates 12-4 in the final frame but Justin Pogge and the Pirates held on for the win.
Notes: FIVE GUYS BURGERS Three Stars: 3rd Star: Justin Pogge (33 saves, W) 2nd star: Andy Miele (1-1-2) 1st star: Michael Stone (1-1-2)... Final shots were 35-25 in favor of Worcester... Justin Pogge made 23 saves on 35 shots for Portland; Tyson Sexsmith made 21 saves on 25 shots for Worcester...Worcester went 1-for-6 on the power play while Portland went 0-for-3...Cam MacIntyre (inj), Tony Lucia (inj), Brian O'Hanley (scr), Ben Guite (inj), and Curt Gogol (inj) did not dress for Worcester... with the three fights; Worcester now has 55 through 31 games this season, the most in the AHL and a fight in 17 straight games......tonight's game marked the 54th meeting all-time between the Sharks and Pirates, Worcester is 23-24-7 all-time vs. their Atlantic Division Rivals... Sean Sullivan extended his point streak to six games with an assist (1-7-8).... Tommy Wingels finished the month of December with 10 goals in 14 games... the Sharks finished the calendar year 2011 with a 36-28-11 record.
Coming up...
The Sharks kick off the New Year in Bridgeport with a 2pm start against the Sound Tigers on Monday.
American Hockey League Stories from December 31, 2011
- Peoria tops Rockford, 3-2 in a penalty filled affair - Peoria Rivermen
- Rampage End 2011 with 4-3 Victory Over Barons - San Antonio Rampage
- Kings Starts Fireworks Early - Manchester Monarchs
- McCollum Leads Griffins to Big NYE Win - Grand Rapids Griffins
- New Year's Eve Overtime Win - Adirondack Phantoms
- Peoria Outlasts Rockford 3-2 - Rockford IceHogs
- Devils Fall in OT at Adirondack - Albany Devils
- Admirals Battle Back to Earn Point in Hershey - Norfolk Admirals
- Bears Shoot out of 2011 with 3-2 Win Over Norfolk - Hershey Bears
- B-Sens Fizzle in 2011 Finale, Fall to Crunch 6-2 - Binghamton Senators
- Monsters End 2011 with Come-From-Behind Shootout Win - Cleveland Monsters
- P-Bruins Fall to Monarchs 2-1 - Providence Bruins
- Falcons Fall to Whale - Springfield Falcons
- Crunch Close 2011 with 6-2 Win Over Binghamton - Syracuse Crunch
- Ads Fall to Grand Rapids to Close out 2011 - Milwaukee Admirals
- Whale Cloe out 2011 with 5-2 Win - Connecticut Whale
- Sound Tigers Fall 4-2 to Penguins - Bridgeport Islanders
- Second-Period Burst Leads Penguins Past Sound Tigers - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Sharks End 2011 with a Thud, Fall 4-2 in Portland - Worcester Sharks
- IceCaps Release Shayne Wiebe - St. John's IceCaps
- Charlotte Snaps Wolves Home Streak - Chicago Wolves
- Checkers Extend Point Streak to Five Games - Charlotte Checkers
- Bulldogs Earn One Point in 3-2 Shootout Loss - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Oilers Assign Colten Teubert to Oklahoma City - Oklahoma City Barons
- Panthers Send Dadonov to Rampage - San Antonio Rampage
- Adam Cracknell Returns to Rivermen - Peoria Rivermen
- Rangers Return Sean Avery to Whale - Connecticut Whale
- Sabres Recall Defenseman Brennan - Rochester Americans
- Griffins Call on McCollum - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Blue Jackets Recall Defenseman David Savard from AHL's Springfield Falcons - Springfield Falcons
- Bears Sign Forward Matt Pope to Two-Year Contract - Hershey Bears
- Sound Tigers Comeback Falls Short in 3-2 Loss to Admirals - Bridgeport Islanders
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
