WORCESTER, Mass –The Worcester Sharks (32-23-4-2, 70pts) battled back but fell short 3-2 to the Hershey Bears (38-18-5-2, 83pts) in front of 2,005 fans at the DCU Center on Wednesday evening.
Worcester had six power play chances in the game, but they could not capitalize on those opportunities. Sharks’ captain Bryan Lerg (2-0-2, +1) had two goals on the night in the Worcester loss. Three Hershey players scored, including Tim Kennedy (1-0-1, E), Cameron Schilling (1-1-2, +1), and Jim O’Brien (1-0-1, +1) as goalie Philipp Grubauer led the way for the Bears, making 44 saves on 46 shots from the Sharks, picking up his 24th win of the season. With the loss, Worcester remains in 9th place in the Eastern Conference standings— three points behind the eighth-place Springfield Falcons with two games in hand and with 15 games left on the season. 
Hershey kicked off the scoring at 6:31 of the first period when Bears’ center and former Shark Tim Kennedy (8th) ripped the puck past Worcester’s goaltender Troy Grosenick, scoring down front on a breakaway to give the Bears a 1-0 lead. That would be the lone goal of the period. Despite outshooting Hershey 12-4 in the first frame, Worcester couldn’t manage a goal, trailing 1-0 through twenty minutes.
Three penalties were called on Hershey as Worcester could not capitalize on multiple power play opportunities in the second period. Despite 19 more shots on goal and a 5-on-3 advantage late in the period, the Sharks remained goal-less. Troy Grosenick made 8 saves on 8 shots in the frame as Worcester trailed 1-0 going into the second intermission.
17 seconds into the final period, Sharks’ captain Bryan Lerg (9th) fired a backhander in front of the goalie crease, finding the back of the net after a feed from behind the net by center Evan Trupp, tying the game at 1 a side. Worcester had a 5-on-3 advantage again in the third frame but could not capitalize. At the 9:22 mark, Hershey defenseman Cameron Schilling (3rd) lit up the lamp after shooting his own rebound from the slot to reinstate the Bears one-goal lead. With 66 seconds left in the game, Hershey center Jim O’ Brien (4th) scored on an empty netter from the right circle to make it 3-1 Bears. The Sharks would get one back when Bryan Lerg (10th) scored his second goal of the night, flinging a backhander from the bottom of the right circle to cut the Hershey lead to one. It would be too little, too late for Worcester, as they outshot the Bears 15 to 11 in the third period but fell 3-2 to Hershey.
The Sharks overall record falls to 32-23-4-2, 70pts, and 18-10-2-1, 39pts at the DCU Center this season.
Notes: Three Stars: 3rd star: Bryan Lerg (2-0-2, +1) 2nd star: Tim Kennedy (1-0-1, E) 1st star: Philipp Grubauer (44 saves, 24th win)… Final shots were 46-23 in favor of Worcester …Philipp Grubauer made 44 saves on 46 shots for Hershey…Troy Grosenick made 20 saves on 23 shots for Worcester… Worcester went 0-for-6 on the power play while Albany went 0-for-2…Dylan DeMelo (inj), Konrad Abeltshauser, Vincent Arseneau, Jeremy Langlois (inj.), Petter Emanuelsson (inj.), and Jimmy Bonneau did not dress for Worcester…before the game Derek DeBlois was released from his PTO…the Sharks have not scored a first-period goal in eight straight games…the Sharks signed forward Daniel Ciampini (Union College) to an Amateur Tryout Contract (ATO) on Wednesday…tonight marked the first loss against an East Division team at the DCU Center this season (6-1-0-0)….the Sharks have lost six of their last eight games.
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