The Worcester Railers (19-18-3-3) are keeping up with things in the very competitive North Division. They currently sit in sixth in the division and are two points out from a playoff spot held by Manchester at 46 points, with third place still in reach, held by the Brampton Beast with 48 points.
In the month of January, the Railers had an overall 6-4-0-1 and went 2-3-0-1 on the road, while winning all but one of their games at the DCU Center.
Here are my thoughts and notes through the month of January.
The Good:
- Matt Schmalz has 11 points (6-5-11) in 15 games while Nick Bligh had 9 points (5-4-9) in 19 games before he was traded. So far the trade-off of trading for Schmalz and trading away Bligh on the same day has worked out for Worcester. Bligh has 14 points (8-6-14) in 19 games with the Gladiators.
- Railers clinched a win for the season series against Reading with four wins and a single loss.
- Mitch Gillam represented the Railers and the Eastern Conference in the All-Star Classic in Toledo. Gillam continues to look great in net for Worcester, as does Evan Buitenhuis who also had great stats heading into the all-star break and would’ve been a great pick for those events.
- Ryan Hitchcock’s impact on the team since being sent down has been huge for Worcester. He scored in four of the six games he played in and had three multi-point games. Hitchcock is a point shy from averaging a point-per-game this season.
- All players on the active roster have scored at least one goal so far this season.
- Railers are doing slightly better than they were last year on this date.
The Bad:
- Worcester is 1-4 on the season against the Newfoundland Growlers.
- Inconsistencies continue to plague Woody Hudson’s play this season. He had a single point during the month which came from a goal on January 26th against Adirondack.
- Railers have allowed power play goals in their last five games heading into the month of February.
- Worcester’s home penalty killing record dropped, and are now ranked in fourth.
The Ugly:
- Yanick Turcotte missed five games with a suspension for his actions on January 5 against Greenville.
- Railers have the worst overall power play record and the worst power play record at home. They ranked third worst on the road.
- Losing Kyle McKenzie for the season hurts an already short blue line.
- Injuries: Kyle McKenzie, Tyler Mueller, Matt Schmalz
Scoring Leaders for January:
- Tyler Barnes (4-5-9), +3, 11 games
- Ryan Hitchcock (4-4-8), +7, 6 games
- Matt Schmalz (4-4-8), +5, 8 games
- Barry Almeida (3-5-8), +4, 11 games
- Tommy Kelley (1-5-6), +3, 9 games
Trends and Numbers:
- When scoring first: 14-6-1-2
- Leading after 20 minutes: 7-1-1-3
- Leading after 40 minutes: 12-0-0-2
- Tied after 20 minutes: 8-9-2-0
- Tied after 40 minutes: 7-5-2-1
- Trailing after 20 minutes: 4-8-0-0
- Trailing after 40 minutes: 0-13-1-0
- Out Shooting Opponent: 7-8-1-2
- Out Shot by Opponent: 10-10-2-1
- Wearing Specialty Jerseys: 1-2-1-0 (8-2-1-0 all-time)