Sharks fall to Albany, 3-2

ALBANY, NY – The Worcester Sharks (32-22-4-2, 70pts) fell 3-2 to the host Albany Devils (27-23-5-5, 64pts) in front of 3,122 fans at the Time Union Center on Friday evening. With the loss, the Sharks fall to 8th place in the Eastern Conference with 16 games remaining.

Taylor Fedun and Karl Stollery scored second period goals for Worcester while Troy Grosenick was solid with 31 saves between the pipes for the Sharks. Darcy Zajac scored the only goal of the third period for the eventual game winner as Scott Clemmensen made 27 saves in net for the Devils. Albany Devils logo

For the 7th straight game, the Sharks would not score in the first period as the Devils would take a 2-0 lead. Paul Thompson (25th) gave the Devils a 1-0 lead at 7:36 with a quick shot from the left circle that beat Grosenick on the short side. Albany grabbed a 2-0 advantage at 15:14 after captain Rod Pelley (6th) rang a shot off the post from the left slot after a great feed behind the Worcester net. Albany held a 14-8 shot advantage through 20 minutes.

Worcester would tie the score with a pair of goals in the second period by a pair of blue liners. Taylor Fedun (6th) fired a one timer past goaltender Scott Clemmensen at 4:57 from on top of the right circle as John McCarthy was in front providing a screen. Karl Stollery (6th) scored his first goal as a member of the Worcester Sharks to tie the score at 2-2 at 10:20 after Ryan Carpenter sent the puck off the wall down the left wing side and Stollery sent a quick blast through Clemmensen from a tough angle.

Albany would score the only goal of the third period as Darcy Zajac netted the game winner at 5:45 after the Sharks turned the puck over in their own zone and Zajac pushed a rebound past Troy Grosenick from on top of the Sharks crease. Worcester fired 10 shots in the third period on Scott Clemmensen but came up empty as the Devils held on for the 3-2 home win.

The Sharks overall record falls to 32-22-4-2, 70pts, and 14-13-2-1, 31pts on the road this season.

Notes: Three Stars: 3rd star: Taylor Fedun (1-0-1) 2nd star: Rod Pelley (1-1-2) 1st star: Darcy Zajac (1-1-2)… Final shots were 34-29 in favor of Albany… Scott Clemmensen made 27 saves on 29 shots for Albany….Troy Grosenick made 31 saves on 33 shots for Worcester… Worcester went 0-for-4 on the power play while Albany went 0-for-4… Petter Emanuelsson (inj), Jeremy Langlois (inj), Jimmy Bonneau, Matt Tennyson (inj), Daniil Tarasov (SJ), Konrad Abeltshauser, and Evan Trupp (inj) did not dress for Worcester… captain Bryan Lerg returned after missing two games due to injury…the Sharks have not scored a first period goal in seven straight games…the Sharks are now +21 in the second period this season.

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