After the two clubs made a mad dash from Reading to Worcester at the end of their Friday night contest in Pennsylvania the Railers and Royals faced off at the DCU Center Saturday night, and Worcester needed to overcome a two-goal opening period deficit and scored three times in the third frame to send goaltender John Muse off into retirement with a 5-3 win under his belt.
It was not publicly announced until after the final horn had sounded that Muse would be hanging up his skates after the game, but the subtle hints were there all night if you knew to pay attention to them. The 36-year-old East Falmouth, Mass native played for the Railers for exactly one calendar year, playing 40 games while compiling a 19-15-2-3 record with 2.79 GAA and .910 save%. This was going to be his last season no matter what happened, but a troublesome hip that prevented him from playing in back-to-back games and an offer to become the goaltending coach for the Chinese National Team came at the right time for him.
The Railers were already looking into contingency plans should Muse’s hip issues had gotten to the point of him needing to be placed on injured reserve for a significant length of time, so they’re not starting from scratch in looking for a long-term replacement. COO Mike Myers had previously talked about last season’s goaltending issues as they used several netminders from the SPHL, with none even reaching the low bar of being called “serviceable” (my description, not his). Currently, the Railers are keeping their plans close to their chests, but for now, fans should expect to see a lot of Michael Bullion between the pipes.
For the game, things started off poorly for the Railers, and for those who watched, “poorly” might be too kind of a word. Reading put up 21 shots in the opening period, which ties the Railers franchise mark for shots allowed in a home first period. Thanks to Muse, it was only 2-0 after twenty minutes when it could have easily been a four or five-goal deficit.
Although thanks to Griffin Luce, it would have likely been at least 3-0 without this goalline swipe.
Matt Miller made it 1-0 Reading after a wild goal-mouth scramble as he was able to just inch the puck over the goal line despite the best efforts of Matthew Kopperud, who had skated into the net in an attempt to keep the puck out of the net with Muse down and out at the far post. Kopperud was successful on the first bid, but because he can’t use his hands to stop the puck in the crease Miller’s bid just made it over the goal line. With under a minute to go in the frame Ryan Leibold made it 2-0 with a power play goal through traffic.
Worcester got their first power play chance in the opening minute of the second frame, and a Royals tripping minor just under a minute later made it a five-on-three advantage. Connor Welsh is on his way to a career year, and his booming slapshot cut Reading’s lead to 2-1. Anthony Repaci and Jordan Kaplan picked up the assists.
At 7:21 it was another one-timer goal, this time from Mason Klee, that knotted the score 2-2. Cole Donhauser and Matias Rajaniemi were the helpers.
But the period would end with the Railers trailing after Leibold grabbed his second of the game on an odd-man rush at 8:37 to make it 3-2 Royals.
The Railers tied some bad franchise history in the first period but set a new franchise record that was good when they scored two goals in 13 seconds in the third period to turn that 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 advantage.
Anthony Callin first tied it at 11:15, with Klee and Rajaniemi helping out.
Matthew Boudens got the record-breaker and the lead at 11:28, this time with Donhauser and Justin Gill getting the assists.
With time winding down and an extra attacker on the ice for Reading Muse took his second bid at an empty-net goal over the last couple of games. Last time his shot was just caught at the blue line, but this time Muse got enough loft on it to get it into the Reading zone and off toward the net. Unfortunately, the puck just skirted wide and didn’t allow Muse to end his career with the goalie goal.
Jordan Kaplan was able to grab the empty net goal with 1:20 to go.
After the final horn Muse’s teammates lined up to embrace him and as word slowly made its way around the DCU center that it was his last game. There could be no other choice for the game’s number one star as Muse got a bit choked up while being interviewed by Adam Webster just moments after Muse’s retirement was announced over the PA.
GAME NOTES
Scratches for the Railers were Matt DeMelis (14-day IR/unknown), JD Dudek, Kolby Johnson (3-day IR), and Brendan Rons. Joey Spagnoli was the backup goaltender. Earlier on Saturday Justin Gill was loaned to Worcester by Bridgeport, and the AHL Islanders signed goaltender Michael Bullion to a PTO. He is expected back with the Railers for their game on Sunday.
On Saturday afternoon the ECHL announced Reading’s C.J. Valerian had been suspended for one game and fined an undisclosed amount as a result of his actions in the Royals/Railers game Friday night in Reading. Valerian was suspended under Rule #28 – Supplementary Discipline as the result of an unpenalized elbowing infraction at 13:50 of the second period where Valerian hit Anthony Callin in the head. Valerian missed Saturday’s match-up between the clubs. ECHL officiating being what it is the only player penalized on that play was Ryan Dickinson, who got two minutes for roughing. Then following that, Matthew Boudens got two minutes for a ticky-tack face-off violation, putting the Railers down 5v3.
Everyone who reads these posts knows this writer very much wants to see teams play more color-on-color matchups, and there was one in the North Division Friday night. Trois-Rivieres, wearing an alternate red jersey in the color of the NHL affiliate Montreal hosted Adirondack, who was wearing black. The Thunder tweeted out some photos (they’re on Facebook too if you prefer there), and it looks amazing. There’s no reason why teams can’t do it more often. I bring this up to Railers COO Mike Myers all the time, and Myzie is all for it, but oftentimes teams just can’t be bothered to work together to make it happen. While the Railers matchup Sunday against the Thunder would be a great opportunity as Worcester’s orange third jerseys would work just as well as their whites against the Thunder’s black sweaters, with the Railers winning in white Saturday night historically they’ve stayed with the jersey they last won in if they’re able. But, there’s always a chance…
The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – 40 John Muse
2. WOR – 29 Cole Donhauser
3. WOR – 44 Anthony Callin
The 210Sports Player of the Game was Matias Rajaniemi.
Even Strength Lines
Repaci / Kaplan / Loughran
Piercey / Callin / Kopperud
Donhauser / Boudens / Gill
Ginnell / Hatten / Mahshie
Welsh / Luce
Rajaniemi / Klee
Krygier / Dickinson
Our affiliates last night
NY Islanders 6, Pittsburgh 3
Bridgeport 7, Springfield 5
In the ECHL’s North Division last night
Wheeling 6, Iowa 2
Atlanta 3, Norfolk 1
Adirondack 2, Maine 1
BOX SCORE
Reading 2 1 0 – 3
Worcester 0 2 3 – 5
1st Period-1, Reading, Miller 4 (Cook, Cassaro), 16:07. 2, Reading, Leibold 5 (McMenamin, Cassaro), 19:10 (PP). Penalties-Gill Wor (roughing), 8:39; Sellar Rea (cross-checking), 12:25; Klee Wor (cross-checking), 12:25; Luce Wor (delay of game), 17:16.
2nd Period-3, Worcester, Welsh 4 (Repaci, Kaplan), 1:45 (PP). 4, Worcester, Klee 3 (Donhauser, Rajaniemi), 7:21. 5, Reading, Leibold 6 (McMenamin), 8:37. Penalties-Johnson Rea (slashing), 0:28; Sedley Rea (tripping), 1:13; Denis Rea (hooking), 14:04; Loughran Wor (tripping), 14:04.
3rd Period-6, Worcester, Callin 6 (Klee, Rajaniemi), 11:15. 7, Worcester, Boudens 2 (Donhauser, Gill), 11:28. 8, Worcester, Kaplan 6 18:40 (EN). Penalties-Gill Wor (tripping), 6:02.
Shots on Goal-Reading 21-13-3-37. Worcester 8-14-15-37.
Power Play Opportunities-Reading 1 / 3; Worcester 1 / 2.
Goalies-Reading, Petruzzelli 4-9-3-0 (36 shots-32 saves). Worcester, Muse 5-3-1-1 (37 shots-34 saves).
A-3,916
Referees-Hunter Mottinger (9).
Linesmen-Davids Rozitis (90), Antoine Bujold-Roux (72).
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