The Worcester Railers took on the Florida Everblades Wednesday night at Hertz Arena in Estero, FL hoping to ride some momentum from Monday’s 4-2 victory over Orlando into their three-game series opener, and instead got punched in the face by the two-time defending Kelly Cup champions as the Railers lost 3-1.
Although technically it was Cam Hausinger who got punched in the face many times by Railers defenseman Artyom Kulakov, but winning fights doesn’t earn you two points.
Florida got on the board first at 5:12 when Sean Josling tipped a blast from Evan Nause past Worcester netminder John Muse after some extended possession time by Florida in the Railers zone when a failed dump and chase resulted in Florida gaining control. Worcester had several opportunities to gain the puck, but Keeghan Howdeshell, Jack Quinlivan, and Christian Krygier all turned it over instead.
Jake Pivonka would get the equalizer at 17:06 of the middle period with a power play goal.
The goal currently lists Anthony Callin as the secondary assist, but don’t be surprised if that gets changed to Anthony Repaci as the replay makes it look like Callin doesn’t touch the puck as he’s being stick-checked. Also, don’t be surprised if it doesn’t as there have been a lot of scoring changes that haven’t been made this season.
As they have done far too often this season, the Railers once again allowed an opponent to score right after they had lit the lamp. It happened just 68 seconds after the Pivonka tally when during another extended occupation of the Worcester zone Florida scored after Krygier turned the puck over and Riley Piercey, Connor Welsh, and Brenden Robbins all apparently forgot they were supposed to play defense. Joe Pendenza ended up with a wide-open net, and he didn’t miss.
Unofficially, it’s the 12th time this season Worcester has allowed a goal within 90 seconds of scoring one themselves.
Oliver Chau’s power play goal at 2:56 of the third on a rebound was the backbreaker, and that would be all the scoring in the game.
The Railers get Thursday off before continuing their series against Florida with contests on Friday and Saturday night.
Oh, in case anyone wants to watch Kulakov punch Hausinger in the face, Worcester tweeted the fight.
GAME NOTES
Scratches for the Railers were Andrei Bakanov, John Copeland (IR/unknown), Tristan Lennox (IR/lower body), Carson MacKinnon, and Ryan Verrier (IR/upper body). Cole Ceci was the backup goaltender. Worcester head coach and general manager Jordan Smotherman went with the same line-up as Monday.
Since it’s the first time the teams have played against each other this season we’ll take a look at some area and roster connections between the clubs. Everblades defender Nathan Staios is the son for former IceCats captain Steve Staios. Forward Robert “Bobo” Carpenter was born in North Reading and spent four seasons at Boston University, captaining the squad in 2018-19. Fellow forward Oliver Chau spent four years at UMass-Amherst, winning the NCAA Championship with the Minutemen in 2020-21. Center Cam Darcy was born in South Boston and played nine games for Northeastern University in 2012-13. Center Joe Pendenza was born in Wilmington and played four years at UMass-Lowell, and we’ll mention Chris Ordoobadi played for the Railers, as if there’s a Worcester fan out there that doesn’t know that. For the Railers, goaltender John Muse played two seasons for the Everblades, going 25-14-7 in 46 appearances. Forward Ashton Calder played six games with Florida last season and won the Kelly Cup.
The number of players that played against Worcester in the AHL gets smaller every season, but Florida has one of the few still playing on their roster. Winger Kyle Neuber played one game against the Worcester Sharks, on March 26, 2011, and picked up a hooking minor in the Springfield Falcons 7-2 win.
In what had apparently become a regular feature in these postings, we’ll note that once again Reece Newkirk was a healthy scratch for the Bridgeport Islanders. We’ll also note that there is room on the Railers roster for Newkirk as Worcester continues to play with an open roster spot.
As soon as this writer mashes “publish” for this game story, my annual “Hockey Free Weekend” will begin. Well, maybe not exactly right at that moment, it will likely be closer to noontime on Thursday. And, like the last couple of seasons, it will not be completely hockey-free as there will be at least some sort of posting for both weekend games. I’ve covered 121 games in a row since the start of last season and I’m not planning on ending that streak anytime soon, if only to keep making fun of the Worcester Telegram.
The three stars of the game were:
1. FLA – 20 Oliver Chau
2. FLA – 27 Sean Josling
3. FLA – 33 Cam Johnson
The 210Sports Player of the Game was Jake Pivonka.
Even Strength Lines
Repaci / White / Callin
Piercey / Pivonka / Calder
Howdeshell / Cipollone / Quinlivan
X / Robbins / Goehring
Cosgrove / Dickinson
Garat / Kulakov
Welsh / Krygier
Our affiliates last night
Hartford 2, Bridgeport 1
In the ECHL’s North Division
Newfoundland 5, Reading 3
Kalamazoo 3, Maine 2 OT
BOX SCORE
Worcester 0 1 0 – 1
Florida 1 1 1 – 3
1st Period-1, Florida, Josling 13 (Nause, Chau), 5:12. Penalties-No Penalties
2nd Period-2, Worcester, Pivonka 14 (Cosgrove, Callin), 17:06 (PP). 3, Florida, Pendenza 16 (Josling, Chau), 18:14. Penalties-Santerno Fla (interference), 16:32.
3rd Period-4, Florida, Chau 17 (Reilly, Pendenza), 2:56 (PP). Penalties-Kulakov Wor (fighting – major), 1:35; Hausinger Fla (fighting – major), 1:35; Pivonka Wor (tripping), 2:32; Neuber Fla (delay of game), 5:06; Welsh Wor (hooking), 8:31; Cipollone Wor (tripping), 9:42.
Shots on Goal-Worcester 8-6-10-24. Florida 7-16-14-37.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 1 / 2; Florida 1 / 3.
Goalies-Worcester, Muse 10-5-1-0 (37 shots-34 saves). Florida, Johnson 16-10-4-2 (24 shots-23 saves).
A-5,805
Referees-Brendan Schreider (12).
Linesmen-Charlie O’Connor (43), Billy Gubelman (77).
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