WORCESTER, Mass – The Worcester Sharks (21-15-3-2, 47pts) had their franchise best eight game win streak come to an end after a 3-2 loss to the Albany Devils (20-14-3-5, 48pts) in front of 3,654 fans at the DCU Center on Friday evening. The Sharks and Devils will meet again on Saturday in Albany at 2pm for the final matchup before the AHL All-Star break. 
Tomas Hertl and Barclay Goodrow each made their AHL debuts for the Worcester Sharks while JP Anderson made 17 saves in his third straight start in net for Worcester. Albany had a 3-0 lead early in the second period before Mirco Mueller and Evan Trupp got the Sharks close but Worcester came up short as their nine game point streak came to an end.
Albany outshot Worcester 7-5 in the first period as the Devils broke out to a 2-0 lead. Reading, MA native Joe Whitney (16th) had a great tip in front of JP Anderson’s net on a Brandon Burlon point shot at 6:06 to give Albany a 1-0 advantage. The Devils scored again at 12:44 as David Wahlberg sent a snap shot from the left slot past Anderson to put Worcester down 2-0 through 20 minutes of play.
Albany went ahead 3-0 at 6:25 of the 2nd period after a one-time blast by defenseman Brandon Burlon (4th) from on top of the right circle after a great feed from the left corner. Worcester finally got on the board at 13:13 with a nifty power play goal by San Jose Sharks first round draft pick Mirco Mueller (1st). Tomas Hertl sent the puck to the goal line to Chris Tierney and Chris fired the puck across the crease to Mueller who snuck in from the left point and buried a quick shot from on top of the crease to cut the Devils lead to 3-1. Albany outshot Worcester 8-2 in the second period as the Sharks trailed by two goals.
Worcester had a better charge in the third period and would cut the Devils lead to a goal at 7:19. Evan Trupp (9th) buried a rebound after Bryan Lerg stole the puck in the Albany zone, sent a quick shot towards the net with Trupp charging in for the score. Worcester outshot Albany 13-5 in the third period but it was too little too late as Albany held on for the 4-3 victory.
The Sharks overall record falls to 21-15-3-2, 47pts, and 13-7-2-1, 29pts at the DCU Center this season.
Notes: Three Stars: 3rd star: Joe Whitney (1-0-1, 5 shots) 2nd star: Mirco Mueller (Goal) 1st star: Brandon Burlon (1-1-2)… Final shots were 20-20… Maxime Clermont made18 saves on 20 shots for Albany ….JP Anderson made 17 saves on 20 shots in for Worcester…. Aaron Dell (called up from Allen) was the backup goalie… Worcester went 1-for-6 on the power play while Albany went 0-for-3… Petter Emanuelsson (inj), Troy Grosenick (ill), Eriah Hayes, Konrad Abeltshauser, Ryan Carpenter, and Jimmy Bonneau did not dress for Worcester…Nick Jones was loaned to Indy (ECHL) on Thursday…. Matt Tennyson and Melker Karlsson are still with the SJ Sharks ….the Sharks are in a middle of a stretch of where they play nine of 11 on the road… Bryan Lerg extended his point streak to five games with an assist….Tomas Hertl (17th in 2012) and Mirco Muller (18th in 2013) were both drafted by the San Jose Sharks in the 1st round of the NHL Draft….Muller scored his first career AHL goal, Hertl picked up and assist….former Worcester Sharks associate coach David Cunniff made his return to Worcester as the assistant coach of the Albany Devils.
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