One of the two teams playing Sunday afternoon at the DCU Center took a six-hour bus ride to arrive in the city, and one played like they took a six-hour bus ride to arrive in the city. The big problem was it was the Maine Mariners that took that Saturday night bus ride, and it was the Worcester Railers who played like they did as the Railers did virtually nothing right for most of the game, falling behind by three goals before making a game of it and ultimately losing 3-2.
Maine’s first goal, scored by ex-Railers forward Jimmy Lambert at 2:27 of the opening period, was just one of those goals that seems to happen every so often. Maine did not complete a single pass cleanly on the rush, and yet the bouncing puck, which hit Worcester defender Artyom Kulakov on its way through the zone, somehow found its way to Lambert’s stick and he was able to push it into the empty net behind Tristan Lennox. It didn’t help that Kulakov’s defensive partner at the time, Ryan Verrier, was not in the video frame until long after the puck was in the net.
The Mariners made it 2-0 on a power play goal at 7:20. With Verrier in the box for a delay of game minor Maine passed the puck around the zone until it reached Gabriel Chicoine in the high slot. His hard wrister was deflected by Adam Mechura and past Lennox.
Chase Zieky made it 3-0 Mariners with an unassisted goal at 9:13 of the middle stanza after intercepting a Connor Welsh pass that didn’t appear to have an intended target.
It looked like Worcester was heading toward being shutout again when they couldn’t convert on a four-on-three power play late in the third, but once the teams made it to even strength Andrei Bakanov, who had stepped out of the penalty box moments before, got his team, on the board.
Railers head coach Jordan Smotherman pulled Lennox with a lot of time on the clock, and that gamble paid off when Anthony Callin made it 3-2 with Worcester’s third extra-attacker goal of the weekend at 16:40
But that was as close as the Railers would get as they dropped another winnable game.
GAME NOTES
Scratches for the Railers were John Copeland, Christian Krygier (IR/upper), Jack Quinlivan (IR/unknown), Anthony Repaci (IR/lower body), and Quinn Ryan. Henrik Tikkanen was the backup goaltender. It was the same lineup as Saturday night.
There was a huge scrum at 18:43 of the middle period after Andrei Bakanov blasted the puck past Maine netminder Brad Arvanitis on an offside play. The blame for the whole altercation, which saw Mariners forward Gabe Guertler ejected for being an aggressor in his fight with Ryan Verrier, can be laid at the feet of linesman Shane Kanaly, who was not yelling the play was offside before Bakanov touched the puck to tee it up for his shot.
As it’s the first time Maine and Worcester have played this season we’ll take a look at some roster and area connections. Goaltender Brad Arvanitis is from Holliston, MA, and attended Umass-Amherst for two seasons before transferring to Babson College for three more years. Fellow netminder Shane Starrett is also a Massachusetts native, hailing from Bellingham. Maine captain Connor Doherty is from Holden and played three seasons for the Railers and, as long as the Mariners and Worcester aren’t playing, is still considered a favorite son. Defender Adam Samuelsson, son of the hated Ulf Samuelsson, played seven games for Boston College before moving on to the USHL. For forwards, Austin Albrecht played one season for Umass-Amherst, Cameron Askew is from Boston, and Wyllum Deveaux spent five seasons at Harvard. Continuing, Tyler Drevitch is from Middleborough and attended Merrimack College for four years, Jimmy Lambert played 27 games for the Railers last season, and Reid Stefanson played four years for UMass-Lowell. For the Railers, Brendan Robbins played 54 games for the Maine Mariners in 2021-22, going 7-13-20.
As I expected, the scoring on the Railers’ 1st goal last night was changed from Todd Goehring to Anthony Callin. It now reads “1. WOR Callin, (2) (Goehring, Bakanov), 7:12.” Brendan Robbins’ empty net goal was originally unassisted, and that now is “3. WOR Robbins, (4) (Cosgrove), 19:40 (EN).”
It was the third game in a row the Railers had to contend with referee Dominic Cadieux, and it’s obvious the ECHL took note of his previous work in the city because while the pregame media sheet lists just Cadieux as the referee Casey Terreri was also on the ice to start the game as the second referee. Terreri spends most of his time in the AHL now and only occasionally works ECHL games. It wasn’t a long drive to Worcester from his previous game, which was Saturday night in Providence. His Friday drive from Syracuse to Providence was a tad longer.
It’s well known that this writer likes it when both teams wear dark jerseys, which thanks to the NFL is now referred to as a “color rush”. In the WorSharks days, it happened every Friday night the team was in Providence, with the Baby Bs wearing their yellow sweaters and Worcester in teal. Sunday night would have been the perfect combination as Maine was wearing their green jerseys, but the Railers went with their home whites instead of their alternate orange third jerseys. Railers COO Mike Myers also loves the color vs color matchups and was disappointed when I pointed out Worcester should have been in orange. Rest assured it will happen at some point this season.
The three stars of the game were:
1. MNE – 33 Brad Arvanitis
2. WOR – 44 Anthony Callin
3. MNE – 29 Chase Zieky
The 210Sports Player of the Game was Andrei Bakanov.
Even Strength Lines
Bakanov / Callin / Goehring
Howdeshell / Robbins / White
Jenkins / Pivonka / Calder
Piercy / Cipollone / X
Welsh / Cosgrove
Schultz / Verrier
Kulakov / Garat
Our affiliates last night
Bridgeport 3, Providence 1
In the ECHL’s North Division
Adirondack 3, Norfolk 1
BOX SCORE
Maine 2 1 0 – 3
Worcester 0 0 2 – 2
1st Period-1, Maine, Lambert 1 (Chicoine, Guertler), 2:27. 2, Maine, Mechura 3 (Chicoine, Kile), 7:20 (PP). Penalties-Welsh Wor (delay of game), 3:00; Verrier Wor (holding), 6:54; Deveaux Mne (tripping), 8:07; Drevitch Mne (holding), 19:30.
2nd Period-3, Maine, Zieky 1 9:13. Penalties-Samuelsson Mne (cross-checking), 11:29; Schultz Wor (hooking), 14:27; Guertler Mne (cross-checking, fighting – major, game misconduct – aggressor), 18:43; Bakanov Wor (unsportsmanlike conduct), 18:43; Verrier Wor (fighting – major), 18:43.
3rd Period-4, Worcester, Bakanov 3 (White, Callin), 6:24. 5, Worcester, Callin 3 (Cosgrove, Howdeshell), 16:40. Penalties-Albrecht Mne (roughing), 4:10; Bakanov Wor (roughing), 4:10; Lambert Mne (tripping), 4:19.
Shots on Goal-Maine 14-8-5-27. Worcester 14-11-11-36.
Power Play Opportunities-Maine 1 / 3; Worcester 0 / 4.
Goalies-Maine, Arvanitis 1-2-0-0 (36 shots-34 saves). Worcester, Lennox 4-3-1-0 (27 shots-24 saves).
A-3,312
Referees-Casey Terreri (14), Dominic Cadieux (3).
Linesmen-Shane Kanaly (74), Maxime Bedard (65).
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