The Worcester Railers began their 2023-24 regular season Saturday night at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts against the Adirondack Thunder and scored three goals in the opening 8:21 of play, only to watch as that lead slowly slipped away before two empty net goals sealed the 5-2 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 6,081. Christian Krygier, Jake Pivonka, and Aston Calder each had a goal and an assist while Henrik Tikkanen made 32 saves in net.
The DCU Center was loud early on Saturday, with the only silence in the building coming during the national anthem as fans were looking to put last season’s playoff-run collapse behind them and anticipating a big start from the new-look Railers. It took 3:06 of play for it to get even louder as a Pivonka pass sent Quin Ryan in all alone for Worcester’s second shot of the game and a quick 1-0 lead.
Fans were hardly settled into their seats from celebrating the Ryan tally when they jumped up again 28 seconds later after Calder tipped in a nice centering feed from Blade Jenkins. Newly named captain Anthony Repaci had the secondary assist on the play.
They say there’s nothing worse than a two-goal lead in hockey, as if leading by two goals is somehow bad in and of itself, but at 8:21 Krygier took care of that when his centering feed looked to hit a Thunder defenseman and deflected into the net to make it 3-0. Calder and Zsombor Garat had the helpers.
Ryan Smith would stop the bleeding for the Thunder with an unassisted goal at 17:08 after converting off a turnover by Railers blueliner Ryan Verrier, and Adirondack would have the only goal of the middle period when a Repaci power play slapshot was blocked by Matt Stief, sending Patrick Grasso on a three-zone shorthanded breakaway at 13:39.
It stayed that 3-2 score until deep into the third period, with some timely saves by Tikkanen keeping the Worcester lead intact. A Pivonka empty net goal, assisted by Brendan Robbins, gave the Railers a little breathing room at 19:18.
For only the second time in franchise history, the Railers would light the lamp twice into an empty net twice, with Repaci hitting the yawning net with 9.8 seconds remaining. Krygier grabbed the helper for his second point of the game,
The Railers are now undefeated in all six of their home openers, outscoring their opponents 25-14. The win puts Worcester at 38-24-2-0 all-time against Adirondack, going 18-10-1-0 at the DCU Center.
GAME NOTES
Scratches for the Railers were Andrei Bakanov, John Copeland, Adam Goodsir, Artyom Kulakov, and Jack Quinlivan (IR/unknown). Tristan Lennox, who was celebrating his 21st birthday, was the backup goaltender.
Adirondack assistant coach Mike Bergin was at the helm for the Thunder in place of head coach Pete MacArthur, who didn’t make the weekend trip to Worcester and Maine after taking a puck to the head at practice on Tuesday. He was advised not to travel as a precaution and will hopefully be back to normal soon.
As we always do when the Railers face an opponent for the first time in a season, we’ll take a look at some of the roster and area connections between Worcester and the Adirondack Thunder. For Adirondack, defenseman Colin Felix spent four seasons at UMass-Amherst, winning the NCAA championship as the alternate captain in 2020-21. Fellow blueliner Brendan Less played six games for the Railers in 2021-22, notching an assist and a minus-2 rating. Forward Grant Jozefek has also spent some time on a Worcester roster, playing 14 games in 2021-22 with the Railers, going 1-3-4. He also spent four seasons with Northeastern University. Forward Zach Walker played for seasons for Boston College, and last, but not least, former Railers fan-favorite Yanick Turcotte once again dons the red and black of Adirondack this season. There are no connections to Adirondack on the Railers roster.
Something new that we’re going to do, at least as long as we remember to, is also list the average stats between Worcester and their opponent the first time they play each other. According to Elite Prospects, the Railers’ average height is 6’1″ (185.21 cm), which is tenth in the ECHL. Adirondack is 6’0″ (183.96 cm), tied for 19th. Worcester’s average weight is 193 lbs (87.67 kg), eighth in the league, versus 191 lbs (86.68 kg) for the 18th-ranked Thunder. Adirondack is the ninth oldest team in the league at 25.60 years, and the Railers are the fourth youngest in the ECHL at 24.5 years old.
Twice now we’ve called the Thunder a “new opponent”, and for this season they are, but Worcester fans are probably already tired of seeing their North Division rivals having played them nine of the last eleven games going back to last season. And, inexplicably, it gets worse as after Sunday’s game at the DCU Center against Trois-Rivières Lions and a mid-week trip south to Norfolk to take on the Admirals the Railers and Thunder will then meet three consecutive times in the DC Center.
One of the Railers’ last cuts was forward Blake Christensen, who was then subsequently picked up off of waivers by the Newfoundland Growlers. While there has been absolutely no hint he won’t report, many of the Worcester faithful are guessing he might choose not to and head over to Europe instead of playing on The Rock. Transactions through Saturday have been silent on the issue, which considering travel to and from St. John’s wouldn’t be out of the ordinary, but it’s just something to watch. Another thing to watch is last season’s leading scorer for the Railers, Brent Beaudoin, has been released by HK Poprad (Slovakia) and is a free agent. Worcester issued him a qualifying offer, so they hold his ECHL playing rights. Again, there’s been no hint of his return.
The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 39 Henrik Tikkanen
2. WOR – 9 Quinn Ryan
3. WOR – 44 Anthony Callin
The 210Sports Player of the Game was Christian Krygier.
Even Strength Lines
Calder / Jankins / Repaci
White / Robbins / Howdeshell
Piercey / Ryan / Pivonka
X / Cipollone / Callin
Krygier / Garat
Verrier / Schultz
Welsh / Cosgrove
Our affiliates last night
Buffalo 3, NY Islanders 1
Bridgeport 2, Utica 1 (OT)
In the ECHL’s North Division
@Newfoundland 4, Reading 1
Trois-Rivières 6, @Maine 4
@Greenville 3, Norfolk 2
North Division Standings
Team points (points percentage)
Newfoundland 4 (1.000)
Trois-Rivières 4 (1.000)
Worcester 2 (1.000)
Norfolk 1 (.250)
Adirondack 0 (.000)
Maine 0 (.000)
Reading 0 (.000)
BOX SCORE
Adirondack 1 1 0 – 2
Worcester 3 0 2 – 5
1st Period-1, Worcester, Ryan 1 (Pivonka), 3:06. 2, Worcester, Calder 1 (Jenkins, Repaci), 3:34. 3, Worcester, Krygier 1 (Calder, Garat), 8:21. 4, Adirondack, Smith 1 17:08. Penalties-Friedmann Adk (tripping), 12:17.
2nd Period-5, Adirondack, Grasso 1 13:39 (SH). Penalties-Pivonka Wor (elbowing), 3:51; Piercey Wor (tripping), 9:45; Orgel Adk (high-sticking), 12:35; Pivonka Wor (slashing), 14:23; Verrier Wor (tripping), 18:32.
3rd Period-6, Worcester, Pivonka 1 (Robbins), 19:18 (EN). 7, Worcester, Repaci 1 (Krygier), 19:50 (EN). Penalties-Krygier Wor (holding), 11:44; Isley Adk (slashing), 11:47.
Shots on Goal-Adirondack 11-10-13-34. Worcester 7-13-9-29.
Power Play Opportunities-Adirondack 0 / 5; Worcester 0 / 3.
Goalies-Adirondack, Brennan 0-1-0-0 (27 shots-24 saves). Worcester, Tikkanen 1-0-0-0 (34 shots-32 saves).
A-6,081
Referees-Steven Sailor (5).
Linesmen-Antoine Bujold-Roux (72), Sam Schildkraut (46).
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