For the second time in twenty hours the Worcester Railers took on the Adirondack Thunder at the DCU Center, and despite giving up a two-goal lead early in the second period they never faltered and scored the final four goals of the contest to send the Thunder home with a 7-3 loss for the first Railers winning streak of the season.
This game had all the earmarks of a Worcester loss when they fell behind early. The Railers hadn’t had a two-game winning streak all season, and many times this season just as it looked like they were starting to put it all together they’d have a clunker of a game. So when Shane Harper skated around Charlie Spetz and goaltender Colten Ellis and then beat both to the near post at 3:34 it would have been hard to blame the fans who thought “here we go again”.
Only on Sunday, the Railers looked like they weren’t going there.
It was the power play, which has been clicking as of late, that got Worcester back to even.
Four minutes later Cole Coskey almost had his knee taken out, took the number of the player responsible, and then gave the Railers the lead.
Later in the opening frame, Bobby Buther showed he’s still got a laser of a shot
Things were looking up for Worcester, but this season nothing has come easy, and 25-seconds later they were unable to clear the puck out of their zone and Sebastian Vidmar cut the Railers lead to 3-2. In the second period, Ellis misplayed the puck twice in quick succession and then didn’t secure his skate to the near post as Jake Hamilton jammed one home to make it 3-3. Once again, it would have been hard to blame the fans who thought “here we go again”.
And this time, the Railers decided they were absolutely not going there.
At 16:05 of the middle period, Brent Beaudoin unleashed a wicked wrist shot that beat Thunder netminder Mareks Mitens to the high glove side to give Worcester the lead back. Anthony Repaci fed Nolan Vesey into the zone, and Vesey’s cross-ice pass found Beaudoin all alone at the top of the right-wing circle. Beaudoin skated to the dot and fired the laser to make it 4-3.
The Railers got a bit of breathing room at 2:03 of the third period when Jacob Hayhurst picked off Joe Masonius’ clearing attempt. Hayhurst went right to the net and banked a shot off Newkirk’s stick and in to make it 5-3. Ross Olsson would make it a three-goal lead at 11:21 when Vesey fed him from deep in the left win corner to the top of the circle. Olsson’s wrister beat Mitens clean over the glove.
Captain Jordan Smotherman would erase any chance of a miracle comeback with a hard wrist shot at 14:58 to make it the 7-3 final.
GAME NOTES
Scratches for the Railers were Karl Boudrias (Commissioner’s Exempt List), Grant Jozefek (IR/upper body), Danny Katic, Chris Ordoobadi (Commissioner’s Exempt List), Devon Paliani, Luke Peressini, Ethan Price, and Matt Sredl (IR/unknown). Ken Appleby was the backup goaltender.
The Railers played with essentially the same lineup in all three games this weekend, subbing in Connor McCarthy for the injured Matt Sredl. With the quick turnaround for the posting, there isn’t a chance to look up if that’s happened much this season. It’s a good bet it hasn’t.
With his assist on Bobby Butler’s goal Colten Ellis now has two on the season, putting him one behind Evan Buitenhuis for the Railers single-season record for a goaltender. Three is also the Railers career mark, with Mitch Gillam having three helpers in his tenure with the club. The Worcester pro record is four, set by the IceCats Brent Johnson in 1998-99. Johnson also has the career mark as he and Alex Stalock are tied with seven.
If you watch enough hockey, eventually you’ll see everything that can happen. Like the time Matt Tennyson was called for playing with two sticks when neither was actually his stick and both were broken. Or the time that the WorSharks and Springfield Falcons were called for matching too many men on the ice minors; even though they both had too many they both had the same amount, so what was the problem? So add Sunday as another first: Adirondack forward Sebastian Vidmar was called for a helmet violation, not once, but twice in the first period. The first time was because he attempted to play the puck after his helmet was knocked off, which is a no-no now. The second happened later in the period when his chin strap was not fastened correctly. Newkirk’s first goal came on the first power play.
Got to talk for a few minutes with Worcester play-by-play man Cam McGuire about his Green Bay Packers losing Saturday night. Because of the Railers playing and his usual post-game duties he didn’t get a chance to see any of the game except for the final few minutes. It didn’t sound like he was too keen on checking out the highlights in the near future.
The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 18 Reece Newkirk
2. WOR – 16 Jacob Hayhurst
3. WOR – 24 Cole Coskey
The 210Sports Player of the Game was Brent Beaudoin.
Even Strength Lines
Vesey / Beaudoin / Repaci
Newkirk / Hayhurst / Coskey
Olsson / Coughlin / Smotherman
Butler
Spetz / Cullen
Albano / McCarthy
Furgele / McGurty
BOX SCORE
Adirondack 2 1 0 – 3
Worcester 3 1 3 – 7
1st Period-1, Adirondack, Harper 5 (Payne, Smith), 3:34. 2, Worcester, Newkirk 1 (Coskey, Cullen), 6:10 (PP). 3, Worcester, Coskey 4 (Hayhurst, Newkirk), 10:27. 4, Worcester, Butler 2 (Hayhurst, Ellis), 17:08. 5, Adirondack, Vidmar 4 (Harper), 17:33. Penalties-Vidmar Adk (helmet violation), 5:43; Vidmar Adk (helmet violation), 13:40; Newkirk Wor (interference), 14:11.
2nd Period-6, Adirondack, Hamilton 3 (McGrath), 6:10. 7, Worcester, Beaudoin 8 (Vesey, Repaci), 16:05. Penalties-Masonius Adk (roughing), 3:38; Newkirk Wor (slashing), 3:38.
3rd Period-8, Worcester, Newkirk 2 (Hayhurst), 2:03. 9, Worcester, Olsson 11 (Vesey, Beaudoin), 11:21. 10, Worcester, Smotherman 14 (Albano), 14:58. Penalties-McGurty Wor (hooking), 4:39; Vidmar Adk (high-sticking), 8:50.
Shots on Goal-Adirondack 7-4-10-21. Worcester 13-14-9-36.
Power Play Opportunities-Adirondack 0 / 2; Worcester 1 / 3.
Goalies-Adirondack, Mitens 7-6-1-0 (36 shots-29 saves). Worcester, Ellis 5-3-1-0 (21 shots-18 saves).
A-2,732
Referees-Matt Menniti (10).
Linesmen-Brent Colby (77), Sam Schildkraut (46).
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210Sports 