Third Period Storm Sinks Rats, 4-1

Published on January 9, 2009 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Worcester Sharks News Release


WORCESTER - The only thing that could beat Sharks goalie Thomas Greiss was the back board as Worcester topped the Albany River Rats, 4-1 on Friday night at the DCU Center.

Greiss was sensational in net, making 36 saves for his 12th win of the season. A late second period fluke goal was the only that stood between him and his first-career shutout. Matt Fornataro and Lukas Kaspar each added a third period goal and assist as the Sharks improve to 20-17-0-1 on the season.

After a number of glittering scoring chances early in the first period, the Sharks finally lit the lamp at the 15:27 mark, taking advantage of a delayed penalty for the 1-0 lead. Andrew Desjardins was at the right wing half wall when his pass intended for T.J. Fox in front tipped off Albany's Tim Conboy and past River Rats goalie Justin Peters for Desjardins' fourth goal of the season. Claude Lemieux and Mike Moore were credited with the assists on the play.

Worcester killed off a full 1:20 of 5-on-3 hockey to preserve the 1-0 advantage heading into the first intermission. Shots were aplenty with Worcester leading 18-14 after one.

Frazer McLaren and Nicolas Blanchard engaged in a heated fight at 8:52 of the second period following a number of scuffles after the whistle. Then off a faceoff in the neutral zone, the two immediately went at it, throwing a number of heavy punches on one another near the Albany bench. The chippiness continued to pick up with Lemieux in the middle of a number of altercations.

Albany got on the scoreboard late in the second period via a lucky bounce. Jerome Samson fired the pucks around the boards from just inside the blue line and it took a strange bounce from behind the net back in front, hitting off Greiss and past the goal line for the 1-1 score.

Kaspar scored the first clean goal of the night at 4:41 of the third to give Worcester the 2-1 advantage. While falling down, Fornataro made a sweeping pass to Kaspar who fired the puck past Peters from in between the faceoff circles for his ninth goal of the season.

Only 2:03 later, the Sharks added a power play goal for some insurance to make it 3-1. Kaspar, who was positioned high in the zone, made a pretty pass to Fornataro right outside the crease who easily found the open net. Steven Zalewski was credited with the other assist on the play.

Riley Armstrong added an empty net goal at 17:52 to cinch the 4-1 win.

NOTES: Three Stars: (3) Fornataro (1g, 1a) (2) Kaspar (1g, 1a) (1) Greiss (36 saves) ... Attendance for the contest was 3,109 ... Greiss saved 36 of 37 shots for the Sharks, while Peters stopped 38 of 41 for Albany ... Worcester went 1/4 on the power play; Albany went 1/6 ... Final shots were 40-36 Worcester ... Greiss' 36 saves were a season-high... Lukas Kaspar has nine points (4g, 5a) in the last six games and 10 (5g, 5a) in the last nine ... Ryan Vesce's third period assist upped his point streak to six games. He now has 25 points (11g, 14a) in his last 21 games

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American Hockey League Stories from January 9, 2009


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