By Chris Del Vecchio

WORCESTER, MA – Coming off a road win against Atlantic Division leading Manchester but playing without their top scorer Mathieu Darche, the Sharks found enough offense to pull out a gutsy, 4-3 home ice victory over the AHL’s top team, the Norfolk Admirals.

For the second time in as many nights, veteran Graham Mink got the opening goal of the game to put Worcester out in front early. Tom Cavanagh won the puck on an aggressive forecheck in the Admirals’ defensive zone and fed it to Mink, who beat Norfolk goaltender Corey Crawford to the near stick side at the 5:10 mark of the first period.

Chaos broke out seven minutes later when Admirals defenseman Bruno St Jacques was checked by Worcester’s Mike Iggulden while skating aloofly through neutral ice. The ensuing brawl involved all ten skaters and resulted in 24 combined penalty minutes, including a 10 minute misconduct assessed to Norfolk’s Adam Burish. The remainder of the period was played scoreless and penalty-free, and Worcester carried a 1-0 advantage into the first intermission.

Just 37 seconds into the middle frame, Sharks netminder Thomas Greiss misplayed an Admirals dump-in, allowing Norfolk winger Carl Corazzini to bank the puck from behind the goal line, off the right pad of Greiss, and into the net. With the game now tied at 1-1, Worcester bounced back and capitalized on a similar mistake by Crawford. The Admirals stopper left his crease and played a clearance directly to Iggulden, who began a rapid series of shots that ended when Ashton Rome struck twine to give Worcester a 2-1 lead.

Skating with momentum, Riley Armstrong led a rush up the left win and into the Norfolk zone. After drawing Crawford’s attention, Armstrong sent a crisp pass to Grant Stevenson in the right circle, and Stevenson’s one-timer beat Crawford’s glove to the near post at 9:07 of the second stanza.

The Sharks continued to capitalize on blue line miscues by the Admirals, as Iggulden intercepted a lazy pass across the defensive zone by the Admirals’ defense and quickly beat Crawford with a high wrister. The unassisted tally was the third goal in three games and 22nd goal of the year from the centerman, matching his full season total from last year and opening up an intimidating 4-1 advantage for Worcester.

Norfolk bounced back early in the third while the teams were skating 4-on-4. Using a feed from Danny Richmond, David Bolland laid a fancy move on Greiss and tucked the puck neatly between the pipes to narrow the Worcester lead to 4-2. Richmond, 3rd among AHL defensemen in scoring, was on the ice again three minutes later to help Bolland dig the puck out of the corner, allowing Bolland to find teammate and Admirals leading scorer Troy Brower open at the right point. Brower’s slapshot found its way through traffic and went untouched until it found the netting inside the far post.

With the margin narrowed to 4-3, the Sharks stepped up their defensive efforts. Greiss made nine saves including a pair of point-blank denials, and Brennan Evans forced Bolland to shoot wide of an open net with less than a minute remaining to preserve the victory.

Tonight’s contest was the first of five consecutive home games for the Sharks, as they close out their season with 15 of their final 23 games being played at the DCU Center. Worcester continues the homestand on Wednesday night at 7:00 pm against the Springfield Falcons, with free massages available on the concourse courtesy of the Salter School for Massage Therapy. A critical matchup with division rival Providence follows on Friday, March 2nd. Puck drop for Friday’s game is 8pm, following the Special Olympics Opening Ceremonies which will be held at the DCU Center earlier in the evening. For more information on Sharks ticketing and promotions, call the Sharks office at 508-929-0500 or visit www.sharksahl.com.