Sometimes, to win games, you need a little extra effort, a little extra luck, and a little extra time, and luckily for the Worcester Railers, they got all three on Saturday night as they managed to get their game against the Norfolk Admirals into overtime, where Matt DeMelis scored to give Worcester a 3-2 win. Henrik Tikkanen made 26 saves, some very timely, in the victory.
Despite entering the game winless, the Railers really hadn’t had a terrible opening period this season, and Saturday wasn’t an exception as both teams played well, with Tikkanen and Norfolk netminder Alex Worthington keeping the game scoreless after twenty minutes.
Unfortunately, it took just 56 seconds into the middle stanza for Norfolk to take a 1-0 lead when Ross Mitton accepted a pass from Jason Horvath and headed up ice to the left of Tikkanen. Mitton took two strides and skated right into Brady Fleurent’s stick. The Admirals’ forward grabbed the loose puck and beat Tikkanen five-hole for the 1-0 lead.
Just past the halfway mark of the period, a great individual effort and nice backhander by Cole Donhauser knotted the score 1-1. Anthony Repaci was credited with an assist on the play, but perhaps we won’t mention that too loudly.
With two minutes to go in the period, Riley Piercy blocked a booming shot from Norfolk defender Josh McDougall and went down hard, but play continued as Piercey struggled to get back to his feet and stay in the play. The action carried on for quite some time with the Railers essentially having four and a half skaters on the ice, and despite all the great saves Tikkanen made Saturday night, Justin Young’s bid that beat the Worcester netminder five-hole at 18:17 is a save that an ECHL goaltender needs to make.
The Railers didn’t give up after that late tally, and would have the only goal of the third period, at 2:20, when Piercey sent Ryan Miotto in all alone on Worthington. The crappy FloHockey feed interrupts the great bid, but it still counts. We should see an additional assist added for Mitton at some point.
It stayed 2-2 through the third period due to great saves by Tikkanen and Worthington.
To overtime the teams went, with the Railers controlling play in the extra session. Far too often, we’ve seen teams get dominated in overtime but still find a way to win. This wasn’t one of those times, as eventually Michael Ferrandino sent DeMelis into the Norfolk zone for the backhander gamewinner.
The Railers return to the DCU Center on Halloween night, with a 7pm puck drop.
GAME NOTES
Scratches for the Railers were Thomas Gale (3-day IR), Riley Ginnell (14-day IR/Unknown), Kolby Johnson, Cam McDonald (upper body), Porter Schachle (14-day IR/Unknown), Tanner Schachle (14-day IR/Unknown), and Matt Stief (upper body). Tristan Lennox was the backup goaltender.
There was one fight in the contest, with Lincoln Hatten taking on the Admirals Brayden Nicholetts at 3:10 of the opening period. Because the Railers tweeted the highlight, we’ll add it right here.
After the fight, Hatten headed to the penalty box as usual, as did Nicholetts, but Nicholetts was turned around and went to the Norfolk dressing room for repairs. Eventually, he returned wearing a full face shield. All of that isn’t out of the ordinary. What is odd is that the scoresheet indicates that Justin Young served Nicholetts major penalty. Under ECHL Rule 20.3, Norfolk, already playing with just 17 skaters and 10 forwards, didn’t need to put a player in the penalty box to serve Nicholetts’ matching major penalty. Since Hatten and Nicholetts can’t return to the ice until a stoppage in play after their penalties expire, there’s no gain in putting a player in the box to serve Nicholetts’ major. In the long run, it’s just an odd thing, but it’s one the Railers might need to pay attention to if referee Emile Charron is involved in any more of their games.
As I tweeted out, and tagged Railers broadcaster Tim Foley so he could mention if he so chose, Ryan Miotto’s second-period goal was the 6,000th regular-season goal scored in Worcester pro hockey history. Now, an enterprising person could go back to all of the AHL and ECHL end-of-season paperwork, add up all the goals credited to Worcester teams, and come up with a number just slightly higher than that 6,000. That’s because teams are awarded a goal for winning shootouts without actually scoring a goal. Both Bill Ballou and I track actual goals scored in games, and Miotto’s is indeed number 6,000.
Earlier yesterday, I was looking up some information on Worcester pro goalies taking the loss in games they were pulled from. That led me to the WorSharks at Norfolk boxscore from February 15, 2008. I think posting just the early third-period penalties in that game might give you some idea why netminder Thomas Greiss didn’t get to finish that one out. “Greiss Wor (leaving the crease, fighting, game misconduct – secondary altercation), 0:06; Iggulden Wor (instigating, fighting, misconduct – instigating, game misconduct – aggressor), 0:06; Packard Wor (roughing), 0:06; Traverse Wor (fighting, game misconduct – secondary altercation), 0:06; Boutin Nor (leaving the crease, fighting, game misconduct – secondary altercation), 0:06; Fletcher Nor (fighting, game misconduct – secondary altercation), 0:06; Leach Nor (fighting), 0:06; Stewart Nor (roughing), 0:06; Cavanagh Wor (fighting, game misconduct – secondary altercation), 1:32; Setoguchi Wor (fighting), 1:32; Scalzo Nor (fighting), 1:32; Smolenak Nor (fighting, game misconduct – secondary altercation), 1:32;”
This will be a long-shot request, but we’re going to make it anyway. Worcester Railers Booster Club President Rich Lundin, who got dragged into this project by me, and I are trying to put together all the awards the Club has handed out to players over the years, going back to their inaugural 1994-95 season as the Worcester IceCats Booster Club. We’ve already gone through the Worcester Telegram online archive and have all the information Bill Ballou has. What we’re looking for are newsletters and other ephemera that mention any winners from the IceCats. For the WorSharks, we need the Players of the Month for March from both 2011 and 2012. We’re also missing the Railers PotM for March 2019, but it’s more than likely the Club didn’t have one for that month for some reason. If you have any information, you can talk to Rich or me at any home game, or you can email info@railersbc.com.
The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – #37 Matt DeMelis
2. WOR – #39 Henrik Tikkanen
3. NOR – #31 Alex Worthington
The 210Sports Player of the Game was Ryan Miotto.
Even Strength Lines
Piercey / Miotto / Mitton
Donhauser / A.Callin / Repaci
Walsh / D.Callin / Dorrington
Kobryn / DeMelis / Hatten
Odelius / Ferrandino
Horvath / Fraser
Hora / Dunn
Press Releases
RAILERS: DeMelis captures 3-2 overtime win for Worcester
ADMIRALS: Admirals fall in overtime thriller against Railers
Our affiliates last night
Philadelphia 4, NY Islanders 3 SO
In the ECHL’s North Division last night
Maine 7, Wheeling 3
Adirondack 4, Trois-Rivières 1
Reading 8, Greensboro 7 OT
BOX SCORE
Worcester 0 1 1 1 – 3
Norfolk 0 2 0 0 – 2
1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Hatten Wor (fighting – major), 3:10; Nicholetts Nor (fighting – major), 3:10; Reifenberger Nor (holding the stick), 4:52; Dorrington Wor (slashing), 11:26; Ferrandino Wor (tripping), 17:25; Young Nor (interference), 17:37.
2nd Period-1, Norfolk, Fleurent 3 0:56. 2, Worcester, Donhauser 2 (Repaci), 12:59. 3, Norfolk, Young 1 (Drake), 18:17. Penalties-No Penalties
3rd Period-4, Worcester, Miotto 1 (Piercey), 2:20. Penalties-Yavash Nor (cross-checking), 5:33.
1st OT Period-5, Worcester, DeMelis 1 (Ferrandino), 4:34. Penalties-No Penalties
Shots on Goal-Worcester 10-15-8-6-39. Norfolk 9-10-8-1-28.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0 / 3; Norfolk 0 / 2.
Goalies-Worcester, Tikkanen 1-1-0-0 (28 shots-26 saves). Norfolk, Worthington 0-1-1-0 (39 shots-36 saves).
A-4,101
Referees-Emile Charron (43), -.
Linesmen-Joseph Johnson (78), Evan Knox (83).
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