Manchester, NH – The Sharks traveled up to Manchester on Saturday night to take on the Monarchs in search of their second straight win of the season on Saturday night.  In front of a raucous crowd at the Verizon Wireless Arena the Sharks lost 5-4 in a shootout after Sharks forward Mathieu Darche scored the equalizer with just under a minute to play in regulation.  The Sharks earned their third point of the season in the loss as netminder Dimitri Patzold turned aside 24 shots.

 

The Monarchs got on the board first when forward Jeff Giuliano slapped one past Patzold for his first of the year at 9:24 of the first period.

 

The Sharks battled hard and were able to get it back when forward Craig Valette notched a shorthanded goal with just two minutes left in the period.  Valette blocked Manchester defenseman Peter Harrold’s wrister from the point and went in all alone and snapped the puck past Monarch’s netminder Jason LaBarbera’s stick side for his first of the year.

 

Exactly one minute later, Monarchs forward Noah Clarke took back their one goal lead when he scored a scrappy power play goal from in front of the Worcester net to make it 2-1.

 

Manchester extended their lead by two just two minutes into the second stanza when forward Lauri Tukonen fired one through Patzold’s legs from the left face off dot for the 3-1 lead.

 

Mathieu Darche cut the lead back to one with a diving rebound tally for his second of the season at 6:17 of the second session.  Sharks forward Lukas Kaspar ripped a slap shot from the left point and Darche was there to shovel home the rebound to make it 3-2. 

 

Manchester forward John Zeiler tipped in a slap shot from the blueline on the power play for another two-goal lead, but the Sharks kept swimming and scored a power play goal of their own at the 17:01 mark in the second stanza.  Forward Michal Macho made a beautiful feed to the top of the Monarchs crease for Sharks towering defenseman Mathieu Biron to bang home to make it 4-3. Forward Joe Pavelski was credited with the other assist.

 

The third period was all Worcester and for the second straight night, the Sharks scored the equalizer with under a minute to go in regulation.  With 57 seconds left, Darche knocked in his second of the night, another rebound goal, to force overtime and ensure a point for the standings.  Pavelski and Biron picked up the assists.

 

In overtime, the Sharks could not get one past the steady LaBarbera in the Manchester goal.  For the second straight night, the game was decided in a shootout.

 

The Monarchs would prevail, however, as forward Konstantin Pushkarev sealed it with Manchester’s third goal in the shootout on a marvelous move on Patzold for the one-handed tally.

 

Monarchs netminder Jason LaBarbera turned aside 41 Worcester shots to win his first game of the season.

 

The Sharks next travel to the Dunkin’ Donuts Center to take on the Providence Bruins on Friday, October 13^th for a 7:05 p.m. start time. 

 

The Sharks will then make their home debut at the DCU Center on Saturday, October 14 against the Portland Pirates, powered by the U.S. Army and www.goarmy.com.  To get your tickets, visit the DCU Center Box Office or by calling Ticketmaster at 617.931.2000.  For more information, Crash the Net at www.sharksahl.com.