Although the first period started off slow, with a lot of end to end skating and several penalties (including a nasty fight in which Worcester defenseman Jason Strudwick was ejected with a game misconduct), the IceCats opened the flood-gates about 15 minutes in with a power play goal by center Fred Knipscheer, assisted by left wing Dave Roberts and defenseman Christer Olsson. Knipscheer's goal came only five seconds into the Worcester power play, and was his 4th goal (and 6th point) in only six games with the IceCats (since being traded to St. Louis by the Boston Bruins). But the IceCats weren't done, scoring two more goals in the last five minutes of the period, leaving Baltimore goalie Mike O'Neill pretty well eviscerated and the rest of the Bandits utterly frustrated. Worcester left wing Craig Johnson scored his first goal as an IceCat just 53 seconds after Knipscheer's tally, assisted by defenseman Terry Virtue and center Craig Darby, while left wing Jarett Deuling added Worcester's third goal only 42 seconds later, with right wing Lindsay Vallis and defenseman Jason Widmer assisting.
At the start of the second period, the IceCats picked up right where they left off when right wing Partrice Tardif stuffed home a loose puck less than a minute in. The goal was assisted once again by Virtue, and was Worcester's second power play goal of the night. Unfortunately, a few minutes later a bench-side fight broke out, resulting in several penalties and another game misconduct for the IceCats, this time on Vallis (for being the 3rd man in the brawl). The Worcester penalty-kill played outstanding, though, protecting the Cats 4-0 lead. About 14 minutes in, however, the Bandits did convert on a power play when Baltimore left winger Steven King (how appropriate for Halloween) slapped a one-timer past Fichaud for their one and only goal of the night.
The third period, once again, was all Worcester. The IceCats were relentless, with Deuling scoring his 2nd goal of the game about a minute and a half in, assisted by - who else - Terry Virtue, and then returning the favor as he assisted Virtue for a goal just 4 minutes later. Fichaud maintained the IceCat's 6-1 lead throughout the remainder of the period with some phenomenal saves, and we can only hope that the New York Islanders (with whom Fichaud is signed) decide to keep him in Worcester for a majority of the season, where we can enjoy the skill he adds to this team. It's also rather nice to have several players (4 to be exact) tallying at least a point per game, and several others scoring real close to that pace. Although it's still early in the season, and the Cats are only now .500 after regaining ground from a disastrous road trip, it's a pretty safe bet that, come spring, the IceCats are going to charge into the AHL playoffs and could very well bring the Calder Cup home to Worcester.
The next IceCats game is Wednesday night (Nov. 1st) at the Centrum, the first of a home and home series against the Springfield Falcons. On Friday (Nov. 3rd), the Cats travel to Springfield to finish up that series before returning home Saturday night for a 7:35 face-off against the Providence Bruins.
Give feedback: newspeak@wpi.wpi.edu