In a pregame conversation between Worcester Railers Booster Club president Rich Lundin, Dylan “Woo Hockey” Schofield, and this writer, the general consensus is nothing about this season’s Railers team surprises us anymore. They play great in one game, then play terribly in the next. They have games where they push the opponent around and follow that with games where they shy away from any physical contact. They’re just as apt to blow a team out as they are being shut out. Nope, literally nothing would surprise us about this team.
OK, so the eight goals Saturday night against the Maine Mariners were a little surprising.
What wasn’t surprising is Worcester gave up the opening goal of the game at 6:33 when a completely uncovered Christian Sarlo beat Worcester netminder John Muse from the slot to the glove side.
It took nearly the whole opening frame for the Railers to get on track, but it still took a highlight-level goal from Ashton Calder to knot the game 1-1.
Early in the second period Anthony Callin used some great positioning to give the Railers their first lead in 142:42 of play.
Ryan Verrier made it 3-1 at 6:56 of the middle frame when his shot hit a Maine stick and deflected past Mariners netminder Kyle Keyser.
Ethan Ritchie cut the Worcester lead to 3-2 at 10:50 of the frame, and the Railers were very upset at referee Tyler Hascall after the play, but a look at the video doesn’t seem to show anything egregious. In the long run, neither the goal nor the complaint mattered all that much.
At 14:26 Trevor Cosgrove channeled his inner Patrick Traverse, although it’s unlikely Cosgrove has ever seen Traverse play, and it was 4-2 Railers.
It was the first time since January 15, 2022, that the Railers had two unassisted goals in a game. In that January game, Brent Beaudoin and Will Cullen each scored first-period unassisted goals for Worcester against Reading in a 2-1 win.
Worcester wasn’t done in that middle frame as Blade Jenkins made it 5-2 after a nice keep-in from Christian Krygier and an even better pass from Reece Newkirk.
In the third period, the rout was on, and Connor Welsh made it 6-2 with a nice delayed shot.
Jenkins then converted for his second of the game off a turnover.
After a scrum in the Worcester end gave the Railers a power play, Jake Pivonka added a franchise-tying eighth goal of the game.
And, with apologies to Grant Goodeve, eight is enough to fill our lives with love.
GAME NOTES
Scratches for the Railers were John Copeland (IR/unknown), Ryan Dickinson (IR/unknown), Austin Heidemann, Tristan Lennox (IR/lower body), Jack Quinlivan (IR/unknown), C.J. Regula, Anthony Repaci (IR/upper body), and Zach White (ill). Henrik Tikkanen was the backup goaltender.
About seven minutes into the first period there was a stoppage when the goal light behind John Muse went off because the goal judge at that end of the ice could see a puck in the net. Those in the stands at ice level saw Railers defenseman Trevor Cosgrove had cleared the puck behind the net and along the boards, so we were a tad confused as to why the light was on. Referee Tyler Hascall, in one of his far too few correct calls, blew the play dead. Suddenly we could see Keeghan Howdeshell fishing a puck out of the net. It was reviewed just to be sure, and the replay shows pretty clearly what happened. This writer checked the video of FloSports and Railers broadcaster Tim Foley, with a much higher vantage point, knew what had happened right away. Maine broadcaster Michael Keeley similarly knew there were two pucks on the ice right away. The linesmen are supposed to check the nets before the start of each period, and it looks like that might not have happened on Saturday.
The Railers were denied a penalty shot by rule they should have been given with 1:07 to go in the opening period when Andrei Bakanov’s shot was blocked by Cameron Askew in the Maine crease. Askew then appeared to cover the puck, although the video isn’t completely clear. What is clear is Mariners’ goaltender Kyle Keyser was literally using his head to push Askew out of the crease, with Referee Hascall watching the play the entire way. Why would Keyser bother pushing Askew out of the crease if Askew wasn’t covering the puck? Perhaps that question should be asked of Referee Hascall.
At 14:08 of that opening period, and Maine leading 1-0, Anthony Callin slashed Keyser in the head while attempting to play the puck. As one would expect a huge scrum broke out in front of the Mariners net, with Railers defensemen Ryan Verrier and Connor Welsh staying at the blueline as the rules dictate they should. Only, they really shouldn’t have, and they should have joined the fray at the net. Why should they have broken a rule? Well, let’s look at what former Railers defender Connor Doherty did later in the game. It was 7-2 late in the third, although in either case, the score is irrelevant when Alex Kile boarded Jake Pivonka. Once again there was a scrum deep in the zone, only this time Doherty and fellow blueliner Alex Sheehy joined in. The penalty for defensemen joining in on an altercation in the attacking zone is the next faceoff takes place in the neutral zone as opposed to the attacking zone where the puck was when the whistle was blown. But Doherty knew something that Verrier and Welsh, and every other Worcester defensemen, don’t seem to realize: with a minor penalty being called the faceoff is going to be in your defensive end no matter what the defensemen do. There is literally no additional sanction for joining the altercation. This is one of the reasons teams rely on veteran defenders, and why Worcester is hampered by almost never having one on the roster.
The three stars of the game were:
1. WOR – 19 Blade Jenkins
2. WOR – 37 Reece Newkirk
3. WOR – 26 Connor Welsh
The 210Sports Player of the Game was Ashton Calder.
Even Strength Lines
Newkirk / Jenkins / Callin
Howdeshell / Pivonka / Calder
Bakanov / Scarfo / Robbins
Piercey / Cipollone / X
Krygier / Cosgrove
Verrier / Welsh
Garat / Kulakov
Our affiliates last night
NY Islanders 2, Nashville 0
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 6, Bridgeport 3
In the ECHL’s North Division last night
Norfolk 3, Reading 2
Allen 2, Adirondack 1 OT
Standings
(“REM” is games remaining)
| TEAM | PTS | PTS % | REM | vs WOR |
| X-ADK | 88 | .657 | 5 | 0 |
| X-NOR | 89 | .645 | 0 | 0 |
| ME | 69 | .515 | 5 | 1 |
| TR | 66 | .500 | 3 | 3 |
| WOR | 68 | .500 | 4 | X |
| REA | 64 | .457 | 2 | 0 |
BOX SCORE
Maine 1 1 0 – 2
Worcester 1 4 3 – 8
1st Period-1, Maine, Sarlo 3 (Peski, Stockdale), 6:33. 2, Worcester, Calder 17 18:18. Penalties-Piercey Wor (hooking), 3:57; Callin Wor (slashing), 14:08.
2nd Period-3, Worcester, Callin 14 (Garat, Newkirk), 2:42. 4, Worcester, Verrier 3 (Newkirk, Jenkins), 5:56. 5, Maine, Ritchie 7 (Peski, Kalmikov), 10:50. 6, Worcester, Cosgrove 11 14:26. 7, Worcester, Jenkins 23 (Newkirk, Krygier), 17:07. Penalties-Askew Mne (fighting – major), 4:19; Piercey Wor (fighting – major), 4:19.
3rd Period-8, Worcester, Welsh 7 (Scarfo, Piercey), 12:04. 9, Worcester, Jenkins 24 (Bakanov), 13:38. 10, Worcester, Pivonka 21 (Calder, Howdeshell), 18:22 (PP). Penalties-Doherty Mne (double – roughing), 16:24; Kile Mne (boarding, roughing), 16:24; Krygier Wor (double – roughing), 16:24; Verrier Wor (roughing), 16:24; Howdeshell Wor (bench – too many men), 19:18.
Shots on Goal-Maine 9-7-8-24. Worcester 7-11-10-28.
Power Play Opportunities-Maine 0 / 3; Worcester 1 / 1.
Goalies-Maine, Keyser 5-8-2-0 (28 shots-20 saves). Worcester, Muse 15-11-2-1 (24 shots-22 saves).
A-4,285
Referees-Tyler Hascall (8).
Linesmen-Shane Kanaly (74), Antoine Bujold-Roux (72).
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