Three-Goal First Period Lifts Sharks over Pirates
February 23, 2013 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Worcester Sharks News Release
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.
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