Sunday afternoon at the DCU Center the Worcester Railers and Reading Royals played the final contest of their two-game weekend set, and once again the Worcester offense had a hard time finding the back of the net as they took their second consecutive 2-1 loss to their ECHL North Division rivals.
Or, perhaps more correctly, they had a hard time finding the back of the net and having the goal count.
To say the Railers slept through the opening twenty minutes might be a bit of an understatement. Of the team in white jerseys, it seemed goaltender John Muse and forward Cole Crowder were the only two wide awake as Muse made several key stops to keep his team in the contest. Without him it could have easily been a four or five goal deficit after one period. Crowder, who didn’t get a shift until almost ten minutes had elapsed, provided some much-needed energy and physicality.
Nolan Welsh made it 1-0 Royals at 4:48 when the Worcester defenders was lackadaisical in getting back on defense and Muse had no chance on what was essentially a two on none.
With Matthew Kopperud in the box for boarding it was Connor McMenamin that made it 2-0 Reading.
And again, thanks to Muse, that was all the damage the Royals would do. Unfortunately, when the 60 minutes was up that was all Reading needed.
The Railer’s first disallowed goal happened with 90 seconds left in the middle period when on the power play Mason Klee attempted to jam a rebound past Royals netminder Parker Gahagen. The puck was loose, and Gahagen rolled over it instead of covering it. It laid in the crease right at the far post clearly in view of the camera, the Railers, and referee Brendan Schreider. For some reason, despite clearly seeing the loose puck referee Schreider blew the whistle just as Colin Jacobs backhanded the puck into the yawning net.
In the ensuing scrum referee Schreider compounded his error by assessing Jacobs an extra minor and misconduct. He also did not direct the public address announcer, in this case our own Adam Webster, to announce why the goal was disallowed, which is a requirement under the rules for every level of pro hockey in North America. Those sitting around this writer’s perch felt that Railers head coach Bob Deraney should have been more adamant that the goal should either count or an explanation given.
The second time happened 44 seconds into the third period when Matias Rajaniemi’s bid from the near point beat Gahagen, and once again referee Schreider waved the goal off indicating that Worcester captain Anthony Repaci interfered with Gahagen. While it took over a minute for the video review to take place as soon as it was shown on the overhead Daktronics board this writer knew it was the right call, and eventually both referees came to the same conclusion.
At 13:37 Repaci would get one that would count to cut the Royals’ lead to 2-1.
But despite a late power play Worcester would get no closer, and after a second consecutive poor offensive showing Coach Deraney and GM Nick Tuzzolino have a few days to figure out how to light a fire under the forwards. The Railers next game is Friday in Trois-Rivières against the Lions, with a 7pm puck drop.
GAME NOTES
Scratches for the Railers were Ryan Dickinson (IR/unknown), Cole Donhauser, and Griffin Loughran (IR/unknown). Michael Bullion was the backup goaltender. Sunday morning defenseman Griffin Luce was signed to a PTO by the Hartford Wolf Pack (NYR) and the Bridgeport Islanders recalled Christian Krygier. Both appeared in the game between the two teams Sunday afternoon.
Upon further review, last night Michael Bullion became the first right-catching goaltender to ever play for the Railers and is just the fourth in Worcester pro hockey history to appear in a regular season contest. Alex Westlund was the first to do it, playing 7:38 in relief of IceCats goaltender Curtis Sanford on March 23, 2001. The WorSharks had both Nolan Schaefer and J.P. Anderson for longer stints. Anderson holds the city record for wins by a right-catching goalie at six, Schaefer the minutes played record at 921. Not to jinx anything, but Bullion should pass both of those marks before too long.
A little more on Bullion, he is the first Railers player to wear #32 in a game. The last player to wear that number in a game for Worcester was Alex Stalock, who had it for four seasons. Amateur emergency back-up Scott Barchard, who had played for Tufts University in years prior and then went on to a less than successful stint with the FHL’s Cape Cod Bluefins, wore it on the bench when Harri Sateri took ill on January 10, 2014.
Since we’re talking about jersey numbers, Andrei Bakanov joined the four-number club by wearing #13 this season. He previously wore 10, 11, and 23 for the Railers, and he joins Railers defender Ryan MacKinnon (4, 10, 24, 44) and longtime EBUG Joe Spagnoli (1, 31, 35, 40; only 35 was worn in a game) as the only Railers to wear four different numbers in their stints with the team. WorSharks defender Derek Joslin also wore four different numbers (6, 24, 25, 36), as did IceCats goaltenders Brent Johnson (1, 30, 31, 35) and Scott Roche (1, 29, 30, 34; 34 was not worn in a game).
The three stars of the game were:
1. REA – 39 Connor McMenamin
2. WOR – 81 Anthony Repaci
3. REA – 31 Parker Gahagen
The 210Sports Player of the Game was John Muse.
Even Strength Lines
Randl / Kopperud / Dudek
Repaci / Kaplan / Callin
Bakanov / Jacobs / Gill
Piercey / DeMelis / Heidemann
Crowder was the 13th forward
(Every D) / Welsh
McDonald / Klee
Rajaniemi / Verrier
Our affiliates last night
Bridgeport 4, Hartford 0
In the ECHL’s North Division last night
No other games scheduled
BOX SCORE
Reading 2 0 0 – 2
Worcester 0 0 1 – 1
1st Period-1, Reading, Welsh 1 (Gratton, Malinowski), 4:38. 2, Reading, McMenamin 2 (Cassaro, Skirving), 9:55 (PP). Penalties-Kopperud Wor (boarding), 8:28; Miller Rea (interference), 12:40.
2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Broughman Rea (slashing), 7:33; Chouinard Rea (tripping), 17:22; Connor Rea (roughing), 18:30; Jacobs Wor (double – roughing, misconduct – continuing altercation), 18:30.
3rd Period-3, Worcester, Repaci 1 (McDonald, Piercey), 13:37. Penalties-Capone Rea (roughing), 3:36; Verrier Wor (roughing), 3:36; Gill Wor (boarding), 10:33; Bouquot Rea (delay of game), 14:30.
Shots on Goal-Reading 8-11-2-21. Worcester 6-10-7-23.
Power Play Opportunities-Reading 1 / 3; Worcester 0 / 4.
Goalies-Reading, Gahagen 2-0-0-0 (23 shots-22 saves). Worcester, Muse 0-1-0-0 (21 shots-19 saves).
A-2,621
Referees-Brendan Schreider (12), Austin Rook (11).
Linesmen-Matthew Heinen (93), Jack McQuesten (53).
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