The Worcester Railers took on the Allen Americans Wednesday night at the DCU Center in their final home game before the holiday break, and after falling behind 5-1 in the third came roaring back with three goals but couldn’t get the equalizer as they dropped the contest 5-4.
Jordan Samuels-Thomas and Kyle Thomas both had a goal and two assists for the Railers, while Ryan MacKinnon added two helpers. Despite allowing five goals goaltender Evan Buitenhuis was nothing short of incredible, making several highlight saves.
This writer was at the game, or at least for most of it as yesterday’s snow has caused havoc with my work schedule, but with the flurry of goals and other assorted tidbits just too much to post in the time available we’ll lean on the Railers and link to their game story.
Over at the Telegram, Bill Ballou has his usual excellent article.
If anything from the Allen side pops up in the next few hours I’ll likely add that to the post.
The Railers return to action Friday and Saturday in Brampton. Friday is a 7:15pm puck drop, Saturday is an afternoon contest with a 4pm scheduled starting time.
GAME NOTES
Scratches for the Railers were JD Dudek (lower), Ivan Chukarov, Anthony Florentino, Cody Payne, and Tanner Pond (14-day IR/upper). Ian Milosz was once again the back-up goaltender.
Last weekend the Worcester Railers Booster Club’s annual Christmas ornament raffle was held, where club members design and hand painted ornaments that are then signed by the players. The team usually donates another signed item to also be raffled off, but this year it was photographer Rich LeBlanc who donated a signed and framed Barry Almeida photo. In total, the raffle raised $725 for The Worcester Junior Railers Mike Ellsessar Scholarship Fund. As is almost always the case, Booster Club President Rich Lundin announced the amount would be rounded up to $800.
As an extra bonus, the Booster Club has placed some ornaments up for auction on eBay, which end Sunday night. Clicking on each player’s name will open a new tab/window and bring you to their ornament page.
Barry Almeida
Ryan MacKinnon
Ross Olsson
David Quenneville
Yanick Turcotte
Also this past weekend the Railers held a “Teddy Bear Toss” night, and with the final numbers in Community Relations Manager Paul Harris posted in the “Railers Fans” Facebook group that there was a total of 1,187 stuffed animals collected at the game. They were donated to the Friendly House and Project Smile on Tuesday.
In another bit of charity news, recently the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and their booster club held a fundraiser to benefit the Menard Children’s Fund. Worcester fire Lieutenant Jason Menard, who died November 13 after making heroic efforts to search for victims trapped inside a burning building on Stockholm Street after saving the lives of two of his fellow firefighters, left behind a wife and three children. This past weekend Bridgeport Booster Club President Brian Jennings, his wife Nancy (in BST jersey), and Sound Tigers Group Sales Representative Sarah Rodrigues (on far right) gave Worcester Booster Club President Rich Lundin a check for $1000 for the fund.
The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 37 Jordan Samuels-Thomas
2. ALN – 7 Alex Breton
3. WOR – 24 Kyle Thomas
The 210Sports Player of the Game was Evan Buitenhuis.
Even Strength Lines
Samuels-Thomas / Pierog / Thomas
Almeida / Walsh / Salituro
Olsson / Callin / Brauer
Turcotte
Doherty / Quenneville
Murray / MacKinnon
Stander / Mackenzie
BOX SCORE
Allen 1 2 2 – 5
Worcester 0 1 3 – 4
1st Period-1, Allen, Sadek 3 (Sheehy, Breton), 19:46 (PP). Penalties-Fraser Aln (roughing), 7:37; Almeida Wor (hooking), 14:57; Doherty Wor (elbowing), 18:09.
2nd Period-2, Allen, VanWormer 9 (Falkovsky, Durocher), 14:08. 3, Allen, Breton 4 (Durocher, Campbell), 17:52. 4, Worcester, Samuels-Thomas 11 (MacKinnon, Thomas), 19:09. Penalties-Falkovsky Aln (boarding), 11:02; Ottenbreit Aln (cross-checking), 12:43; Salituro Wor (slashing), 12:43; Breton Aln (high-sticking), 15:43.
3rd Period-5, Allen, Topping 8 (Sheehy, Pollock), 5:24 (PP). 6, Allen, Fraser 3 (Guptill), 6:17. 7, Worcester, Thomas 7 (Samuels-Thomas, MacKinnon), 7:18 (SH). 8, Worcester, Almeida 6 (Samuels-Thomas, Thomas), 14:14 (PP). 9, Worcester, Walsh 4 (Salituro, Murray), 14:54. Penalties-Salituro Wor (hooking), 4:13; Pierog Wor (tripping), 7:02; Falkovsky Aln (delay of game), 12:18.
Shots on Goal-Allen 9-8-6-23. Worcester 9-19-15-43.
Power Play Opportunities-Allen 2 / 4; Worcester 1 / 4.
Goalies-Allen, Paterson 10-2-2-0 (43 shots-39 saves). Worcester, Buitenhuis 4-8-0-0 (23 shots-18 saves).
A-2,002
Referees-Alex Garon (9).
Linesmen-Nathan Frechette (49), Shane Kanaly (74).
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210Sports 