San Antonio Stampedes Over Sharks, 3-1

March 12, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Worcester Sharks News Release


WORCESTER - In a physical contest, the Worcester Sharks dropped a 3-1 decision to the San Antonio Rampage at the DCU Center on Wednesday night.

The Sharks (25-28-4-6) remain eight points behind the Springfield Falcons who own the fourth and final Atlantic Division playoff spot. With Manchester's win, the Sharks now trail the Monarchs by four points for fifth.

San Antonio struck first at 9:49 of the first on its only power play of the period. The Sharks failed to clear the zone and it came back to haunt them as the Rampage found the back of the net with 17 seconds remaining in the man advantage. On a broken play, Jon DiSalvatore took the puck from behind the net to the right of Sharks goaltender Thomas Greiss. He stuffed it low and past the Worcester netminder for his 17th of the season. Mike Zigomanis and Bill Thomas assisted on the play.

The Rampage extended their lead at 13:06 off Brendan Bell's seventh goal of the season. DiSalvatore skated down the right wing side and unleashed a shot in the faceoff circle. Greiss made the save, but never had control of the puck and Bell finished with a backhand flip into the open net. Matt Murley was credited with the other assist on the play.

T.J. Fox was hooked at 14:53 of the second period, giving the Sharks a golden opportunity to cut the lead in half. Fox skated down the right wing side and let go a shot from 10 feet away, but Rampage goaltender Josh Tordjman made the big blocker save.

San Antonio all but iced the game on another power play tally at 7:13 of the third period. Derek Joslin was called for interference at 5:50 and Riley Armstrong followed with a tripping penalty at 6:59 creating a 5-on-3 power play. Bryan Helmer let go a shot from the left wing side that beat Greiss blocker side for the three-goal advantage. The puck hit iron before crossing the goal line for his fourth of the season. Bell and DiSalvatore each picked up their first assists and second points of the game on the play.

As Worcester's five minute power play ended, the Sharks found the back of the net, ending a three-period scoreless drought. Skating up ice, Dan Spang made a touch pass to Graham Mink down the left wing side. Mink put a shot on net from the faceoff circle and Spang cleaned up the rebound for his seventh of the season. Tom Walsh extended his point streak to four games with an assist on the play.

The Sharks travel to Lowell on Friday and Springfield on Saturday before returning home to host the Hartford Wolf Pack Sunday at 4:05 p.m. The Sharks will be sporting special St. Patrick's Day jerseys that will then be auctioned off for charity. For more information or to purchase tickets, log on to sharksahl.com or call the Sharks offices at 508-929-0500.

NOTES: Brennan Evans and Adam Keefe had a punch-filled bout at 17:31 of the second period. Keefe gave Evans some big upper cuts, controlling the first part of the fight, but Evans came back to get in some good punches of his own ... For Evans, it was his first fight since Feb. 27 (7 games) when he battled Troy Bodie in the third period against Springfield ... There were only seven shots total in the second period, four by the Sharks and three by the Rampage. The three shots against tied a season-low which was done on two other occasions, both in the second period (Feb. 6 at Lowell and Dec. 15 vs. Houston) ... T.J. Fox's penalty shot was the team's first of the season and second in franchise history. The other time was on Mar. 2 when Grant Stevenson converted against Providence ... Pete Vandermeer picked up a five minute major for cross checking and a game misconduct at 11:35 of the third period. He crosschecked Riley Armstrong and kept giving him cheap shots while Armstrong was laying defenseless on the ice ... Brad Staubitz and Ryan Caldwell dropped the gloves at 17:57 of the third period. After a scuffle in front of the net, that duo broke out with Staubitz getting the upper hand ... The final attendance figure was 2,888 ... Greiss had 18 saves on 21 shots for the Sharks while Tordjman made 29 stops on 30 shots for San Antonio ... Power plays: Worcester: 0 for 4, San Antonio 2 for 4 ... Niche Hospitality Group Three Stars: Mezcal 3rd Star: Zigomanis (2 a), Bocado 2nd Star: SiSalvatore (1g), Block 5 1st Star: Tordjman (29 saves)

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