The Worcester Railers found themselves in a deep hole Saturday night after allowing five goals in the first 43 minutes of their contest against the Reading Royals, but their “never give up” attitude got them back in the game with two extra-attacker goals, only for them to come up just short in a 5-4 loss.
The Railers got something other than two points in their Friday night 2-1 win over Reading: a rash of injuries to defensemen. Despite the return of Michael Suda from Bridgeport, the Railers found themselves with just five available blueliners, with Brendan Dowler, Michael Ferrandino, and Matt Stief all unavailable, and Worcester used forward Riley Piercey on defense. Add that to a sputtering offense, and it was a recipe for some potentially ugly hockey.
And early on, “ugly” was the right word to describe it.
Massimo Rizzo made the Treddy Bears fly at 4:09 of the opening period, and as the shots piled up for the Royals, Jeremy Michel made it 2-0 at 15:45.
The Railers, who at one point had as many power play opportunities as shots on goal, three, finally broke through with a Gleb Veremyev power play goal at 17:46 to cut the Reading lead to 2-1. The Callin brothers both picked up helpers on the play.
Late in the frame, with Worcester finally pressing and ringing up shot after shot, a Railers turnover high in the attacking zone sent the Royals racing toward Parker Gahagen, potentially on a two-on-none. The speedy T.J. Walsh was able to get into the play and took a pretty much “have to grab him” holding minor to break up the potential high-quality chance. It was for nought as Nolan Burke connected on the power play with 36 seconds left in the period to make it 3-1 Reading.
The Royals would have the only goal of the middle period, from Nick Capone at 7:46, and in the third, with Thomas Gale taking over for Gahagen in net, Kyle Haskins made it 5-1 at 2:54.
Matt DeMelis was in the right place at the right time when Cam McDonald’s bid was blocked, as the puck went right to his stick, and then right past Reading netminder Yaniv Perets at 12:41. Lincoln Hatten had the secondary assist.
After the DeMelis goal and following a quick Reading icing, Railers head coach Nick Tuzzolino called his timeout–fans of the Worcester Sharks couldn’t be happier to have a coach who understands when and how to use his timeouts–and with 7:09 remaining in the frame, pulled Gale for an extra attacker.
What followed was a bunch of extra attacker hockey with spurts of five-on-five, depending on where each face-off was. It took a while, plus a couple of ill-advised empty net attempts from Reading, but finally, captain Anthony Repaci caught a lucky bounce on a centering feed, and it was 5-3. Currently, DeMelis has the lone assist, but I think we might see a helper added for Drew Callin, who forced the turnover that led to the goal. He’s also not currently listed as getting a “plus” on the goal.
Readers from this season will note the number of times this writer has mentioned Worcester taking a bonehead penalty, so turnabout is fair play when it’s mentioned that Royals defender Carter Berger took an absolutely bonehead unsportsmanlike conduct minor after the Repaci tally.
That power play gave the Railers an eventual six-on-four power play, and Hatten’s tip of McDonald’s shot made it 5-4 with 2:30 remaining on the clock. Repaci is credited with the secondary assist.
But unfortunately, that was as close as the Railers would get on the evening.
GAME NOTES
Scratches for the Railers were Cole Donhauser (suspended, game 2 of 2), Brendan Dowler, Michael Ferrandino (14-day IR/Unknown), Tristan Lennox (14-day IR/Lower body), Porter Schachle (14-day IR/Unknown), Tanner Shachle (14-day IR/Unknown), and Matt Stief (3-day IR). Thomas Gale was the backup goaltender and entered the game to start the third period. Michael Suda was released from his PTO with Bridgeport.
The three stars of the game were
1. REA – #34 Jeremy Michel
2. REA – #13 Massimi Rizzo
3. WOR – #81 Anthony Repaci
The 210Sports Player of the Game was Lincoln Hatten.
Even Strength Lines
Repaci / Miotto / Mitton
Carson / D.Callin / A.Callin
Ginnell / DeMelis / Hatten
Walsh / Dorrington / Veremyev
McDonald / Suda
Blanchard / Samuelsson
Hora / Piercey
Press Releases
RAILERS: Railers comeback falls short in 5-4 loss to Royals
ROYALS: Royals down Railers on Teddy Bear toss night 5-4
Our affiliates last night
NY Islanders 2, Tampa Bay 0
Bridgeport 6, Hartford 2
In the ECHL’s North Division last night
Idaho 4, Trois-Rivières 1
Wheeling 3, Greensboro 1
Florida 5, Norfolk 2
Adirondack 2, Maine 1 OT
BOX SCORE
Worcester 1 0 3 – 4
Reading 3 1 1 – 5
1st Period-1, Reading, Rizzo 4 (Burke, Berger), 4:09. 2, Reading, Michel 1 (Rizzo, Meehan), 15:45. 3, Worcester, Veremyev 2 (Callin, Callin), 17:46 (PP). 4, Reading, Burke 3 (Rizzo, Berger), 19:24 (PP). Penalties-Butcher Rea (hooking), 6:18; Guryev Rea (hooking), 11:34; McMenamin Rea (slashing), 16:36; Walsh Wor (holding), 18:52.
2nd Period-5, Reading, Capone 2 (Stucker, Kulakov), 7:46. Penalties-Ginnell Wor (high-sticking), 5:07; Meehan Rea (holding), 9:20; Samuelsson Wor (delay of game), 12:58.
3rd Period-6, Reading, Haskins 5 (Butcher, Gendron), 2:54. 7, Worcester, DeMelis 5 (McDonald, Hatten), 12:41. 8, Worcester, Repaci 6 (DeMelis), 16:52. 9, Worcester, Hatten 8 (Suda, Repaci), 17:30 (PP). Penalties-Kulakov Rea (roughing), 4:51; Berger Rea (unsportsmanlike conduct), 16:52.
Shots on Goal-Worcester 12-9-20-41. Reading 16-12-7-35.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 2 / 6; Reading 1 / 3.
Goalies-Worcester, Gahagen 3-0-1-0 (28 shots-24 saves); Gale 0-2-0-0 (7 shots-6 saves). Reading, Perets 4-2-1-0 (41 shots-37 saves).
A-3,494
Referees-Andrew Bell (24), Jamie Pavia (26).
Linesmen-Austin March (80), Joseph Johnson (78).
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