The Worcester Railers took on the Kansas City Mavericks Wednesday morning at the DCU Center in their annual “School Day” game and made a lot of mistakes, and once again got a failing grade against a good team in a 4-1 loss.
As he has in many games Tristan Lennox comes up big when he’s needed to, and one of those cases was early on in the game.
Kansas City got on the board at 5:28 of the opening period when Patrick Curry picked up a loose puck and with neither defender registering he was about to shoot fired a hard shot on Lennox. The puck broke through and slowly rolled toward the goal line where Justin Nachbaur banged the puck into the net with the four Worcester players in the video frame all standing flat-footed.
As this writer says often, a soft goal after a highlight save wastes that highlight save.
Almost exactly halfway through the game, Brendan Robbins knotted the score 1-1 when he converted off a KC turnover.
One of the cardinal sins of hockey is to give a goal up in the first or last minute of a period, and has happened on occasion Worcester did just that in the second frame when the Railers’ defense completely misplayed a KC rush, allowing David Cotton to break in alone on Lennox.
The good news is they didn’t break that rule to start the third period. The bad news is they may as well have as Nolan Walker beat Lennox high to the glove side just 1:15 into the period. Former Railers forward Cole Coskey tacked on an empty net goal for the 4-1 final.
GAME NOTES
Scratches for the Railers were Joey Cipollone, Christian Krygier (IR/upper), Jack Quinlivan (IR/unknown), Quin Ryan, and Jake Schultz. Henrik Tikkanen was the backup goaltender. Before the game Repaci was activated from injured reserve, taking up the extra roster spot Worcester had not been using.
There was one fight, such as it was, in the contest when former Railers forward Jacob Hayhurst took exception to a hit by Zach White. As can be seen by the video provided by KJC, it’s hardly much of a fight.
With it being the first time this season the clubs met, we’ll look at some area and roster connections between the teams. Kansas City defender Jared Brandt played 65 games for Worcester the past two seasons, going 3-12-15 with a plus-6 rating. Fellow blueliner Jake McLaughlin spent four seasons at UMass-Amherst. Forward Casey Carreau is from Acushnet, MA and spent four seasons at Boston College. David Cotton also spent four seasons at BC, and Patrick Curry played four years at Boston University. Cole Coskey played 35 games for the Railers in 2021-22, going 10-23-33 while splitting time with Bridgeport. Jacob Hayhurst spent parts of the last two seasons in Worcester, going 25-45-70 in 90 games. For the Railers, Keeghan Howdeshell spent 63 games over two seasons with the Mavericks, going 13-20-33. Brendan Robbins played 33 games for the Mavericks, going 1-0-1.
The three stars of the game were:
1. KC – 32 Justin Nachbaur
2. KC – 13 David Cotton
3. WOR – 15 Brendan Robbins
The 210Sports Player of the Game was Andrei Bakanov.
Even Strength Lines
Bakanov / Callin / Goehring
Jenkins / Robbins / White
Repaci / Pivonka / Calder
Piercey / X / Howdeshell
Welsh / Cosgrove
Verrier / Copeland
Kulakov / Garat
Our affiliates last night
New Jersey 5, NY Islanders 4
In the ECHL’s North Division
No games
BOX SCORE
Kansas City 1 1 2 – 4
Worcester 0 1 0 – 1
1st Period-1, Kansas City, Nachbaur 3 (Curry, Hayhurst), 5:28. Penalties-served by Goehring Wor (bench – too many men), 2:13.
2nd Period-2, Worcester, Robbins 5 10:03. 3, Kansas City, Cotton 1 (Jaremko, Calvas), 19:39. Penalties-Andreev Kc (hooking), 7:36; Piercey Wor (tripping), 11:45; Hayhurst Kc (fighting – major), 18:36; White Wor (fighting – major), 18:36.
3rd Period-4, Kansas City, Walker 7 (Schoonbaert, Nachbaur), 1:15. 5, Kansas City, Coskey 10 (Andreev), 17:42 (EN). Penalties-Welsh Wor (tripping), 2:55; Jones Kc (roughing), 8:44; Callin Wor (slashing), 8:44; Duquette Kc (interference), 19:03.
Shots on Goal-Kansas City 12-11-9-32. Worcester 10-8-5-23.
Power Play Opportunities-Kansas City 0 / 3; Worcester 0 / 2.
Goalies-Kansas City, LaFontaine 5-1-0-0 (20 shots-19 saves); Morris 6-2-0-0 (3 shots-3 saves). Worcester, Lennox 5-4-1-0 (31 shots-28 saves).
A-4,730
Referees-Trevor Wohlford (38).
Linesmen-Sam Schildkraut (46), Conor Foley (86).
—
Do something you loved (or hated) about the post? Head on over to the 210Sports Facebook page and leave a comment. You could comment on this post too, but fair warning, the spam filter catches lots of stuff it shouldn’t and it might be weeks before we see your comment. While you’re there, please give the page a like and a follow.
-30-
210Sports 