In front of a capacity crowd at the DCU Center, the Worcester Sharks fell to division rival Providence by a margin of 5-2 on Friday night.

 

Providence wasted no time in opening the scoring, as the Bruins’ pair of rookie standouts hooked up to give their team a 1-0 lead just 3:56 into the contest.  Kris Versteeg found David Krejci slicing through the Sharks defensive zone and Krejci buried his 15^th goal of the year, beating Worcester’s Thomas Greiss stickside from the right faceoff dot.  The Sharks generated a handful of scoring chances in reply, including two goal-mouth scrambles, but it was Providence’s Ben Walter who lit the lamp next, finishing off a rebound from close range at the 11:18 mark of the period.

 

Less than four minutes later, Martins Karsums scooped up a loose puck in the Worcester zone and fired on net.  Greiss made the initial save, but Bruins center Nate Thompson one-timed the rebound and gave Providence a 3-0 lead.  For the period overall, the Sharks were held scoreless despite 12 shots on net.

 

With Josh Prudden already in the box for elbowing and another delayed penalty against the Sharks pending, the Bruins charged over the blue line into the Sharks zone.  Kris Versteeg again served as distributor, this time finding teammate Petr Kalus between the circles, and the winger expanded the Providence advantage to four early in the middle frame with a power play goal.

 

Midway through the second period, Providence’s Dwayne Zinger checked the Sharks’ Riley Armstrong violently into the boards, and Brad Staubitz responded by engaging Zinger in a battle of fists that ended with fighting majors for both parties but an additional roughing call and 10-minute misconduct against Staubitz.  The ensuing Bruins power play resulted in another special teams tally for Kalus, this time as he deflected a slapshot from Mark Stuart past Greiss. 

 

The 5-0 advantage would hold into the third period, until Worcester finally solved Providence goaltending, which was now being carried out by Philippe Sauve.  Patrick Traverse found Mike Iggulden out in front of the net, and the Sharks’ second-leading goalscorer talled his 16^th of the year to narrow the deficit to 5-1.  Iggulden would strike again on an assist from Brady Leisenring with just over a minute remaining in regulation to produce the final score of 5-2 in favor of the Bruins.

 

Worcester’s four game homestand concludes on Friday night, February 2^nd, with a 7pm showdown against Bridgeport, with the Sharks looking to avenge a pair of early-season setbacks against the Sound Tigers.  The game will be televised on WCTR-TV 3 with Jamie Smock and Kevin Shea.  For more information on Sharks ticketing and promotions, visit the Sharks’ website at www.sharksahl.com or call the team office at (508) 929-0500.