The Worcester Railers headed south to Virginia for a weekend set against the Norfolk Admirals, and the Railers’ two quick third-period strikes Friday night gave them a lead that they would unfortunately eventually give away almost as fast as they once again snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in a 5-3 loss.
This was the type of game that playoff teams win, and right now, Worcester isn’t close to being a playoff team. With eight teams in the ECHL’s North Division, it will likely take 80 points to make the postseason, a number this writer has told many fans, and just yesterday, a number Bill Ballou mentions. The Railers have 35 points through 36 games, so they’ll need 45 points in the next 36 games. That’s a .625 points percentage, and looking at a roster that doesn’t score many goals and makes a lot of mistakes, that’s a tall task.
But not impossible.
It was Norfolk who grabbed an early goal when a bunch of Worcester errors ended up with the puck behind goaltender Parker Gahagen. With the Admirals turning defense to offense, little-used defender Lazarus Kaebel whiffed on an ill-advised stick check at the Norfolk blue line as the attackers raced past him. Gabe Blanchard’s wounded duck attempt to block the passing lane happened after the pass was already made, and Gahagen had no chance on Brady Fleurent’s shot at 2:01. The only Railers forward skating hard getting back was Riley Piercy, but Fleurent had too much of a head start on him.
Ryan Miotto, who is turning into a really solid acquisition by general manager Nick Tuzzolino, tied the game 1-1 at 9:59 when he won the faceoff and then banged home the rebound of Jesse Pulkkinen’s shot. Anthony Repaci earned the secondary assist.
Despite outshooting the Admirals 15-3, that was the only shot the Railers could get past Isaac Poulter in the frame. The three shots allowed by the Railers tie the franchise record for fewest shots allowed in a road first period. It’s the fourth time they’ve done it.
The Admirals would have the only goal of the middle frame, at 10:52, when Kaebel went to play the body of Grant Hebert and completely missed him, allowing Hebert clear possession of the puck behind the Worcester net. Hebert was able to get the puck to Kristóf Papp as Papp was shrugging off the check by Blanchard, and he fired it past Gahagen from in close.
It took just 28 seconds into the third period for the Railers to tie it when Anthony Callin fired an absolute laser past Poulter. Cole Donhauser and Michael Suda picked up the assists on the play.
That ties the Railers’ franchise record for quickest goal to start the third period. Ashton Rome and Jacob Hayhurst have also done it. All three times it’s happened have been on the road.
Ninety-seven seconds later, Worcester had its first lead of the game when Piercey and Max Dorrington pulled a little magic deep in the Admirals’ zone, with Piercey getting the goal.
That lead was short-lived as the Railers got caught running around their own zone, where eventually Blanchard was forced to choose between covering Brehdan Engum in the slot or Chase Yoder directly in front of the net. Blanchard chose Engum, Jack O’Leary passed it to Yoder, and it was 3-3.
Three minutes later, with Drew Callin in the box for a slash that was far less than many things that were let go in the game, Brehdan Engum connected at 6:50 as Worcester once again trailed by a goal.
The Railers had Gahagen off for an extra attacker late in the game to skate six-on-four, and with 1:04, a lackadaisical turnover by Cole Donhauser resulted in an empty-net goal by Fleurent to make it the 5-3 final.
GAME NOTES
Scratches for the Railers were Khristian Acosta, Michael Ferrandino (14-day IR/Unknown), Thomas Gale, Riley Ginnell (14-day IR/Upper body), Hunter Hall, Anthony Hora (14-day IR/Lower body), Case McCarthy (14-day IR/Unknown), and Ross Mitton (14-day IR/Upper body). Tristan Lennox was the backup goaltender.
For this week’s transactions, Monday saw the New York Islanders reassigning Gleb Veremyev from Worcester to Bridgeport. On Thursday, Railers GM Nick Tuzzolino announced the signing of forward Hunter Hall from the FPHL’s Watertown Wolves. It’s a tad concerning that Watertown was his third FPHL team this season and his sixth in three seasons, but Tuzzolino must see something in the Boise, Idaho native. Hall is 26-34-60 in 101 FPHL games, with 136 PIM and a minus-32 rating. Friday morning, the Railers confirmed their signing of Khristian Acosta, which had been posted on social media previously. Acosta is from the SPHL’s Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs, and is 9-23-32 in 80 league games, with 166 PIM and a minus-2 rating.
We were paying attention to a possible scoring change from a couple of Wednesdays ago to see if Cam Berg would pick up an assist on Anthony Repaci’s first-period power-play goal, but that didn’t happen, so he remains on the list with Chris Blight, Kyle Schempp, and Marc-Édouard Vlasic the only Worcester pros to have two points in only one regular season game played. There have been no scoring changes for any of the games since then, either.
Speaking of scoring changes, one that didn’t happen has caused a statistical flub that Railers broadcaster Tim Foley mentioned in last night’s game. He said the Railers have three extra-attacker goals for the season, because that’s what the stat sheet says they have. Only, the stat sheet is wrong. Worcester has four extra-attacker goals on the season, with the ECHL incorrectly listing Anthony Repaci’s goal on December 6th at Reading as being five-on-five due to an error by the Royals off-ice officials. Video replay clearly shows it’s an extra attacker goal, with Drew Callin not receiving a “plus” on the tally at 16:52 of the third period.
The Railers are celebrating the Worcester Sharks on January 31st with a tribute night and the team wearing WorSharks jerseys, so it’s appropriate that a couple of historical WorSharks oddities took place over the last few days. Wednesday marked the eleventh anniversary of enforcer and fan favorite Jimmy Bonneau serving as the backup goaltender. San Jose Barracuda Senior Manager of Broadcast and Public Relations Nick Nollenberger has a great look at that night, so we’ll just point to that. Friday night was the 17th anniversary of one of the oddest moments ever in Worcester pro hockey history, when head coach Roy Sommer pulled goaltender Thomas Greiss for an extra attacker to skate five on three with 4.5 seconds remaining in the first period. For what happened next, as if you couldn’t already guess, we posted about it on the tenth anniversary. It also includes a video along with some thoughts from broadcasters Eric Lindquist and Mike Kelley.
Despite there being no logical reason for them to do so, news was finally confirmed that the Bridgeport Islanders are moving to Hamilton, Ontario, for next season. One would have to think that the Railers, who were probably already looking for another affiliate, will likely be doubling their efforts to partner with a different NHL organization. Unfortunately, the pickings are slim at the moment unless some sort of deal can be worked out between an NHL organization for a team to switch to Worcester while the Islanders move to the team the new affiliate left. Considering how poorly the Islanders have treated the Railers, that might be a long shot, as I can’t imagine any ECHL team voluntarily choosing to deal with Chris Lamoriello.
The three stars of the game were
1. NOR – #10 Brehdan Engum
2. NOR – #93 Grant Hebert
3. NOR – #94 Brady Fleurent
The 210Sports Player of the Game was Ryan Miotto.
Even Strength Lines
Repaci / Miotto / Hatten
Donhauser / A.Callin / D.Callin
Piercey / DeMelis / Dorrington
Carson / X / Myers
Pulkkinen / Samuelsson
McDonald / Suda
Federkow / Blanchard
Kaebel
Press Releases
RAILERS: Worcester falls 5-3 in weekend opener to Admirals
ADMIRALS: Admirals outlasts Railers; extend winning streak to seven
Our affiliates last night
Hartford 3, Bridgeport 2
In the ECHL’s North Division last night
Greensboro 5, Adirondack 2
Wheeling 3, Reading 1
Trois-Rivières 3, Maine 2
BOX SCORE
Worcester 1 0 2 – 3
Norfolk 1 1 3 – 5
1st Period-1, Norfolk, Fleurent 12 (Hebert, Papp), 2:01. 2, Worcester, Miotto 7 (Pulkkinen, Repaci), 9:52. Penalties-No Penalties
2nd Period-3, Norfolk, Papp 13 (Hebert, Fleurent), 10:52. Penalties-Hatten Wor (fighting – major), 3:39; Reifenberger Nor (fighting – major), 3:39; Papp Nor (tripping), 15:41.
3rd Period-4, Worcester, Callin 11 (Donhauser, Suda), 0:28. 5, Worcester, Piercey 2 (Dorrington), 2:05. 6, Norfolk, Yoder 9 (O’Leary, Drake), 3:49. 7, Norfolk, Engum 1 (Dureau, Hebert), 6:50 (PP). 8, Norfolk, Fleurent 13 (Conley), 18:56 (SH EN). Penalties-Callin Wor (slashing), 6:05; Callin Wor (interference), 9:11; served by Myers Wor (bench – unsportsmanlike conduct), 11:17; Repaci Wor (hooking), 11:17; Young Nor (tripping), 11:53; Drake Nor (slashing), 17:12.
Shots on Goal-Worcester 15-8-11-34. Norfolk 3-11-6-20.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0 / 3; Norfolk 1 / 4.
Goalies-Worcester, Gahagen 8-3-2-0 (19 shots-15 saves). Norfolk, Poulter 12-6-0-0 (34 shots-31 saves).
A-5,017
Referees-David Lilly (25), Tyler Hascall (8).
Linesmen-Joseph Johnson (78), Evan Knox (83).
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