WORCESTER, Mass –The Worcester Sharks (33-23-4-2, 72pts) topped the St. John’s IceCaps (29-28-6-2, 66pts) 3-1 in front of 5,291 fans at the DCU Center on Friday night. On Saturday evening, the Sharks host the Lehigh Valley Phantoms with a 7 p.m. puck drop. New England Patriots’ Super Bowl Hero Malcolm Butler (presented by Scrub-a-Dub)will make an appearance and sign autographs from 5-6:45p.m.
Worcester’s captain Bryan Lerg (2-0-2,+1) led the way for the Sharks with two goals in 
the first period to lift them over the St. John’s IceCaps. JC Lipon (1-0-1, +1) notched a goal for St. John’s—their lone goal of the night. Aaron Dell made 24 saves on 25 shots for his 9th win of the season. With the win, The Sharks remain in 9th place in the Eastern Conference, now one point behind the eight-place Springfield Falcons (73 points) with two games in hand.
The Sharks drew first blood at 2:10 into the first period after a net scramble; upon review, the goal was awarded to Worcester’s captain Bryan Lerg (11th). At the 8:16 mark, Lerg (12th) had a beautiful deke and backhander to beat St. John’s goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, scoring his second goal of the first period. Aaron Dell stopped all eight shots he saw from the IceCaps, as the Sharks held the 2-0 advantage through twenty minutes of play.
St. John’s got on the board with 1:20 left in the second period when IceCaps’ center Ryan Olsen fed the puck to right winger JC Lipon, who netted it from the slot, cutting the lead to one— that would be the lone goal of the frame. The IceCaps outshot the Sharks 11-4, but Worcester had the 2-1 lead heading into the second intermission.
Worcester added some insurance with two minutes left in the third period when center Rylan Schwartz (3rd) scored on an empty net after a breakaway to make it 3-1 Sharks. Aaron Dell saved all six shots that came his way as he notched his 9th win of the season. St. John’s outshot Worcester 25-21, but the Sharks held on for the 3-1 victory.
The Sharks overall record improves to 33-23-4-2, 72pts, and 19-10-2-1, 41 pts at the DCU Center this season.
Notes: Three Stars: 3rd star: John McCarthy (0-0-0, -1) 2nd star: Aaron Dell (24 saves, 9th win) 1st star: Bryan Lerg (2-0-2)… Final shots were 25-21 in favor of St. John’s…Connor Hellebuyck made 18 saves on 20 shots for St. John’s … Aaron Dell made 24 saves on 25 shots for Worcester… Worcester went 0-for-4 on the power play while St. John’s went 0-for-6…Dylan DeMelo (inj), Konrad Abeltshauser, Vincent Arseneau, Jeremy Langlois (inj.), Petter Emanuelsson (inj.), and Jimmy Bonneau did not dress for Worcester …Bryan Lerg now has a three-game point streak (4-1-5); Lerg’s two goals in the first period gave him four goals in less than 29 minutes dating back to Wednesday’s game against Hershey … the Sharks are now 18-12-2-1 against the Atlantic Division—11-5-0-1 at the DCU Center.
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