Game Story

Glens Falls, NY — The Worcester Railers and Adirondack Thunder played the first of two games this weekend on Friday.

Following Ryan Hitchcock’s sudden retirement, the Railers had no issues snapping their four-game losing streak on Friday. Bo Brauer (1g, 1a), Matt Schmalz (2a), Barry Almeida (2a) had multi-point games. Evan Buitenhuis had his second straight start and stopped 43 of 47 shots; Adirondack switched things up with Evan Cormier in net, making 19 saves.

Casey Pierro-Zabotel redirected a shot from Gabriel Verpaelst, wrapping the puck around Evan Buitenhuis for the game’s first shot and goal at 1:44. Worcester didn’t register their first shot until 5:19, at that moment Adirondack had six. Bo Brauer tapped in a loose puck, fed from around the back from Matt Schmalz at 10:10 for Worcester’s first goal since November 1. Shane Walsh scored his first as a Railer on a shot from between the circles 35 seconds later, set-up on a pass from Bo Brauer who was skating to the right circle. Railers led 2-1 while being outshot 12-7 at the end of the first. The Railers were outplayed in the first half of that period, but it all came to some well-timed plays during the tenth minute to turn things around.

Jordan Samuels-Thomas extended Worcester’s lead on a backhand shot, beating Evan Cormier at 3:50 to make it 3-1. Mike Szmatula regained some ground, netting a loose puck on the crease while on the power play at 15:38. Ross Olsson deflected a shot from Connor Doherty, bringing the game to 4-2 at 18:13. Olsson would fight Gabriel Verpaelst seconds later after an exchange of words between the two, leading them to drop the mitts.

Cody Payne and Conor Riley had a tussle during a stoppage of play at 19:05 in the second. Payne had just stepped on the ice for the faceoff where Riley sucker-punched him leading to an exchange of punches. Payne was given a game misconduct but, the fact that Conor Riley got away with just an unsportsmanlike conduct minor is a bit troubling. The game misconduct was originally for Leaving the Players Bench (70.3) but was changed to Unsportsmanlike Conduct (75.5) and again to Game misconduct – Returning to ice/bench (70.6). Payne did leave the bench, but it was for a line change during the stoppage of play.

Adirondack scored twice in the third, tying things up and forcing overtime. Kelly Summers made it 4-3 at 13:32, and Casey Pierro-Zabotel netted his second of the game four minutes later. Worcester had just 3 shots on goal in the third, Adirondack had 14. Connor Doherty fought Robbie Payne in-between the two goals, a fight that Doherty would’ve wanted a second chance on but he got a few punches in before officials broke up the draw.

Each team had chances on the power play during the overtime period, but those chances weren’t enough so the game headed to a shootout. Matt Salhany scored in the second round, followed by a tie by Shane Walsh in the third, and the shootout game-winner by JD Dudek in the fourth.

The three stars of the game were:

  1. Casey Pierro-Zabotel (Adirondack) – 2 goals, 1 assist, +3
  2. Bo Brauer (Worcester) – 1 goal, 1 assist, +3
  3. JD Dudek (Worcester) – shootout game-winner

With their fourth win of the season, the Railers end their four-game losing streak and turn things around heading into their tenth game of the season on Sunday. Railers and Thunder will close out the weekend with an afternoon tilt on Sunday at 3 PM.

Box Score

Scoring 1 2 3 OT SO T
Worcester Railers 2 2 0 0 1 5
Adirondack Thunder 1 1 2 0 0 4
Shots 1 2 3 OT SO T
Worcester Railers 7 11 3 2 1 24
Adirondack Thunder 12 15 14 6 0 47

 

Railers Roster # Name G A +/- SH PIM
G 31 L. Soderstrom 0 0 0 0 0
G 34 E. Buitenhuis 0 0 0 0 0
D 2 J. Bolton 0 0 0 2 0
D 3 J. Murray 0 0 -1 2 0
D 5 K. McKenzie 0 0 0 0 2
F 8 C. Payne 0 1 0 1 12
F 9 R. Olsson 1 0 0 1 5
F 14 J. Dudek 0 0 0 2 0
F 15 B. Brauer 1 1 +3 1 0
D 16 A. Florentino 0 0 -2 2 2
F 17 M. Schmalz 0 2 +2 1 0
F 19 B. Almeida 0 2 0 3 0
F 24 K. Thomas 0 0 +1 1 2
F 26 S. Walsh 1 0 0 1 0
D 28 C. Doherty 0 1 +2 2 15
F 37 J. Samuels-Thomas 1 0 +1 1 4
F 51 Y. Turcotte 0 0 0 2 2
F 72 D. Callin 0 0 0 1 0
Team: 1 1 2
Totals: 5 7 6 24 46
No Name Min SH SVS GA sOG-S
34 E. Buitenhuis (W) 65:59 47 43 4 1-4
Totals: 65:59 47 43 4
Thunder Roster # Name G A +/- SH PIM
G 1 E. Cormier 0 0 0 0 0
G 30 M. McNiven 0 0 0 0 0
F 2 M. Salhany 0 1 -2 4 2
D 7 J. Linhart 0 0 +2 3 0
D 8 B. Thompson 0 0 -1 2 0
F 10 H. Verbeek 0 0 0 1 0
D 14 J. Groleau 0 0 -2 1 0
F 15 J. Henry 0 1 -1 1 0
F 17 A. Carrier 0 0 -1 0 0
C 18 C. Pierro-Zabotel 2 1 +3 3 0
F 20 C. Martin 0 1 -2 0 0
D 21 C. Sissons 0 2 -1 4 0
F 22 A. Nazarian 0 0 +2 2 2
F 23 R. Payne 0 0 -1 10 5
D 27 K. Summers 1 0 -1 3 0
D 37 G. Verpaelst 0 1 0 2 9
F 44 C. Riley 0 1 +1 6 4
F 91 M. Szmatula 1 0 -1 5 2
Team:
Totals: 4 8 -5 47 24
No Name Min SH SVS GA sOG-S
1 E. Cormier (SOL) 67:00 23 19 4 2-4
Totals: 67:00 23 19 4
P T Player M Offense Time
1st H C. Riley 2.00 Hooking – minor (55.2) 14:03
2nd V Y. Turcotte 2.00 Unsportsmanlike conduct – minor (75.2) 14:26
2nd H G. Verpaelst 2.00 Unsportsmanlike conduct – minor (75.2) 14:26
2nd V A. Florentino 2.00 Slashing – minor (61.2) 15:00
2nd V C. Doherty 10.00 Misconduct (39.4) 18:13
2nd V R. Olsson 5.00 Fighting – Major (46.14) 18:13
2nd H G. Verpaelst 2.00 Instigating – minor (46.11) 18:13
2nd H G. Verpaelst 5.00 Fighting – Major (46.14) 18:13
2nd V C. Payne 2.00 Unsportsmanlike conduct – minor (75.2) 19:05
2nd V C. Payne 10.00 Game misconduct – Returning to ice/bench (70.6) 19:05
2nd H C. Riley 2.00 Unsportsmanlike conduct – minor (75.2) 19:05
3rd V K. McKenzie 2.00 Interference – minor (56.2) 0:09
3rd H A. Nazarian 2.00 Tripping – minor (57.2) 6:49
3rd V K. Thomas 2.00 Slashing – minor (61.2) 7:59
3rd V Served by K. Thomas 2.00 Bench minor – Too many men (74.2) 11:32
3rd V C. Doherty 5.00 Fighting – Major (46.14) 14:14
3rd H R. Payne 5.00 Fighting – Major (46.14) 14:14
OT H M. Salhany 2.00 Tripping – minor (57.2) 0:45
OT V J. Samuels-Thomas 2.00 Tripping – minor (57.2) 0:49
OT H M. Szmatula 2.00 Interference on the Goalkeeper – minor (69.2) 2:22
OT V J. Samuels-Thomas 2.00 Boarding – minor (41.2) 5:56

Notes

  • Railers Scratches: Ivan Chukarov, Tanner Pond, Chris Rygus, Jack Stander.
  • Thunder Scratches: Charlie Carti, Shane Conacher, Eamon McAdam, Tommy Parran, Nikita Popugaev, Michael Sdao, Ryan Walker.
  • Kyle Thomas will be wearing one of the A’s for road games with Mike Cornell on recall.
  • Railers continue to use five defensemen as Ivan Chukarov was scratched and considered day-to-day. It’ll be interesting to see if five defensemen are played Saturday, considering they have two perfectly healthy defensemen not playing.
  • Since we last met:
    • The Railers acquired defenseman Jack Stander from the Atlanta Gladiators on Tuesday.
    • Ryan Hitchcock announced his retirement after 88 professional games on Tuesday.
    • Tanner Pond was placed on 14-day injured reserve on Thursday, with the date being retroactive to November 3. He can be activated at the earliest on November 17, on which the Railers face the Beast on the road.
    • Nic Pierog scored his first AHL goal in Bridgeport’s 1-0 win over Springfield on Wednesday morning.

Railers Lines (Observed by order in which they appeared):

LW C RW
Forward Line 1  B. Almeida #19 “C”  J. Samuels-Thomas #37 “A”  S. Walsh #26
Forward Line 2  K. Thomas #24 “A”  D. Callin #72  J. Dudek #14
Forward Line 3  R. Olsson #9  C. Payne #8  M. Schmalz #17 / Y. Turcotte #51
LD RD
Defense Line 1  K. McKenzie #5  A. Florentino #16
Defense Line 2  J. Murray #2  C. Doherty #28
Defense Line 3  J. Bolton #3  B. Brauer #15
G
Starting Goaltender  Evan Buitenhuis #34
Backup Goaltender  Linus Soderstrom #31

Highlights