SPRINGFIELD – Two goals from Brady Leisenring lifted the Sharks to a 4-2 victory on Saturday night, snapping a two-game losing streak for Worcester.  The win was the team’s third consecutive against Springfield evening the series 3-3-0-0.  Thomas Greiss earned his eighth win of the year with a 19-save performance.

 

Entering the game Worcester had failed to score a first period goal in the previous eight contests.  The trend continued as Springfield’s Sylvain Dufresne scored the only goal of the stanza at the 12:07 mark.  The Sharks were dominant in the twenty minutes, out-shooting Springfield 10-5 and playing the majority of the period in the Falcons’ zone. 

 

The second period was a more evenly played session, but it was the Sharks scoring the only goals of the period to take a 2-1 advantage into the third.  Mathieu Darche potted his 25^th banking a puck off the back of Falcons’ goaltender Karri Ramo on assists from Graham Mink and Garrett Stafford.  Nine minutes later the Sharks grabbed their first lead of the night on a tally from Brady Leisenring at the 18:02 mark.  The rookie forward scored his first AHL goal of the season on an assist from Steve Bernier, who has points in four of his five games with Worcester this year since being assigned by San Jose.

 

The Sharks capped the comeback with two early goals in the third period en route to a 4-2 win.  Leisenring scored his second goal of the night just 45-seconds into the third period while short-handed.  Josh Prudden, who was stopped on the initial shot, received an assist on the goal.  Prudden and Leisenring weren’t done adding to the scoresheet as they combined to assist on the Sharks fourth goal by Lukas Kaspar.  Springfield pulled their goaltender for replacement Jonathan Boutin after the goal by Kaspar, but the emotional lift lasted just long enough for one goal.  Daniel Corso completed the scoring, his eighth of the year on a breakaway.

 

The Sharks six game road stretch continues with a match up in Portland tomorrow afternoon at 4pm.  The game will be broadcast live on NewsTalk 580-WTAG and can be viewed on-line through the B2 Network, accessed at the Sharks official web site www.sharksahl.com.