Sharks Feed on Falcons in 3-1 Victory

January 30, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Worcester Sharks News Release


WORCESTER - The second half of the 2008-09 AHL season kicked off Friday night as the Worcester Sharks defeated the Springfield Falcons at the DCU Center 3-1 in a hard fought battle.

After a fast and physical start by both teams, the Sharks struck first with Steven Zalewski's 9th goal of the season at 3:25 of the opening period. The goal was assisted by Cory Larose and Lukas Kaspar. The assist extended Larose's point streak to eight games. Brad Staubitz then added to the Sharks' 54 fighting majors on the season as he and Springfield's Mathieu Roy dropped the gloves at 5:42 into the period. The Sharks held the momentum for the remainder of the period by keeping the pressure on Springfield goalie Devan Dubnyk. The Sharks outshot Springfield 14-4 in the first period and led 1-0.

Tempers continued to flare as the teams returned to the ice for the opening of second period as Worcester's Matt Jones was called for a fighting major penalty, along with Springfield's Gilbert Brule at 3:00. After a couple strong bids by the Worcester offensive attack, the Sharks were unable to take advantage of a 5 on 3 power play. The Falcons were then blanked on a 5 on 3 advantage of their own as Sharks' goalie Thomas Greiss fought off a strong Springfield power play attack. The period came to a close with the Sharks maintaining a 1-0 score.

Lukas Kaspar opened the final frame by firing his 11th goal of the season at 3:16 of the third period as the Sharks took a 2-0 lead. Soon after, Riley Armstrong and Viacheslav Trukhno who drop the gloves in front of the Springfield bench.. The Falcons would find the back of the net when Guillaume Lefebvre scored on a feed from Tyler Spurgeon and Jake Taylor at 8:11. Brad Staubitz and Guillaume Lefebvre would drop the gloves at the end of the period before the Sharks sealed the game with an open net goal by Riley Armstrong at 19:25.

The win brings the Sharks' record to (25-19-0-2) with 52 points, while the Falcons dropped to (16-23-6-1) 39 points. The Sharks are now just one point behind the first place Bruins, Wolf Pack, and Pirates.

NOTES: Three Stars: (3) Steven Zalewski (Wor) (2) Devan Dubnyk(Spr) (1) Luke Kaspar (Wor) ...Attendance for the contest was 3,459...Greiss saved 16 of 17 shots for the Sharks, while Dubnyk stopped 31 of 34 for Springfield...Worcester went 0/5 on the power play; Springfield went 0/7 ... Final shots were 34-17 Worcester.



American Hockey League Stories from January 30, 2009


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