By Chris Del Vecchio

WORCESTER, MA – Back at home on Friday for the first time in three weeks, the Worcester Sharks fell to the Portland Pirates by a score of 5-3 in front of a solid Friday night crowd of 5,295 which included the 100,000th fan to pass through the DCU Center turnstiles in Sharks franchise history.

The Sharks’ shorthanded unit came up big in the opening five minutes, killing off two successive penalties including a brief 5-on-3 disadvantage. Portland would open the scoring shortly after, however, with an even-strength tally from defenseman Kent Huskins. The Portland captain picked up his third goal of the year, beating Dimitri Patzold with a mid-range wrist shot to cap off a feed from winger Mark Hartigan.

Worcester struck back just over four minutes later to capitalize on their first power play opportunity of the evening. With Pirate Geoff Peters in the box for hooking, Mathieu Darche fed the puck behind the net to Graham Mink, who found Mike Iggulden free in front of the Portland cage. Iggulden netted his 20th goal and 33rd point of the year as he beat Sebastien Caron to tie the game. The 1-1 count would hold through the remainder of the period.

Just 19 seconds into the middle period the Sharks were handed a golden opportunity to take the lead when the Portland goalscorer Kent Huskins was sent to the box for a major high-sticking infraction, giving the Sharks a five minute power play. Caron was up to the challenge, however, and the Pirates netminder saved nine Worcester shots on net over the five minute stretch to keep the game tied. Boosted by the defensive effort, redliner Joe Motzko gave Portland the lead once again, picking up his team best 45th point of the season with a casual wrister from just inside the Sharks zone at 9:40 of the second period.

Portland’s lead didn’t last long, as Worcester bounced back again. Graham Mink took a feed from Tom Cavanagh and after his initial effort was poked away by Caron, Mink tracked down the puck and swung it into the vacated net, tying the score at 2-2 heading into the final period.

With the Sharks just a single second away from killing off a roughing minor assessed to Garret Stafford after time expired in the second, Portland took a one goal lead for the third time in the game. Geoff Peters was the beneficiary of a convenient rebound after a long-range shot from Aaron Rome, and he tucked the puck inside the near post at the 1:59 mark of the third period. Moments later and also for the third time in the game, Worcester struck back to tie the score. Riley Armstrong attacked the net, holding off a Pirate defender and stickhandling around Caron before scoring his fifteenth goal of the campaign.

Portland continued the see-saw theme when, less than two minutes later, Joe Motzko repeated his earlier performance by beating the Sharks’ Patzold with a wrist shot from between the circles with just 7:26 remaining in the game. In the final minute and with the Worcester net empty in favor of an extra attacker, a deflected puck fell to the stick of the Sharks’ Josh Prudden just beyond the Portland goal mouth but the glove of a sprawling Caron covered the point-blank try and preserved the victory for the Pirates. Portland’s Simon Ferguson added an empty-netter at 19:47 to produce the 5-3 final.

The Sharks head to Manchester on Saturday for a 7:35 pm contest with the Atlantic Division leading Monarchs before hosting the AHL’s top team, the Norfolk Admirals, in a rare 7:00 pm Sunday evening affair at the DCU Center. The Sharks split a pair of matchups in Norfolk earlier this season, snapping the Admirals’ 16-game point streak on home ice in the process. For more information on Sharks ticketing and promotions including a family fun pack offer for Sunday’s home contest (4 tickets, 4 sodas, 4 hot dogs or popcorn for just $13 per person), call the Sharks office at 508-929-0500 or visit www.sharksahl.com .