The Worcester Railers started their post-Thanksgiving schedule Friday night at INTRUST Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas with the second of three meetings with the Thunder and used a two-goal night from captain Anthony Repaci and 45 saves from Michael Bullion to defeat Wichita 3-2.
As has happened far too frequently recently, Worcester essentially took the opening frame off as they were outshot 21-6 over the first twenty minutes and were lucky to find themselves down just 1-0. They can thank Bullion for that, who tied a franchise mark for saves in a road first period with 20.
Bullion had no chance on that lone goal after making the save on Nolan Kneen’s bid as the rebound went right to an uncovered Jake Wahlin, who tapped it in to make it 1-0 as the teddy bears flew onto the ice at 7:18.
In the second period, the roles were reversed with the Railers having a big shot advantage, 22-11, and the Thunder’s Aaron Dell was outstanding in the frame. Like Bullion in the opener, only one got past Dell in the period, and it was none other than Repaci who lit the lamp at 3:46.
It stayed tied until early in the third period when Repaci would strike again on the game’s first power play opportunity at 2:08.
That was Repaci’s 78th Railers goal, putting him one behind Marc Brown for the career lead in Worcester pro hockey history. It is also his 156th career Railers point as he passes Eric Boguniecki for 4th all-time in Worcester pro hockey history. And finally, the power play goal was the 20th for his Railers career, tying Boguniecki and Terry Virtue for 7th all-time in Worcester pro hockey history.
Lots of other major milestones are in Repaci’s path in the near future too. Stay tuned for more details.
The eventual game-winner came just 39 seconds after Repaci’s strike when Colin Jacobs got his first in a Railers jersey to make it 3-1.
From that point Worcester played mostly rope-a-dope, bending but not breaking in the defensive end and not taking any undue chances while on offense. Luke Grainger did make it a 3-2 game at 8:47 with an absolute laser over the left should of Bullion, but that was as close as Wichita could get despite having back-to-back power plays in the middle of the period.
Worcester looks for the sweep Saturday night with a 7pm ET puck drop.
GAME NOTES
Scratches for the Railers were JD Dudek (IR/upper body), Kolby Johnson (suspended, game two of three), Jack Randl (unknown injury), and John Muse (3-day IR). Henrik Tikkanen was the backup goaltender. Down a forward, defender Brendan Rons was pressed into service on the fourth line, where perhaps not so shockingly he was the only Worcester player without a shot on goal.
With no penalties called in the first two periods, fans in several in-game chats were worried that the third would become a penalty fest. That happens frequently in minor league hockey, especially with young referees like Andrew Bell. But despite calling three penalties in the frame referee Bell looks to have gotten them all correct and didn’t appear to let anything go that he didn’t let go earlier. While Nico Somerville’s infraction against Griffin Loughran may have been more a trip than a cross-check, it still denied a scoring opportunity, so it was called. Jordan Kaplan’s hook against Nolan Kneen happens off-screen but as none of the Railers looks to have batted an eye at the call it was probably deserved. Andrew Nielsen’s crosscheck of Kobe Walker may have been a bit of a dive, but the veteran Nielsen should know better than to hit him anyway.
Artem Guryev escaped supplementary discipline for his high hit to the head of Railers’ forward Lincoln Hatten during Wednesday’s first period. It’s safe to say Hatten was no worse for wear after the incident seeing as he was bumped up to the top line Friday when Randl was unavailable. It would be interesting to find out if the Wichita social media intern who tweeted out the video of the hit also escaped supplementary discipline from the team.
While it hasn’t happened lately this writer has never had an issue with making fun of how some teams determine their “Three Stars of the Game” choices. It’s all mostly public relations anyway, with some teams even having a sponsorship deal that often demands a home team player to get named to the list whenever possible. I was recently asked who the Railers’ most named player was–as if you shouldn’t be able to figure it out yourself–and using the 5-3-1 system, it’s Anthony Repaci. After Friday’s contest, his 136 points are nearly double Henrik Tikkanen’s second-place 75. Mitch Gillam (62), Blade Jenkins (53), and Ken Appleby (52) round out the top five. We’ll have to ask Bill Ballou how Repaci’s number ranks all-time in Worcester pro hockey history. I suspect it’s right up there.
It’s no secret that I am a huge fan of “color on color” games, and the ECHL is missing a golden marketing opportunity by not having a weekend or two where both teams wear dark jerseys. While the Atlanta Gladiators posted a picture on Facebook of the Drevitch brothers together on the ice Friday night, the real story was the Gladiators and Savannah Ghost Pirates were both in dark Marvel specialty jerseys. Just imagine every team having their own specialty dark jersey for a “color rush” weekend. Railers COO Mike Myers is all for the idea, but it seems most other teams couldn’t care less. That’s a shame. Oh, and to make this a local connection, the Drevitch brothers, Logan and Tyler, are from Middleborough, MA. (Shout out to good friend John Curtin for bringing that color vs color game to my attention.)
The three stars of the game were:
1. WOR – 81 Anthony Repaci
2. WIC – 83 Jake Wahlin
3. WOR – 32 Michael Bullion
The 210Sports Player of the Game was Colin Jacobs.
Even Strength Lines
Repaci / Kaplan / Hatten
Kopperud / Callin / Donhauser
Piercey / Jacobs / Loughran
Rons / DeMelis / X
Luce / Welsh
Nielsen / Klee
Rajaniemi / Dickinson
Our affiliates last night
Washington 5, NY Islanders 4 OT
In the ECHL’s North Division last night
Norfolk 3, Maine 2 OT
Reading 3, Adirondack 1
Wheeling 5, Cincinnati 1
BOX SCORE
Worcester 0 1 2 – 3
Wichita 1 0 1 – 2
1st Period-1, Wichita, Wahlin 1 (Kneen, Finnegan), 7:18. Penalties-No Penalties
2nd Period-2, Worcester, Repaci 12 (Kaplan), 3:46. Penalties-No Penalties
3rd Period-3, Worcester, Repaci 13 (Welsh, Kopperud), 2:08 (PP). 4, Worcester, Jacobs 1 (DeMelis, Dickinson), 2:47. 5, Wichita, Grainger 2 (Carroll, Kneen), 8:47. Penalties-Somerville Wic (cross-checking), 0:45; Kaplan Wor (hooking), 11:21; Nielsen Wor (cross-checking), 13:23.
Shots on Goal-Worcester 6-22-13-41. Wichita 21-11-15-47.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 1 / 1; Wichita 0 / 2.
Goalies-Worcester, Bullion 4-4-0-0 (47 shots-45 saves). Wichita, Dell 4-5-1-0 (41 shots-38 saves).
A-6,547
Referees-Andrew Bell (24).
Linesmen-Reilly Hickey (95), Chuck Schamel (97).
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