GLENS FALLS – They say the most important thing in comedy is timing, and it turns out the same can be said about hockey as once again the Worcester Railers scored a timely goal to secure a point and then got a Todd Goehring goal in overtime to defeat the Adirondack Thunder 4-3 at the Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls, New York. The victory moved the Railers back to .500 on the season.
The game showed Worcester has come a long way since their regular season opener against these same Thunder, but it also showed they have just as far to go to be considered a legitimate Kelly Cup contender. One of the things the Railers need to learn how to do is to stop giving up goals right after they scored one for themselves. They did it twice on Friday night, and that’s usually a recipe for a loss.
In what was a pretty even opening stanza between the clubs it was Worcester who got on the board first when Zach White took a nice feed from Brendan Robbins and flipped it past Thunder netminder Vinnie Purpura.
That 1-0 leaded last just 17 seconds as Adirondack defender Colin Felix blasted one past the waving glove hand of Railers goaltender Henrik Tikkanen. To be blunt, this is a save that Tikkanen absolutely has to make.
The Thunder had the only goal of the middle frame, a power play strike by Yushiroh Hirano, to lead 2-1 after 40 minutes.
About halfway through the third period, after Worcester had had lots of zone time but no legitimate scoring chances, Ashton Calder knotted the game 2-2 with a nice deflection of Trevor Cosgrove’s shot from the high slot.
The tie would last for 39 seconds when Ryan Orgel’s shot from the point hit Walsh and deflected past a screened Tikkanen. The Finnish netminder had no chance on that one.
With time winding down Railers head coach Jordan Smotherman pulled Tikkanen for an extra attacker, and for the fourth time in the last couple weeks Worcester struck during the six on five play for the game tying goal when Cosgrove’s seeing eye shot found its way into the back of the net.
After letting pretty much everything short of attempted murder go in the game referee Evan Reddick thought 18:58 of the final period in a tie game was a good time to call a ticky-tack high stick on Zsombor Garat. The Thunder power play extended into overtime, but Worcester’s penalty kill was up to the task.
Once play returned to the usual three on three the Railers would get just a single shot on goal in the extra stanza, and as it turns out, one was all they needed.
We’re in Bill Ballou territory here again, but it’s likely that Todd Goehring is the first Worcester pro player to have his first goal with the team be an overtime game winner. More on that later.
The two teams face off again Saturday night, with a 7pm puck drop.
GAME NOTES
Scratches for the Railers were Christian Krygier (IR/upper), Jack Quinlivan (IR/unknown), Anthony Repaci (IR/lower body), Quin Ryan, and Jake Schultz. Triston Lennox was the backup goaltender.
One should never trust my math, but Worcester is playing one player under the ECHL limit. Teams can have 20 players on their active roster and two on their reserve list, for a total of 22. Players on injured reserve do not count against that total. The Railers currently have 24 players listed, with three on Injured Reserve. Twenty-four minus those three IR players is 21, and while it’s been a while since this writer was in school 21 is still generally considered less than 22.
Every player has their own pregame rituals which, as Railers’ fans found out at a recent Booster Club meeting, run the gamut of Jake Schultz not really doing anything particular to get ready for the game to Blade Jenkins having a laundry list of things he needs to do to prepare to take the ice. One of Worcester forward Zach White’s little idiosyncrasies is he likes to be the last one off the ice after warm-ups. The problem is many players like to do that. So, what happens when two players both want to be last? Well, they settle it with a quick game of Rochambeau. Friday night White squared off in a cross-ice matchup with Thunder defender Ryan Wheeler. This writer couldn’t see what each player threw, but Wheeler was the victor as both left the ice, White first, laughing.
Speaking of the Booster Club, many fans made the trek from Worcester to Glens Falls but with it being right after Thanksgiving the Club didn’t make it an official trip/meet-up. Because of issues over the summer from a handful of unreasonable people, it was decided that any group tickets bought for this weekend wouldn’t use the Booster Club’s name. And that is how “The Tom Foley Fan Club” was born. What made it even better is Adirondack Thunder PA announcer Dan Miner seemed to get the joke, changing his cadence to make the group’s announcement more humorous. Foley took the good-natured ribbing well, joining some fans for a postgame gathering at the Queensbury Hotel.
The internet connection, both wi-fi and cellular, at the Cool Insuring Arena might be the worst in the ECHL. When you consider how bad it usually is at the DCU Center, that’s saying something.
The three stars of the game were:
1. WOR – 23 Todd Goehring
2. ADK – 12 Ryan Orgel
3. WOR – 10 Trevor Cosgrove
The 210Sports Player of the Game was Ashton Calder.
Even Strength Lines
Bakanov / Callin / Goehring
Jenkins / Robbins / White
Howdeshell / Pivonka / Calder
Piercey / Cipollone / X
Welsh / Cosgrove
Verrier / Copeland
Kulakov / Garat
Our affiliates last night
NY Islanders 5, Ottawa 3
In the ECHL’s North Division
Utah 6, Newfoundland 3
Reading 4, Maine 3
Trois-Rivières 5, Norfolk 3
BOX SCORE
Worcester 1 0 2 1 – 4
Adirondack 1 1 1 0 – 3
1st Period-1, Worcester, White 3 (Robbins, Jenkins), 14:59. 2, Adirondack, Felix 2 (Harper, Smith), 15:16. Penalties-No Penalties
2nd Period-3, Adirondack, Hirano 5 (Vilén, Harper), 19:09 (PP). Penalties-Orgel Adk (slashing), 5:32; Broughman Adk (hooking), 10:07; Piercey Wor (tripping), 18:15.
3rd Period-4, Worcester, Calder 7 (Cosgrove, Pivonka), 9:09. 5, Adirondack, Orgel 2 (Jeffers, Ashbrook), 9:48. 6, Worcester, Cosgrove 2 (Welsh, Callin), 18:48 (EN). Penalties-Garat Wor (high-sticking), 18:58.
1st OT Period-7, Worcester, Goehring 1 (Calder, Cosgrove), 3:17. Penalties-No Penalties
Shots on Goal-Worcester 10-8-7-1-26. Adirondack 11-6-7-1-25.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0 / 2; Adirondack 1 / 2.
Goalies-Worcester, Tikkanen 2-3-1-1 (25 shots-22 saves). Adirondack, Purpura 2-1-2-0 (25 shots-22 saves).
A-4,280
Referees-Evan Reddick (21).
Linesmen-Trevor Waite (73), Antoine Bujold-Roux (72).
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