The IceCats won Friday's contest versus the Pirates, with a score of 5-3, after trailing 2-0 early in the first period. The 'Cats didn't take the lead for good until Jarrett Deuling scored a power-play goal at 1:30 of the third period, and then netted the insurance when he scored his second of the game on an empty net with 2 seconds left in regulation. Derek Armstrong also scored two goals, including a beautiful wrap-around back-hander, which he lifted top-shelf past Portland goalie Ron Tugnut to tie the game 2-2 at 17:45 of the first period. Armstrong's second goal came on a partial break-away at 2:34 of the second period, and gave the IceCats their first lead, 3-2. Alex Vasilevskii scored the first goal for the 'Cats at 13:23 of the first period, assisted by Terry Virtue and Freddie Knipscheer. Goalie Jamie McLennan played a great first home game for the 'Cats, making several key saves on the penalty-kill to maintain the Worcester lead.
In Portland on Saturday night, the 'Cats came back from another 2-0 deficit to beat the Pirates 3-2 in overtime. Marquis Mathieu, a new addition to the Worcester line-up, and Derek Armstrong both scored in the third period to tie it up, and Sergei Kharin scored the game-winner in overtime. Goalie Mike Buzak was outstanding in net, and earned his 6th win of the season.
Unfortunately, the 'Cats just couldn't come back from the hole they slipped into in the first period of Sunday's game versus the Falcons. McLennan was replaced by Buzak in net after letting in 4 goals in the first period. The 'Cats held Springfield scoreless after that, and added 3 goals of their own (Knipscheer, Mathieu, and Virtue), but couldn't pull out a win.
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