For the first time in Worcester Railers history the team wore their orange third jerseys against an opponent also wearing their usual dark sweaters and the Railers rode that color rush to a 5-4 win against the Trois-Rivieres Lions to sweep their two-game mini-series at the DCU Center.
Worcester had the only goal of the opening twenty minutes, and of course, it was captain Anthony Repaci coming up big again when he deflected Anthony Callin’s shot past Lions’ netminder Luke Cavallin at 7:52. Matias Rajaniemi had the other assist.
The goal was on a delayed penalty call, so that becomes the earliest extra-attacker goal in Railers franchise history.
The second period began with the Railers shorthanded, and while everyone was hoping the penalty killers could keep the Lions off the board Callin had a different idea, and 11 seconds into the frame he made it 2-0 with a shortie assisted by Cole Donhauser.
A few minutes later Worcester had their first power play opportunity of the game, and Lincoln Hatten made it 3-0 at 4:12, with Justin Gill and Griffin Loughran picking up the assists.
Sixty-one seconds later Connor Welsh fired a fourth past Cavallin, with help from Loughran and Matt DeMelis, and that was it for Cavallin’s day as Hunter Jones came in to play goal.
But we knew that wouldn’t be all for Trois-Rivieres, and they got goals from Logan Nijhoff (6:28) and Tyler Hylland (14:00, PP) to make it 4-2 after forty minutes.
The key for the Railers in the third period was to stay out of the penalty box, and because referees Brendan Schreider and Casey Terreri didn’t call anything for a long time in the frame, they accomplished that easily.
With time winding down and Jones off for an extra attacker Donhauser, with some help from Repaci, hit the empty net to make it 5-2 Worcester at 16:29. Griffin Luce had the secondary assist.
At that point, it should have been smooth sailing for the Railers. Only, it wasn’t. Worcester took a late penalty, and Nijhoff scored a power play goal at 18:31 to make it 5-3. Then Nijhoff scored again, officially at 19:59.5, but both the red and green lights were on, so it was likely later than that, but no matter it was too late for a last gasp as the Lions whined and complained before being escorted off the ice by the officials.
Next weekend’s series in Trois-Rivieres will be very interesting, and once again Worcester needs at least four points out of the game.
GAME NOTES
Scratches for the Railers were Alec Cicero, Ryan Dickinson, JD Dudek (3-day IR), Riley Ginnell (IR/unknown), Anthony Hora (IR/unknown), Kolby Johnson (IR/upper body), and Matt Ustaski (IR/unknown). Hugo Ollas was the backup goaltender.
While Saturday’s box score still lists Jordan Kaplan’s Aggressor Game misconduct the ECHL either chose to not enforce the automatic one-game suspension or they have changed the penalty and have not yet made that reflection in the box score. No matter the reason Kaplan was in the lineup Sunday. On the other hand, Lions captain Morgan Adams-Moisan was not. Word was it was a coach’s decision. Seems odd that would happen, but we’ll gladly take the way things worked out.
In a likely meaningless statistic, the Railers remain undefeated when they’re wearing their orange jerseys and I’m wearing a t-shirt I’ve not worn before covered by a Monkey Wrenches pullover. Yes, it’s a small sample size, but a winning streak is still a winning streak.
In another statistic that makes you shake your head, Lions netminder Luke Cavallin allowed four goals before being lifted for Hunter Jones, who didn’t allow a goal while he was on the ice. In hockey, the loss goes to the goaltender who allowed the game-winning goal. Because of the two quick Trois-Rivieres tallies at the end of the game, the game-winner was Cole Donhauser’s empty net goal. At that time Jones was the “goaltender of record” when it was scored, so he gets the loss despite not actually allowing any goals.
During the game, Lindsay asked me on Twitter if a Worcester pro team had ever scored 6v5, 5v5, 5v4, and 4v5 goals in a game before because at that point that’s what the Railers had done. I replied that my guess was it had happened, but it would take a deep dive to figure out when. The Railers then added a 5v6 goal, and I’m going to go out on a limb and say those five combinations of goal-scoring have never happened before in Worcester’s pro history. The Railers had a shot at a 4v6 goal, which would have sealed it as the six situations never happened before.
Here on 210Sports, we try to keep things professional, but on occasion, we need to step into the fan zone and, as the situation seems to require, post something in celebration of the accomplishments of the team. This is clearly one of those cases.
The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – Anthony Callin (#44)
2. WOR – Anthony Repaci (#81)
3. WOR – Michael Bullion (#32)
The 210Sports Player of the Game was Cole Donhauser.
Even Strength Lines
Donhauser / Callin / Repaci
Kobryn / DeMelis / Loughran
Kopperud / Kaplan / Gill
Schachle / Mahshie / Hatten
Welsh / Walton
Luce / Klee
Rajaniemi / Dunn
Press Releases
RAILERS: Railers Sweep Lions in 5-4 Sunday Finale
LIONS: Lions attempt to replicate Railers’ Saturday night heroics, but come up a goal short
Our affiliates last night
(Sunday)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 5, Bridgeport 2
In the ECHL’s North Division last night
(Sunday)
Maine 5, Adirondack 3
Reading 2, Norfolk 1
Indy 3, Wheeling 1
BOX SCORE
Trois-Rivières 0 2 2 – 4
Worcester 1 3 1 – 5
1st Period-1, Worcester, Repaci 26 (Callin, Rajaniemi), 7:52. Penalties-Dunn Wor (interference), 18:57.
2nd Period-2, Worcester, Callin 20 (Donhauser), 0:11 (SH). 3, Worcester, Hatten 7 (Gill, Loughran), 4:12 (PP). 4, Worcester, Welsh 8 (Loughran, DeMelis), 5:13. 5, Trois-Rivières, Nijhoff 21 (Ducharme, Martin), 6:28. 6, Trois-Rivières, Hylland 13 (Beauregard, Nijhoff), 14:00 (PP). Penalties-Nijhoff Tr (tripping), 2:31; Kaplan Wor (interference), 10:45; Walton Wor (high-sticking), 13:41; Luce Wor (hooking), 16:24.
3rd Period-7, Worcester, Donhauser 9 (Repaci, Luce), 16:29 (EN). 8, Trois-Rivières, Nijhoff 22 (Beauregard, Jandric), 18:31 (PP). 9, Trois-Rivières, Nijhoff 23 (Beauregard, Hylland), 19:59. Penalties-Hatten Wor (slashing), 17:36.
Shots on Goal-Trois-Rivières 8-11-12-31. Worcester 9-8-5-22.
Power Play Opportunities-Trois-Rivières 2 / 5; Worcester 1 / 1.
Goalies-Trois-Rivières, Cavallin 18-8-0-1 (15 shots-11 saves); Jones 13-3-5-1 (6 shots-6 saves). Worcester, Bullion 15-13-0-2 (31 shots-27 saves).
A-6,047
Referees-Brendan Schreider (12), Casey Terreri (14).
Linesmen-Antoine Bujold-Roux (72), Noah Merrow (57).
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