WORCESTER - The Worcester Sharks and Providence Bruins met at the DCU Center with a chance for both teams to clinch a playoff spot by night’s end. Neither team ultimately claimed a guaranteed berth, but the Bruins headed home with a hard-fought 4-3 victory, scoring the final goal in a thrilling back and forth affair.

The first period was certainly an interesting one for the Sharks and probably one that Torrey Mitchell will not forget any time soon. At 11:34 of the period, Bruins forward T.J. Trevelyan was ejected on a vicious hit from behind on Mitchell. Mitchell briefly headed to the locker room and on his next shift he set up Craig Valette for the Sharks first tally of the night. Mitchell wasn’t done though. Upon celebrating the goal, he found himself in a fight with Petr Kalus. Mitchell handled himself well, but was also ejected for losing his shirt during the fight.

Providence scored the equalizer at 14:16 of the second period on David Krejci’s 31st of the season. The goal, set up by Walter, tied a Providence Bruins rookie scoring record previously owned by the late Sergei Zholtok and Josef Stumpel set during the 1992-93 season.

The P-Bruins held the edge in shots (21-13) through the second period. It seemed to pay off for the Bruins as they took a 2-1 lead into the second intermission. Sean Curry took the puck up ice and beat Greiss from atop the left face off circle for his fifth of the season to give Providence the lead after forty minutes.

Things heated up in the third period between both teams. With play furiously going back and forth, Riley Armstrong scored a huge goal for the Sharks, No. 19 of the year, at the 10:13 mark of the third period when he deflected home a blue line slapper from Patrick Traverse.

Eighteen seconds later, Marco Rosa took back the lead for the P-Bruins with a shot that squeaked through Greiss’ pads. The back-and-forth theme continued at the 13:34 mark, however, when Mathieu Darche foiled an attempted clearance and centered to linemate Mike Iggulden, whose 19th goal of the year tied the game again, this time at 3-3. Providence struck last with a decisive one-timer from Nate DiCasmirro, scooping a high-slot feed from Rosa past Greiss with just 3:02 remaining in the game. Worcester had one final chance to equalize as they were awarded a power play for the final 1:34. The Sharks managed three shots on net but failed to force overtime.

The combination of a regulation loss plus a Lowell win means that the Sharks have yet to clinch a playoff berth. Worcester still holds a one goal lead on Providence for third place in the Atlantic Division and can guarantee a postseason appearance by gaining a point in Manchester on Saturday.

Sunday’s season finale, a 4:00 contest against Lowell, is Fan Appreciation Night at the DCU Center. Arrive early and receive complimentary Sharks Thundersticks from Telegram and Gazette. Tickets for Sunday and for Sharks home playoff contests will be available via a special ticket onsale at the Sharks offices in the DCU Center from 10am – 2pm on Saturday. For more information, call the Sharks at (508) 929-0500.