It seems the Worcester Railers have finally found the right track as they extended their winning streak to four games with a 2-1 overtime win over the Maine Mariners Friday night at the DCU Center.
Henrik Tikkanen was once again the star of the show, making 34 saves on 35 Maine shots. The Mariners’ late second-period goal stopped Tikkanen’s Railers franchise record shutout streak at 158:19, but that didn’t deter the 6’8″ Finnish netminder. His current streak is now a modest 26:41, but he needed every save in that time span to outduel his Mariners counterpart Luke Cavallin.
The first period was played like pond hockey as the teams went back and forth with very few whistles. So few, in fact, that after the first media timeout was postponed because of a Worcester power play, the next whistle that happened that would allow for the break to take place saw just 3:44 left on the clock.
It was a lot of the same in the middle frame, although with a few more whistles, and as it got deeper and deeper into the period and with Tikkanen and Cavallin both showing their A-game, it had the vibe that one goal might be enough to get the two points.
Worcester got a late-period power play bid, and as bad as their first try was, the second was the mirror opposite as Ryan Miotto scored a “right place, right time” kind of goal as Matt DeMelis was able to find Miotto all alone behind Cavallin. Lincoln Hatten extended his points streak to five games with the initial feed toward the net.
Unfortunately, just twenty seconds later Maine would tie it, and end Tikkanen’s shotout streak, on a goal currently credited to Andrew Nielsen, who Railers fans will remember as the defenseman that didn’t want to play here and only reported after Worcester said they would trade him if he played a weekend for the team.
It stayed 1-1 for the rest of regulation, thanks to the Worcester penalty killers, as the Railers still find themselves taking knuckleheaded penalties. Cam McDonald took a silly interference penalty while Worcester was on the power play, and then halfway through the frame Tanner Schachle took one of the dumbest slashing penalties you’ll ever see. It ended up being Schachle’s last shift of the game.
In overtime, the Railers had the only four shots, with DeMelis connecting on the last one for the 2-1 win. Riley Ginnell and Michael Ferrandino picked up the helpers.
There was a postgame gathering at center ice between the teams, which seemed to center around Cavallin and Railers backup goaltender Tristan Lennox. From the folks on the bench side, it seems Lennox was giving to Cavallin all game because of some shenanigans Cavallin was playing during warmups on both Tuesday and Friday, involving jawing and making physical contact with Railers players. We may not have heard the end of that.
GAME NOTES
Scratches for the Railers were Brendan Dowler, Thomas Gale (14-day IR/Unknown), Kolby Johnson (3-day IR), Riley Piercey (Suspended, game 7 of 7), Porter Schachle (14-day IR/Unknown), and TJ Walsh (14-day IR/Upper body). Tristan Lennox was the backup goaltender. On Thursday, Worcester signed defenseman Dowler to an ECHL contract, and the NYI re-assigned Calle Odelius from the Railers to Bridgeport.
In some scoring changes from last weekend, as we suspected, Cam McDonald’s shot did hit Lincoln Hatten on its way to being put into the net by Cole Donhauser Friday night, so Matt Stief loses a helper and Hatten gains one. That goal now reads “1, WOR, Donhauser 3 (Hatten, McDonald), 4:21 (PP).” We’ll let Hatten keep the “atta boy” we gave him for the play. In the same game, on Drew Callin’s second-period goal, McDonald’s assist has been switched to Donhauser. That goal now reads “3, WOR, Callin 3 (Donhauser, Repaci), 9:02.”
In my unusually brief notes section for Tuesday’s School Day game, I mentioned that despite only having two shutouts in a row, Reinhard Divis went 203:21 without being scored on. A couple of folks messaged that they didn’t get how that was possible, as three games would be 180 minutes. Because I’m too lazy to look up the actual numbers, we’ll just approximate. Divis went two full games, which we’ll call the full 120 minutes. In something that both Bill Ballou and I hate, leagues deduct the time the goalie was off for an extra attacker due to a delayed penalty. We’ll ignore that for now. We know Divis allowed a late third-period goal in the third game, with about eight minutes remaining. So, that’s 52 more minutes, and we’re at 172. Add the third period from the previous shutout, and now it’s 192, and, well, the rest is easy from there, as at some point in the second period, he allowed a goal. Only two shutouts, but 203:21 of play.
There is no doubt what the Railers’ new shutout streak franchise record is, as Henrik Tikkanen went 158:19 between goals allowed over the past three games. What has come into question is what the record was before. My list had it being Tikkanen at 116:57. This was based on the record previous to that being Mitch Gillam’s 115:15, which was listed in the team’s media notes during the 2018-19 season. But Bill Ballou had a different number, and, as it turns out, the correct number of 122:16, also by Gillam, but done later in the 2017-18 season.
Last Sunday, former Worcester goaltender Colten Ellis did something no player had done before: scored an NHL point after playing for the Railers.
Good friend Stan Hosmer messaged to find out who the Worcester pro hockey leader is for NHL goaltender points, and since I looked it up for him, I’ll share it with everyone. As with almost all Worcester pro hockey records, both Dwayne Roloson and Brent Johnson top the list. Roloson had 14 career NHL assists, while Johnson had 10. Short-time injury rehab netminder Jon Casey slides between the two of them for second place with 13 helpers. Carter Hutton comes next with five, and Thomas Greiss and Alex Stalock tie with four each. Counting Ellis, 13 different goaltenders who played for a Worcester pro team have assists in the NHL. We’re still awaiting our first goalie goal.
In case you missed it, and I can tell you with absolute certainty that Adirondack fans didn’t, the Thunder signed forward Ben Johnson to a contract on Wednesday. Now, ordinarily, ECHL signings don’t generate a whole lot of buzz outside their home market, but when the first line of a player’s Wikipedia page reads “Benjamin Johnson (born June 7, 1994) is an American professional ice hockey player and convicted sex offender”, you’re probably going to get some negative feedback. And, wow, did Adirondack ever. Wednesday evening, the Thunder quietly deleted all their announcement posts and released Johnson. It’s situations like these where, as a hockey fan, I’m glad we have people of high character and morals like Cliff Rucker and Mike Myers running the show. I don’t know Nick Tuzzolino at all, but I’m betting he’s in that group too. We all want to win, but you need to do it the right way. And signing a convicted rapist is not the right way.
The three stars of the game were
1. WOR – #39 Henrik Tikkanen
2. WOR – #37 Matt DeMelis
3. WOR – #10 Ryan Miotto
The 210Sports Player of the Game was Michael Ferrandino.
Even Strength Lines
Repaci / D.Callin / A.Callin
Donhauser / Miotto / Mitton
Nurmi / Dorrington / T.Schachle
Ginnell / DeMelis / Hatten
McDonald / Suda
Hora / Ferrandino
Stief / Samuelsson
Press Releases
RAILERS: Railers route Mariners 2-1 in overtime
MARINERS: Nielsen’s goal earns Mariners point in Worcester
Our affiliates last night
Bridgeport 5, Rochester 4
In the ECHL’s North Division last night
Reading 4, Wheeling 1
Norfolk 4, Trois-Rivières 2
Indy 2, Adirondack 1
BOX SCORE
Maine 0 1 0 0 – 1
Worcester 0 1 0 1 – 2
1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-served by Jones Mne (bench – too many men), 5:22; Donhauser Wor (slashing), 18:40.
2nd Period-1, Worcester, Miotto 2 (DeMelis, Hatten), 17:59 (PP). 2, Maine, Nielsen 1 (Villegas), 18:19. Penalties-Hudson Mne (hooking), 16:36; Repaci Wor (tripping), 19:50.
3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Marooney Mne (hooking), 3:41; McDonald Wor (interference), 4:20; Schachle Wor (slashing), 10:33.
1st OT Period-3, Worcester, DeMelis 3 (Ginnell, Ferrandino), 5:00. Penalties-No Penalties
Shots on Goal-Maine 12-12-11-0-35. Worcester 8-11-6-4-29.
Power Play Opportunities-Maine 0 / 4; Worcester 1 / 3.
Goalies-Maine, Cavallin 6-3-1-0 (29 shots-27 saves). Worcester, Tikkanen 4-2-0-1 (35 shots-34 saves).
A-2,333
Referees-Chazz Knoche (33), -.
Linesmen-Shane Kanaly (74), Noah Merrow (57).
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