The Worcester Railers visited Glens Falls, New York Wednesday night to take on the Adirondack Thunder for the first time this season and completely controlled the first 35 minutes or so, but in less time than it takes to cook a soft-boiled egg Worcester went from a two-goal lead to a two-goal deficit and never recovered in a 7-4 loss to their ECHL North Division rivals.
The game started with all eyes on Railers captain Anthony Repaci and his chase to become the all-time leading goal scorer in Worcester pro hockey history, and he didn’t make fans wait long as he connected on his own rebound at 1:23 for his 80th Railers goal that gave his team a quick 1-0 lead.
The goal is currently listed as unassisted, but it looks to this writer that Griffin Loughran should get a helper on the play.
Just four minutes later Jordan Kaplan made it 2-0 when he tipped Connor Welsh’s shot past Thunder goaltender Jeremy Brodeur. Griffin Luce also had an assist on the play that was somehow originally listed as unassisted.
One of the unwritten rules of hockey is you don’t give up a goal in the first or last minute of a period, and unfortunately, the Railers did just that when Alex Young scored with just 18 seconds left in the opener to get Adirondack on the board.
In the second period, Matthew Kopperud made it 3-1 with a nice power play goal, with Kaplan and Welsh picking up points on the play.
From there it looked like Worcester was rolling with everything going in the right direction to put the game in the win column and earn a much-needed two points.
Until it suddenly wasn’t.
After killing off a five-on-three shorthanded situation the Worcester penalty killers allowed a goal by Chase Brand at 15:20 on the ensuing five-on-four power play to make it 3-2 Railers. Andre Ghantous tied the game at 18:21, 30 seconds later Ryan Smith gave the Thunder the lead, and 48 seconds after that Young’s second of the game made it 5-3 Adirondack as Worcester once again allowed four goals in a period.
In the third Smith added a shorthanded empty net goal at 17:55 before Kolby Johnson scored his first ECHL goal with a minute to go in regulation.
Zach Bannister would add a goal for Adirondack at 19:25 for the 7-4 final.
GAME NOTES
Scratches for the Railers were JD Dudek (IR/upper body), John Muse (3-day IR), Zack Nazzarett, Jack Randl (unknown injury), and Brenden Rons (14-Day IR/unknown). Henrik Tikkanen was the backup goaltender.
The Railers have had a lot of transactions over the past few days, and one that seems to be particularly odd. On Monday the ECHL transaction listing had Worcester sending Andrew Nielsen to Utah and the Grizzlies sending Reed Morison to the Railers. On Tuesday Utah announced the trade as it was listed, but when the Railers announced it was Nielson for future considerations. When the Tuesday transactions were released, Worcester was listed as suspending Morison. So expect more on that later. Also in Tuesday’s transactions the Railers unsuspended Andrei Bakanov and released him, and they added Brenden Rons to the 14-day Injured Reserve list. Christian Krygier and Cam McDonald were then loaned by Bridgeport. On Wednesday Worcester announced they’d signed Zack Nazzarett from Peoria of the SPHL.
For the first time since pro hockey started in the city Worcester has a “Player of the Month” as the ECHL announced Anthony Repaci as the league’s winer for November. Repaci scored 13 goals and added five assists for 18 points in 14 games during the month. He was also named ECHL Player of the Week for week ending November 11 after recording five goals in two games.
As it’s the first time this season that Worcester and Adirondack have faced off, we’ll look at some roster and area connections between the two squads. Thunder defender Brendan Less played six games for the Railers in 2021-22, notching one assist. For Worcester, Jordan Kaplan played the 2021-22 season with the Thunder, going 11-21-32 in 65 games.
The three stars of the game were:
1. ADK – 7 Chase Brand
2. ADK – 13 Alex Young
3. ADK – 12 Andre Ghantous
The 210Sports Player of the Game was Anthony Repaci.
Even Strength Lines
Repaci / Kaplan / Loughran
Kopperud / Callin / Donhauser
Piercey / Jacobs / DeMelis
Johnson / X / Hatten
Luce / Welsh
McDonald / Klee
Rajaniemi / Krygier
Dickinson
Our affiliates last night
Hartford 6, Bridgeport 1
In the ECHL’s North Division last night
Idaho 3, Trois-Rivieres 2 OT
BOX SCORE
Worcester 2 1 1 – 4
Adirondack 1 4 2 – 7
1st Period-1, Worcester, Repaci 15 1:23. 2, Worcester, Kaplan 2 (Welsh, Luce), 5:24. 3, Adirondack, Young 3 (O’Neil, Less), 19:42. Penalties-Donhauser Wor (delay of game), 2:20; Wheeler Adk (tripping), 19:59.
2nd Period-4, Worcester, Kopperud 5 (Kaplan, Welsh), 0:53 (PP). 5, Adirondack, Brand 1 (Gosselin, Wendt), 15:20 (PP). 6, Adirondack, Ghantous 7 18:21. 7, Adirondack, Smith 5 (Conroy), 18:51. 8, Adirondack, Young 4 (Ghantous, Less), 19:39. Penalties-Piercey Wor (fighting – major), 10:07; Wheeler Adk (interference on the goalkeeper, fighting – major), 10:07; McDonald Wor (slashing), 12:41; Repaci Wor (tripping), 13:40.
3rd Period-9, Adirondack, Smith 6 17:55 (SH EN). 10, Worcester, Johnson 1 (Dickinson, Hatten), 19:00 (PP). 11, Adirondack, Bannister 2 (Stewart), 19:25. Penalties-Jacobs Wor (hooking), 5:07; Bannister Adk (hooking), 17:01; Welsh Wor (roughing, misconduct – continuing altercation), 17:55; Brand Adk (roughing, misconduct – continuing altercation), 17:55.
Shots on Goal-Worcester 15-12-10-37. Adirondack 16-21-11-48.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 2 / 3; Adirondack 1 / 4.
Goalies-Worcester, Bullion 4-5-0-0 (47 shots-41 saves). Adirondack, Brodeur 6-3-0-0 (37 shots-33 saves).
A-2,548
Referees-Rocco Stachowiak (28).
Linesmen-Matthew Heinen (93), Nicolas Boivin (82).
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