The Worcester Railers closed out their 2024 preseason schedule Saturday night at the Worcester Ice Center with another match-up against the Maine Mariners and used a 24-save performance by goaltender Michael Bullion and multiple-point nights from Jordan Kaplan (G, A), Matt DeMelis (2A), and Anthony Callin (2A) to defeat the Mariners 4-0.
Justin Gill, Connor Welsh, and Joey Cipollone had the other goals for Worcester, and you can read all about how they did it in the Railers’ press release on the game. Maine’s take on the action can be found on their website.
It all starts for real next Saturday when Worcester takes on the Reading Royals, with the puck drop scheduled for 6:05pm.
GAME NOTES
Once again, presuming the roster this writer has is correct, it seems the scratches for the Railers were Andrei Bakanov, Cole Donhauser, JD Dudek, Mason Klee, Matthew Kopperud, Griffin Loughran, John Muse, Riley Piercey, Matias Rajaniemi, and Ryan Verrier. Joe Spagnoli was the backup goaltender. It looks to be that every player on the current preseason roster appeared in at least one of the two exhibition games this weekend.
While AHL teams can carry as many players as they like, ECHL teams are limited by roster spots and a salary cap. Railers General Manager Nick Tuzzolino and Head Coach Bob Deraney have to whittle the camp roster down to 23 players by Wednesday afternoon at 3pm, so that means seven players have to be released or placed on injured reserve. One will obviously be goaltender Joe Spagnoli. The rest will not be as obvious, and we may see a familiar name or two on the list of players being released.
Maine only had 17 skaters available for the contest. After I tweeted that information Dylan “WooHockey” Schofield followed up by mentioning Garrett Devine was a late scratch, per the Maine radio broadcast. I know teams don’t want to pack their entire camp roster on a two-hour bus trip to an essentially meaningless game, but don’t you think having one extra player along might be a wise idea, you know, just in case?
It’s probably mentioned after every preseason game at the Worcester Ice Center, but the official scorers have an incredibly tough time in the building as you can’t see the entire ice surface from their vantage point at the top of the seating section. Both near corners are often obstructed by fans, and the boards that run opposite the benches would be blocked from view even without fans in the way. That being said, they still do a great job, with the only minor hiccup being awarding Railers captain Anthony Repaci a “plus” on Justin Gill’s goal as opposed to it going to defenseman Cam McDonald.
With the win the Railers franchise record in exhibition games improved to 5-6-1. Despite being under .500 in the 12 games they’ve outscored their opponents 35-30. What does all that really mean? Absolutely nothing. The only two opponents the Railers have faced in preseason games are the Mariners and the defunct Manchester Monarchs.
The three stars of the game were:
1. WOR – 10 Jordan Kaplan
2. WOR – 30 Michael Bullion
3. WOR – 12 Joey Cipollone
The 210Sports Player of the Game was Matt DeMelis.
Even Strength Lines
Repaci / Kaplan / Callin
Crowder / Gill / Heidemann
DeMelis / Jacobs / Barnaby
Randl / Cipollone / Pennucci
Luce / Welsh
Krygier / Dickenson
McDonald / Kulakov
Our affiliates last night
Dallas 3, NY Islanders 0
Providence 3, Bridgeport 2
In the ECHL’s North Division
Adirondack 4, Reading 2
Cincinnati 5, Wheeling 4 (SO)
BOX SCORE
Maine 0 0 0 – 0
Worcester 2 1 1 – 4
1st Period-1, Worcester, Kaplan 1 (Callin, Repaci), 3:43. 2, Worcester, Gill 1 (DeMelis), 4:35. Penalties-Willets Mne (tripping), 15:15.
2nd Period-3, Worcester, Welsh 1 (Kaplan, Callin), 13:55 (PP). Penalties-Repaci Wor (interference), 0:24; Kaplan Wor (delay of game), 7:38; Gally Mne (fighting – major), 13:26; Randl Wor (fighting – major), 13:26; Pederson Mne (hooking), 13:40; Willets Mne (roughing), 15:31; Horvath Mne (cross-checking major, roughing, game misconduct – cross-checking), 17:10; Jacobs Wor (roughing), 17:10.
3rd Period-4, Worcester, Cipollone 1 (Pennucci, DeMelis), 6:08. Penalties-Berger Mne (hooking), 3:59; Luce Wor (cross-checking), 11:20; Kulakov Wor (roughing, misconduct – continuing altercation), 17:26; Pederson Mne (roughing), 17:54; Dickinson Wor (roughing), 17:54.
Shots on Goal-Maine 5-7-12-24. Worcester 14-14-13-41.
Power Play Opportunities-Maine 0 / 4; Worcester 1 / 5.
Goalies-Maine, Bischel 0-1-0-0 (28 shots-25 saves); Giannuzzi 0-0-0-0 (13 shots-12 saves). Worcester, Bullion 1-0-0-0 (24 shots-24 saves).
A-
Referees-Evan Reddick (21).
Linesmen-Matthew Heinen (93), Cody Sullivan (82).
—
Do you have 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.
You can also follow along and comment on the following sites:
Twitter/X (210Darryl), Twitter/X (210Sports), Bluesky, and Mastodon.
-30-
210Sports 