John McCarthy takes franchise lead in points after 5-1 win at Bridgeport

BRIDGEPORT, Conn – John McCarthy recorded three points (2-1-3) to lead the Worcester Sharks (32-21-4-2, 70pts) to a commanding 5-1 victory over the host Bridgeport Sound Tigers (22-30-6-1, 51pts) in front of 2,881 fans at the Webster Bank Arena on Wednesday evening.

John McCarthy (2-1-3) surpassed Dan DaSilva (144pts) for the most points in franchise history while Troy Grosenick made 25 saves in net for the Sharks as Worcester moved into 7th place in the Eastern Conference with 70 points. Eriah Hayes, Daniil Tarasov, and Dylan Demelo also scored for Worcester and Willie Coetzee extended his point streak to four games (1-5-6) with an assist. Worcester Sharks logo

Troy Grosenick was solid in the first period with nine saves in net for Worcester while Kevin Poulin made eight stops for the Sound Tigers. The two teams headed into the first intermission in a scoreless tie.

The Sharks scored twice within 63 seconds in the middle period to take a 2-0 lead. Eriah Hayes (6th) gave Worcester a 1-0 lead after great work along the boards by Rylan Schwartz and Ryan Carpenter at 6:06. Hayes wrapped a backhander from behind the net past Poulin for the first score of the game. John McCarthy (10th) fired a puck into an empty net after Micheal Haley picked up a rebound, faked a shot, and sent a pass in front to McCarthy who then gave Worcester a 2-0 advantage. Troy Grosenick made nine more saves in the second period as the Sharks led 2-0 after 40 minutes of play.

Daniil Tarasov (12th) at 7:46 and Dylan Demelo (6th) at 13:34 gave Worcester a 4-0 lead with a pair of power play goals in the third period. Harry Zolnierczyk (18th) ruined Grosenick’s shutout bid at 14:49 with a rebound power play goal to make the score 4-1 Worcester.   John McCarthy (11th) surpassed Dan DaSilva with point # 145 with his second goal of the game as Trevor Parkes stole the puck behind the Bridgeport net and sent the puck in front to a wide open McCarthy at 18:58 as the Sharks cruised to a 5-1 road victory.

The Sharks overall record improves to 32-21-4-2, 70pts, and 14-12-2-1, 31pts on the road this season.

Notes: Three Stars: 3rd star: Eriah Hayes (1-0-1) 2nd star: Troy Grosenick (25 saves, W) 1st star: John McCarthy (2-1-3)… Final shots were 29-26 in favor of Worcester… Kevin Poulin made 24 saves on 29 shots for Bridgeport….Troy Grosenick made 25saves on 26 shots for Worcester… Worcester went 2-for-3 on the power play while Bridgeport went 1-for-4… Petter Emanuelsson (inj), Jeremy Langlois (inj), Jimmy Bonneau, Matt Tennyson (inj), Bryan Lerg (inj), Konrad Abeltshauser, and Evan Trupp (inj) did not dress for Worcester… forward Vincent Arseneau made his Worcester Sharks debut and wore #16….Willie Coetzee (1-5-6) extended his point streaks to four games with an assist… the start on the road for Grosenick was his first road start since a 3-1 win at Providence on Jan 4….the Sharks have not scored a first period goal in six straight games…the Sharks are now +19 in the second period this season….Travis Oleksuk now has a three game point streak (1-3-4).

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