For the second time in as many nights, the Worcester Railers took on the Maine Mariners at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland on Saturday, and just like Friday night, 60 minutes wasn’t enough to determine a winner, but unlike the weeknight encounter, it was the Mariners coming out on top with an overtime goal to hand Worcester a 3-2 loss.
During the pregame show, Railers broadcaster Tim Foley asked head coach Nick Tuzzolino what he wanted to see in the first five minutes of the game, to which Tuzzolino replied something like “to not give up any goals”. Well, so much for that plan. After Lincoln Hatten took a high-sticking penalty just 16 seconds into the contest,
Andrew Nielsen found himself with the puck all alone behind Worcester netminder Parker Gahagen, and Nielsen roofed it under the crossbar for the 1-0 Mariners lead at 2:08.
The Railers were lucky to be down just 1-0 after twenty minutes, as they were outshot 11-5 and outplayed by even more than that.
It took Worcester just 33 seconds to erase that poor period when Ryan Miotto won a faceoff back to Jesse Pulkkinen, who skated to the high slot and fired one past Maine goaltender Brad Arvanitis.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for the Mariners to regain their legs as they once again took it right to the Railers, and at 9:35, Mitch Deelstra made it 2-1 Maine when he was all alone on an odd man rush and beat Gahagen high to the glove side.
As badly as the ice was tilted toward the Worcester end in the first 40 minutes, it was the exact opposite for the final 20 minutes of regulation as the Railers outshot Maine 13-4 and completely controlled the action.
Drew Callin would have the only goal of the frame when he connected on the power play, assisted by Anthony Repaci and brother Anthony Callin, at 8:28.
That goal was the 1,500th non-shootout goal in the Railers’ franchise history.
Worcester would get a late power play chance when Nielsen was penalized for an illegal check to the head of Miotto, but they couldn’t connect with the man advantage. There’s a very good chance Nielsen will be getting a phone call from the ECHL tomorrow morning informing him he has at least one day off.
That wouldn’t be it for the Railers special teams as they’d have another power play with 18 seconds left in regulation, but that man advantage was cut short when linesman Conor Foley called Miotto for winning the faceoff with his hands. Watching the replay, it’s hard to tell if Miotto did or didn’t, so we’ll give Linesman Foley the benefit of the doubt. The problem is that Max Andreev should have been called for either a faceoff violation by one of the two linesmen or a trip by one of the two referees. And, neither happened.
Into overtime the teams went three on three, and eventually to four on four as the penalties expired. When they were back to three-on-three, Cole Donhauser did the unthinkable, and instead of keeping the Maine forward in front of him, went after Xander Lamppa behind the Mariners net, losing an edge and falling down. Maine exited the zone on a three-on-two, where Max Andreev beat Gahagen up high for the game winner.
The teams will now head to the DCU Center for a Sunday 3pm puck drop.
GAME NOTES
Scratches for the Railers were Michael Ferrandino (14-day IR/Unknown), Thomas Gale, Riley Ginnell (14-day IR/Upper Body), Lazarus Kaebel (3-day IR), Case McCarthy (14-day IR/Unknown), Ross Mitton (14-day IR/Upper Body), and Matt Myers (travel). Tristan Lennox was the backup goaltender.
Just after noon Saturday, Worcester GM Nick Tuzzolino announced the signing of forward Matt Myers, son of Railers COO Mike Myers, who was on the roster of the SPHL’s Birmingham Bulls. Myers was 4-2-6 in 15 games between the Bulls and Quad City Storm, and had skated with the Railers in training camp, going scoreless in their two preseason games against Maine.
It was Lincoln Hatten’s 100th Railers game, and it’s one that he would probably like to forget. He was in the penalty box for Maine’s first goal, he fell down and his man scored the second Mariners goal, and then he was hit with a ten-minute misconduct in the third period. Tough way to celebrate a milestone.
And speaking of Hatten, he was wearing a full face shield Saturday night after taking some damage in overtime Friday night as he looked to hit his face on the ice while being called for a holding minor. Hatten was sent to the penalty box, but during the timeout that the Mariners called left the box, spoke to the referees, and then went to the dressing room. His penalty was served by Matt DeMelis. Thinking back, I don’t recall ever seeing a player injured while holding another opponent.
With the Boston Bruins reassigning Luke Cavallin to Providence due to Simon Zajicek’s lower-body injury, Maine had to grab an EBUG, and they went with Stan Basisty, who apparently spells his last name as “Basistyy” in some places. Or, perhaps it’s the other way around. At any rate, it’s the second time he’s been an EBUG for the Mariners against the Railers; the first was a forgettable 9-3 loss by Worcester on December 28, 2022, that saw Quin Ryan tie a franchise record by being minus-5 in the game. An amazing stat once you realize Ryan finished the season at plus-4. Henrik Tikkanen got the start and gave up six goals in 36:51 before being pulled by head coach Jordan Smotherman. Brent Moran then entered the game and was just as ineffective. By all accounts, Basisty(y) looked great opening and closing the Maine bench door while backing up François Brassard.
The Mariners were once again wearing their Portland Pirates throwbacks, and it has been mentioned in this space that it would be an awesome idea for the Railers, Mariners, Admirals, and Thunder to get together and work out wearing AHL throwback sweaters against each other for select games. When it was mentioned to Railers COO Mike Myers, he thought it was a cool idea but would likely face too many hurdles to really make it work. He didn’t rule out the possibility of a couple of teams working together to make a go at it, so file that in the back of your mind, maybe not for next season, but for 2027-28.
The three stars of the game were
1. MNE – #23 Max Andreev
2. MNE – #21 Linus Hemstrom
3. WOR – #77 Drew Callin
The 210Sports Player of the Game was Jesse Pulkkinen.
Even Strength Lines
Repaci / Miotto / Dorrington
Veremyev / A.Callin / D.Callin
Donhauser / DeMelis / Hatten
Carson / Piercey / Federkow
Pulkkinen / Samuelsson
McDonald / Suda
Hora / Blanchard
Press Releases
RAILERS: Worcester grabs overtime point in 3-2 loss to Pirates
MARINERS: Andreev plays overtime hero on Pirates night
Our affiliates last night
Calgary 4, NY Islanders 2
Bridgeport 4, Springfield 1
In the ECHL’s North Division last night
Adirondack 3, Trois-Rivières 1
Greensboro 4, Reading 1
Norfolk 6, Wheeling 3
BOX SCORE
Worcester 0 1 1 0 – 2
Maine 1 1 0 1 – 3
1st Period-1, Maine, Nielsen 5 (Hudson, Hemstrom), 2:08 (PP). Penalties-Hatten Wor (high-sticking), 0:16.
2nd Period-2, Worcester, Pulkkinen 3 (Miotto), 0:33. 3, Maine, Deelstra 2 (Stewart, Hemstrom), 9:35. Penalties-Callin Wor (hooking), 1:03; Andreev Mne (tripping), 5:13; Edward Mne (roughing), 11:29.
3rd Period-4, Worcester, Callin 10 (Repaci, Callin), 8:28 (PP). Penalties-Johansson Mne (roughing), 7:40; Hatten Wor (misconduct), 12:20; Nielsen Mne (illegal check to head), 17:22; Jordan Mne (tripping), 19:42; Veremyev Wor (delay of game – faceoff infraction), 19:57.
1st OT Period-5, Maine, Andreev 7 (Edward, Lamppa), 3:27. Penalties-No Penalties
Shots on Goal-Worcester 5-7-13-0-25. Maine 11-9-4-3-27.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 1 / 5; Maine 1 / 3.
Goalies-Worcester, Gahagen 8-2-2-0 (27 shots-24 saves). Maine, Arvanitis 4-5-2-1 (25 shots-23 saves).
A-6,076
Referees-Michael Zyla (34), Eliot Grauer (59).
Linesmen-Conor Foley (86), Felix-Antoine Voyer (57).
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