The Worcester Railers hosted the Norfolk Admirals for a rare Thursday night contest at the DCU Center in the first of three in a row between the ECHL North Division rivals, and two things returned in the Railers 4-1 loss: the first being captain Anthony Repaci and the second being the lost and completely boring style of play from earlier this season.
Yes, Worcester was facing another tough goaltender in Thomas Milic, and yes, he made a few incredible saves, but far too often, the Railers made it easy on Milic and the Admirals by trying to force the puck to Repaci. That didn’t work well before, and not so shockingly, that didn’t work Thursday night.
What the fans in attendance saw was a team that looked completely lost most of the time, spending huge amounts of time either chasing the puck or facing the wrong direction when they possessed it. Even four on four, which is one of this team’s strengths, they looked like guys who had never been on the ice together before.
In other words, exactly what we saw from the team in October and November.
Norfolk grabbed the first goal of the game on a deflection from Brady Fleurent in front of Worcester netminder Hugo Ollas at 3:05 of the first period. Referee Logan Gruhl ruled it a good goal and then went to video review for a possible high stick. Was it a high stick? This writer’s original guess was, yes, it was. Was there video evidence of it? No, there wasn’t. After a second look Friday morning, it’s probably a good goal.
Filip Fornaa Svensson made it 2-0 Admirals eight seconds after JD Dudek’s crosschecking minor expired, and that’s when fans started to get a bit restless.
Worcester’s first power play bid of the night was almost comical, with the Railers continually forcing the puck to Repaci for one-timers. On a couple of those bids, Repaci was so deep in the zone his angle to the net was so bad he almost needed to bank it in off someone to have any chance of scoring.
They got their second chance with the man advantage in the middle frame, and at 7:17, Anthony Callin made it a 2-1 game with a low laser that beat Milic clean. Connor Welsh and Repaci had the helpers.
Welsh’s assist gave him 46 points for the season, tying him with IceCats defender Nick Naumenko for second on the single-season list for defensemen points on a city team. Blueliner Danny Groulx had 66 points for the WorSharks in 2009–10, winning the AHL’s Eddie Shore Award as the league’s best defenseman during that campaign.
Any hopes of the Railers grabbing a needed point or two were squashed by old friend Andrei Bakanov, who scored two goals, the second into an empty net, for the 4-1 final.
GAME NOTES
Scratches for the Railers were Alec Cicero, Kabore Dunn (3-day IR), Riley Ginnell, Anthony Hora (IR/unknown), Kolby Johnson (IR/upper body), Tanner Schachle (IR/unknown), and Matt Ustaski (IR/unknown). Michael Bullion was the backup goaltender.
In transactions since the team returned from Trois-Rivieres on Sunday, on Monday, Worcester unsuspended Brenden Rons and released him. Tuesday saw Bridgeport loaning Riley Piercey back to the Railers and recalling Cam McDonald. On Wednesday, Worcester released Mark Cheremeta, signed Alec Cicero, acquired defenseman Pito Walton from Idaho, and moved Dunn and Johnson to IR. The big news was on Thursday when Anthony Repaci was activated from IR.
Because I was asked at the watch party on Sunday at Off The Rails, the first tiebreaker is who has the most wins in regulation if two teams are tied for a playoff spot. If the teams remained tied, they then compared ROW, or wins in regulation and overtime. The third tiebreaker is goal differential and then points gained in the teams’ head-to-head matchups. Because teams don’t play the same number of home games against each other, only some of those head-to-head games count, and we’ll get into that and further tiebreakers later if they come into play.
The three stars of the game were
1. NOR – Thomas Milic (#32)
2. NOR – Brady Fleurent (#94)
3. WOR – Anthony Callin (#44)
The 210Sports Player of the Game was Matthew Kopperud.
Even Strength Lines
Kopperud / Callin / Loughran
Repaci / Kaplan / Piercey
Kobryn / DeMelis / Domhauser
Mahshie / Dudek / Hatten
Welsh / Luce
Rajaniemi / Dickinson
Walton / Klee
Press Releases
RAILERS: Admirals Take Series Opener 4-1 over Railers
ADMIRALS: Milic And Bakanov Shine Brightly In Victory Over Worcester
Our affiliates last night
(Wednesday night)
Bridgeport 5, Laval 2
In the ECHL’s North Division last night
(Wednesday night)
Trois-Rivieres 2, Wheeling 0
BOX SCORE
Norfolk 2 0 2 – 4
Worcester 0 1 0 – 1
1st Period-1, Norfolk, Fleurent 25 (Kelly, Sward), 3:05. 2, Norfolk, Fornåå Svensson 25 (Zloty, McDougall), 10:31. Penalties-Dudek Wor (cross-checking), 8:23; Musser Nor (hooking), 12:38.
2nd Period-3, Worcester, Callin 18 (Welsh, Repaci), 7:17 (PP). Penalties-Musser Nor (hooking), 6:07; Kelly Nor (roughing), 15:41; Kopperud Wor (roughing), 15:41; Luce Wor (interference), 19:22; Fedorek Nor (roughing), 19:47.
3rd Period-4, Norfolk, Bakanov 13 (Hebert), 7:53. 5, Norfolk, Bakanov 14 (Hebert, Musser), 16:16 (EN). Penalties-Fedorek Nor (interference), 1:50.
Shots on Goal-Norfolk 11-4-6-21. Worcester 13-13-5-31.
Power Play Opportunities-Norfolk 0 / 2; Worcester 1 / 4.
Goalies-Norfolk, Milic 8-4-0-0 (31 shots-30 saves). Worcester, Ollas 11-13-1-2 (20 shots-17 saves).
A-1,968
Referees-Logan Gruhl (29).
Linesmen-Matthew Heinen (93), Shane Kanaly (74).
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