Coach Roy Sommer Wins 600th AHL Game in 4-3 Road Win over Phantoms
February 4, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Worcester Sharks News Release
Allentown, PA - The Worcester Sharks (24-16-3-2, 53pts) kicked off a five game road trip with a 4-3 win over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (21-18-4-1, 47pts) in front of 6,471 fans at the PPL Center on Wednesday evening. With the victory, head coach Roy Sommer became just the third coach in AHL history to hit the 600 win plateau joining Frank Mathers (610) and Fred "Bun" Cook (636).
Ryan Carpenter, Eriah Hayes, Bryan Lerg, and Micheal Haley all scored goals for Worcester while Aaron Dell made 30 saves in net for Worcester for his second straight win between the pipes. Matt Taormina and John McCarthy each added two assists as the Sharks jumped into the 6th spot in the Eastern Conference with the win. Rob Zepp made 40 saves in net for the Phantoms while Brandon Manning added three points (1-2-3) but took four minor penalties for Lehigh Valley.
Worcester outshot the Phantoms 21-12 in the first period but the two teams headed into the first intermission tied 1-1. The Phantoms scored on their only power play of the period as Jason Akeson (10th) fired a wrist shot from on top of the left circle through a screen and past Aaron Dell at 3:19 to give Lehigh Valley a 1-0 lead. Worcester tied the score at 13:30 as Ryan Carpenter (7th) crashed the net and found a rebound on top of the crease and fired it past goaltender Rob Zepp with John McCarthy and Gus Young assisting. Worcester went 0-4 on the power play in the first period of play as Aaron Dell had to make three big saves while the Phantoms were shorthanded.
The Sharks scored the only goal of the second period as Eriah Hayes (4th) was set up alone in front by Ryan Carpenter at 14:15 to give the Sharks a 2-1 advantage. Petr Straka hit the post on a one timer from 12 feet on the power play with 10 seconds remaining in the period as the Sharks headed into the second intermission ahead 2-1 and held a 35-24 shot advantage through 40 minutes.
Worcester charged out to a 4-1 lead with a pair of power play goals midway through the third period. Bryan Lerg (7th) scored on a rebound in front at 10:13 and Micheal Haley (12th) deflected a Matt Taormina point shot at 13:48 to give Worcester a three goal lead. The Phantoms would score twice in the final 87 seconds as Brandon Manning (8th) struck at 18:33 and Zack Stortini (8th) scored at 19:57 as the Sharks held on for the 4-3 victory.
The Sharks overall record improves to 24-16-3-2, 53pts, and 10-9-2-2, 24pts on the road this season.
Notes: Three Stars: 3rd star: Rob Zepp (Loss) 2nd star: Bryan Lerg (PPG) 1st star: Ryan Carpenter (1-1-2)... Final shots were 44-33 in favor of Worcester... Rob Zepp made 40 saves on 44 shots for Lehigh Valley....Aaron Dell made 30 saves on 33 shots in for Worcester.... Worcester went 2-for-7 on the power play while Lehigh Valley went 1-for-5... Petter Emanuelsson (inj), Troy Grosenick (inj), Jeremy Langlois (inj), and Kyle Bigos did not dress for Worcester...before the game Chris Tierney was recalled by the SJ Sharks... Spencer Asuchak (#16) and Trevor Parkes (#39) each made their Worcester Sharks debuts after signing PTO's on Tuesday.... the Sharks are in a middle of a stretch of where they play nine of 11 on the road....Ryan Carpenter (2-3-5) and Eriah Hayes (2-2-4) each have goals in back-to-back games for Worcester... John McCarthy added two assists and now has points in two straight (1-2-3)...Travis Oleksuk picked up his 2nd fighting major of the season with a second period scrap with Nick Cousins, Oleksuk also added an assist.... Taylor Doherty and Evan Trupp each had six shots on goal.
Coming up....
The Sharks five game road trip continues with two games this weekend!
On Friday the Sharks battle the Admirals in Norfolk at 7:30pm followed by a 7:15pm start on Saturday vs. the Admirals.
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American Hockey League Stories from February 4, 2015
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