By Abby Hensel
Sharksahl.com Staff

Worcester, Mass. - The Worcester Sharks and Manchester Monarchs met for a goal-scoring spectacle in which the Sharks came out on top 5-4 at the DCU Center in front of 3,538 fans on Saturday night. The two teams exchanged the lead all night long with power play’s being the difference. The Sharks scoring attack was balanced with four Worcester skaters recording their first goals of the year, to earn their second straight and fifth win of the season.

Defenseman Garrett Stafford put the Sharks on the board first with a power play tally at 11:26 of the opening stanza. Lukas Kaspar passed the puck to Stafford who was stationed just inside the blue line. Stafford’s shot made its way through traffic in front of the net and past Monarchs’ goaltender Jason LaBarbera for the 1-0 lead. Grant Stevenson also assisted on the play.

Manchester’s Tim Jackman tied the game at one with a power play goal just 54 seconds into the second period. Konstantin Pushkarev tossed the puck to T.J. Kemp at the point and sent it down low to Jackman where he tapped it home past Worcester’s netminder Dimitri Patzold.

At 6:23, the Sharks got the 2-1 lead when Mathieu Darche, Mathieu Biron, and Tom Cavanagh skated into the zone. Cavanagh ripped a shot that hit the top left corner of the goal post and fell across the line for his first of the season.

The Sharks lead only lasted 46 seconds until Monarchs’ defenseman Peter Harrold put puck past Patzold with a crowd in front of the net to make it 2-2. Gabe Gauthier was credited with the assist.

The Monarchs took their first lead of the night at 12:23 of the second period. With Kapsar off for tripping, Pushkarev controlled the puck at the far boards until he had an open lane to Lauri Tukonen who was stationed on the far post and tipped the puck into an open net making the contest 3-2.

With less than a minute to play in the second, and on the powerplay, the Sharks peppered LaBarabera with shots from all over the offensive zone. Finally, Pavelski picked up the loose puck and hit Darche in the slot. He quickly collected the puck and sniped one past the netminder with only two seconds remaining in the period, knotting the score at three apiece. Assisting on the play were forwards Joe Pavelski and Matthieu Biron.

Manchester found itself on top 4-3 only 21 seconds into the third period when Noah Clarke’s wrister beat Patzold cleanly over the glove. Clarke’s forth goal of the season was unassisted.

At 4:24 of the third, Sharks defenseman Scott Ferguson netted his first goal of the season, tying the game back up at four. Stevenson tossed the puck to Ferguson in the slot whose shot hit the post before bouncing into the net.

Stevenson scored the game-winner, his first goal of the year, at 6:33 of the third. While on the power play, Stevenson shot hit LaBarbera in the shoulder and landed behind him in the net. The marker gave the Sharks the 5-4 lead and they never looked back.

Worcester went 3 for 3 on the power play while Manchester was 2 for 4. Sharks goaltender Patzold recorded 22 saves for the win, while the Monarchs LaBarbera turned aside 28 in the loss.

The Sharks next travel to Springfield to take on the Falcons for the first time this season on Saturday, November 4, 2006 at 7:05 PM. They return home on November 10 when they face San Antonio at 7:00 PM. Get your tickets now by calling 508-929-0500 or visiting www.sharksahl.com.