If you hang around this writer long enough you will hear him say that it’s better to win a game and look terrible than to lose it looking great. The Worcester Railers looked terrible for most of Friday night’s 6-3 win over Norfolk, getting outshot 36-21 and being outplayed for huge portions of the 60-minute contest, but two goals from captain Anthony Repaci and multiple-point nights from four others, and along with 33 saves from Ken Appleby, Worcester still managed to put the game into the win column.
Many times this season the Railers have allowed a goal on the first shot they faced, and with turnabout being fair play it was Worcester’s turn to light the lamp on their first bid when Andrei Bakanov converted on a nice feed from Brian Bowen.
It was Bowen’s first point for Worcester since March 2, 2018, a 5-0 Railers win over Wheeling. We’ll have to consult with Bill Ballou to see if 2,157 days between points is a city record.
Mark Liwiski tied it 1-1 at 4:45 of the first when he wheeled the net and jammed one home past Appleby. You could almost see the rust trailing behind Appleby as he moved across the crease to cover the near post, but that’s no excuse for the veteran netminder, and even he’d tell you that’s a save he needs to make.
Repaci would grab his first of two in the game at 9:56 to put his team back out in front 2-1. As we’ve mentioned before high sticks are not reviewable in the ECHL, and in this case, that’s a good thing for the Railers as this was absolutely a high stick.
Early in the second Repaci would make it 3-1 at 1:20 by doing something the Railers don’t do enough of as he just threw the puck on the net hoping for something good to happen. And, oddly enough, something good happened as Norfolk goaltender Yaniv Perets misplayed it and the puck ended up in the back of the net.
That would be all for Perets as Admirals head coach Jeff Carr would pull him in favor of Kristian Stead. That worked out about as well as it could for Norfolk as Brandon Osmundson scored at 3:05 to make it 3-2, and then 12 seconds after referee Hunter Mottinger called Keeghan Howdeshell for a weak holding penalty Danny Katic tied it 3-3 at 6:41. Osmundson’s goal was pretty solid, Katic’s was not.
Worcester would get two power play chances soon after the Katic goal, the first being an obvious make-up call by Referee Mottinger, and would convert on both of them to make it 5-3 after two periods.
The first power play goal came at 8:19 when Zack White deflected a hard pass by Howdeshell.
Forty-two seconds later Daylan Kuefler made it 5-3 when he picked up a loose puck at the far post and banged it home.
From there Appleby and the Railers hung on for dear life, including essentially running six minutes off the clock while on power plays until Trevor Cosgrove sealed the deal with a 175-foot empty-net goal with just under two seconds remaining in regulation.
The two teams will meet again on Saturday night in the final regular season match-up between the squads.
GAME NOTES
Scratches for the Railers were John Copeland (IR/unknown), Ryan Dickinson, Todd Goehring (IR/unknown), Christian Krygier (IR/upper body), Tristan Lennox (IR/lower body), Jake Pivonka (unknown injury). John Muse was the backup goaltender.
Thursday Trevor Cosgrove was loaned back to the Railers by Bridgeport, which was expected as the defenseman had been a healthy scratch for several games for the AHL Islanders. In a move that was a little bit surprising, Daylan Kuefler was assigned back to the Railers by the New York Islanders. Kuefler’s original stay here was because he was injured in training camp, so his ECHL stint was essentially a conditioning loan. His coming back raised a few eyebrows. The third transaction was the most shocking of all as goaltender Ken Appleby, fresh off an NHL stint, was assigned to Worcester by the NHL Islanders. With three netminders on the roster, the Railers sent Josh Boyko to the Atlanta Gladiators. Some online sites say the trade was for future considerations, but the Railers confirmed it was for cash.
With his start Saturday Appleby became the first Railers player to appear in the ECHL, AHL, and NHL in the same season. He’s not the first Worcester player to accomplish that feat as IceCats goaltender Cody Rudkowsky did it during the 2002-2003 season. Rudkowsky became the first goaltender to ever win a game in all three leagues in the same season with wins for the St. Louis Blues (NHL), IceCats (AHL), and Trenton Titans (ECHL). This is the second consecutive Railers post to mention Rudkowsky, a record for this writer. Appleby also became the first Railers goaltender to play in three different seasons.
John Boyko lost all three of his starts with the Railers and leaves Worcester with the unwanted record of most starts by a goaltender in the city’s pro hockey history without winning a game. The WorSharks also didn’t win any of the three games Gerald Coleman played in, but he only got the start in two of those appearances. The record for most goaltender games played in without recording a win in Worcester pro hockey history? That would be Thomas Heemskerk’s six, although that includes just a single start. Heemskerk had stints of 10 seconds and 1:35 in those six games, which artificially inflates his game total a bit.
Railers captain Anthony Repaci had two goals Friday night, giving him 64 in a Worcester uniform. That now ranks him fourth all-time, with Justin Papineau’s 66 next on the list. Worcester Hockey Hall of Famer Eric Boguniecki is second with 69, and Marc Brown currently sits at the top with 79 career goals for Worcester. Everyone in front of Repaci played for the IceCats. Repaci’s two-goal game jumped him over the highest WorSharks player on the list, John McCarthy, who had 63 goals along with Jame Pollock.
There were two scoring changes for the Railers from last Sunday’s 5-3 loss to Fort Wayne, with Blade Jenkins picking up an assist on Anthony Callin’s third-period goal and Zach White losing one. That goal now reads “3. WOR Callin, (7) (Verrier, Jenkins), 5:48”. On Anthony Repaci’s goal, Jack Quinlivan loses a point and Callin gains one. That goal now says “3. WOR Repaci, (12) (Welsh, Callin), 9:33”.
Railers fans should take notice of some happenings with the first place Adirondack Thunder on Friday night it appears Patrick Grasso was injured the first period of their 4-0 win over Newfoundland and forward Zach Walker was given a game misconduct under Rule 40.2, which is “Abuse of Officials”. Rule 40.2 is called “Category 1” and comes with a 20-game suspension.
The three stars of the game were:
1. WOR – 81 Anthony Repaci
2. WOR – 5 Zach White
3. NOR – 12 Danny Katic
The 210Sports Player of the Game was Anthony Callin.
Even Strength Lines
Repaci / Jenkins / Callin
Kuefler / Cipollone / Quinlivan
Howdeshell / White / Piercey
Bakanov / X / Bowen
Welsh / Robbins
Garat / Cosgrove
Kulakov / Verrier
Our affiliates last night
Providence 6, Bridgeport 3
In the ECHL’s North Division
Maine 8, Trois-Rivières 1
Wheeling 8, Reading 3
Adirondack 4, Newfoundland 0
BOX SCORE
Norfolk 1 2 0 – 3
Worcester 2 3 1 – 6
1st Period-1, Worcester, Bakanov 6 (Bowen, White), 2:16. 2, Norfolk, Liwiski 7 (Jameson, Fleurent), 4:45. 3, Worcester, Repaci 13 (Callin, Jenkins), 9:56. Penalties-Cosgrove Wor (interference), 4:45; Montgomery Nor (interference), 6:25; Smirnov Nor (interference), 12:10.
2nd Period-4, Worcester, Repaci 14 (Callin), 1:20. 5, Norfolk, Osmundson 6 (Katic), 3:05. 6, Norfolk, Katic 10 (Fleurent, Nault), 6:41 (PP). 7, Worcester, White 6 (Howdeshell, Cipollone), 8:19 (PP). 8, Worcester, Kuefler 5 (Cipollone, Cosgrove), 9:01 (PP). Penalties-Howdeshell Wor (holding), 6:29; McDougall Nor (slashing), 7:12; Fedorek Nor (slashing), 8:43.
3rd Period-9, Worcester, Cosgrove 4 (Welsh, Callin), 19:58 (EN). Penalties-Welsh Wor (hooking), 2:07; Katic Nor (high-sticking – double), 7:25; Osmundson Nor (high-sticking), 15:48.
Shots on Goal-Norfolk 10-17-9-36. Worcester 6-10-5-21.
Power Play Opportunities-Norfolk 1 / 3; Worcester 2 / 7.
Goalies-Norfolk, Perets 7-9-1-0 (7 shots-4 saves); Stead 4-2-2-0 (13 shots-11 saves). Worcester, Appleby 1-0-0-0 (36 shots-33 saves).
A-2,934
Referees-Hunter Mottinger (9).
Linesmen-Benjamin Lord (98), Matthew Hallock (85).
—
Got 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 