Game Story

Glens Falls, NY — The Worcester Railers fell 6-2 to the Adirondack Thunder in a matinee matchup on Sunday.

The Railers (Groot – Guardians of the Galaxy) and the Thunder (Spiderman) wore specialty jerseys as a part of Adirondack’s Marvel day. Those Groot jerseys are unofficially the worst jerseys they’ve worn to date, looking like a brown/dark green camouflage jersey with tan letters on the video feed. Cody Payne (3rd) and Matt Schmalz (2nd) scored Worcester’s only goals. Linus Soderstrom made 39 saves in his fourth start of the season. Jake Linhart (4a), Colby Sissons (3a), Ara Nazarian (2g) each had multi-point games against Worcester. Adirondack goaltender Evan Cormier had 19 saves in his first win of the season.

The Thunder showed dominance through the first period with two goals in the opening ten minutes. Ara Nazarian netted his second of the season on a backhand shot from the right circle to give the Thunder an early lead at 3:49. Alexandre Carrier scored 2:41 later to give them the two-point lead. Adirondack outshot Worcester 18-8 in the first, is just one of many instances where the Railers aren’t playing a full 60 minutes. Railers also had one power play in the first but were unable to capitalize with just one shot on goal during that time.

Cody Payne scored his third of the season with a lucky shot from behind the net that bounced off an Adirondack skater and into the net behind Evan Cormier at 12:48. The one-goal game would be short-lived with Mike Szmatula scoring on a rebound at 12:48. Adirondack outshot Worcester by just one shot in the frame and still led by two after two periods.

Matt Salhany brought Adirondack’s lead to 4-1 at 7:28 on a redirect, and Matt Schmalz answered back 27 seconds later to bring it back to a two-goal game. Linus Soderstrom was pulled with 2:29 as Jamie Russell used his timeout, and it took no more than 30 seconds for Adirondack’s Conor Riley to score on the empty net. Just as it looked like the game was already in the books, Ara Nazarian snuck another past Soderstrom at 19:20 as he dove out of the crease in an attempt to break the play up.

Yanick Turcotte got an early shower after multiple slashes and cross-checks on Thunder captain James Henry at 9:22. He was given ten-minute misconduct, Worcester’s league-leading fifth of the season, and an additional two minutes on a minor penalty to end his night.

The three stars of the game were:

  1. Evan Cormier (Adirondack) – 32 saves, win
  2. Ara Nazarian (Adirondack) – 2 goals, +2
  3. Jake Linhart (Adirondack) – 4 assists, +5

At the end of week 4 in the season, the Worcester Railers remain last in the North Division with a record of 4-6 and are the only team in the division with a win percentage below .500.

Railers fans should prepare themselves as Wednesday will be their third-annual school day game. For those attending, it is highly recommended that you bring some earplugs and a couple of Advil… it’s going to be a loud one. The Railers will face the Reading Royals for the first time this season with a puck drop of 10 AM.

Box Score

Scoring 1 2 3 T
Worcester Railers 0 1 1 2
Adirondack Thunder 2 1 3 6
Shots 1 2 3 T
Worcester Railers 8 14 12 34
Adirondack Thunder 18 15 12 45

 

Railers Roster # Name G A +/- SH PIM
G 34 E. Buitenhuis 0 0 0 0 0
G 35 L. Soderstrom 0 0 0 0 0
D 2 J. Bolton 0 0 -1 3 0
D 4 J. Stander 0 0 -2 0 0
D 5 K. McKenzie 0 0 0 0 2
F 8 C. Payne 1 0 -2 2 0
F 9 R. Olsson 0 0 -1 1 0
F 14 J. Dudek 0 0 0 2 0
F 15 B. Brauer 0 0 -2 0 0
D 16 A. Florentino 0 0 -2 2 0
F 17 M. Schmalz 1 0 -3 3 0
F 19 B. Almeida 0 0 -1 4 0
F 20 Y. Turcotte 0 0 -2 3 14
F 24 K. Thomas 0 0 0 0 0
F 27 S. Walsh 0 0 -1 7 0
D 28 C. Doherty 0 0 -1 1 0
F 37 J. Samuels-Thomas 0 1 -2 3 0
F 72 D. Callin 0 0 -1 3 4
Team:
Totals: 2 1 -21 34 20
No Name Min SH SVS GA
35 L. Soderstrom (L) 59:25 44 39 5
Empty Net 1 1
Totals: 59:25 45 39 6
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 1 0 0 2 0
D 7 J. Linhart 0 4 +5 3 2
D 8 B. Thompson 0 0 -1 1 2
F 10 H. Verbeek 0 1 +2 3 0
D 14 J. Groleau 0 0 -1 0 0
F 15 J. Henry 0 1 +1 3 0
F 17 A. Carrier 1 0 +1 3 0
C 18 C. Pierro-Zabotel 0 0 0 0 0
F 20 C. Martin 0 1 +1 1 0
D 21 C. Sissons 0 3 +4 4 0
F 22 A. Nazarian 2 0 +2 6 2
F 23 R. Payne 0 0 +3 0 0
D 27 K. Summers 0 0 +1 3 0
D 37 G. Verpaelst 0 0 0 2 0
F 44 C. Riley 1 0 +1 7 0
F 91 M. Szmatula 1 0 +1 7 2
Team:
Totals: 6 10 20 45 8
No Name Min SH SVS GA
1 E. Cormier (W) 59:57 34 32 2
Totals: 59:57 34 32 2
P T Player M Offense Time
1st H M. Szmatula 2.00 Hooking – minor (55.2) 3:01
1st V K. McKenzie 2.00 Holding – minor (54.2) 12:38
2nd H J. Linhart 2.00 Tripping – minor (57.2) 8:48
2nd V D. Callin 2.00 Unsportsmanlike conduct – minor (75.2) 15:13
2nd V Y. Turcotte 2.00 Roughing – minor (51.2) 15:13
2nd H A. Nazarian 2.00 Unsportsmanlike conduct – minor (75.2) 15:13
2nd V D. Callin 2.00 Hooking – minor (55.2) 17:13
3rd H B. Thompson 2.00 Interference – minor (56.2) 3:39
3rd V Y. Turcotte 2.00 Cross-Checking Minor (59.2) 9:22
3rd V Y. Turcotte 10.00 Misconduct (39.4) 9:22

Notes

  • Railers Scratches: Ivan Chukarov, Justin Murray, Tanner Pond, Chris Rygus.
  • Thunder Scratches: Shane Conacher, Charlie Curti, Eamon McAdam, Tommy Parran, Nikita Popugaev, Michael Sdao, Ryan Walker.
  • Railers announced on the broadcast that November 24th’s game vs Adirondack has been moved to 1:35 PM. The game was originally scheduled for 3 PM and it was noted that the game will no longer conflict with the Patriots’ game which kicks off at 4:20 PM.
  • Around the ECHL, there were plenty of roster cuts as today was the deadline to get rosters down from 21 to 20. Since the Railers have 20 currently on the roster, with one currently on injured reserve, no cuts were needed for Worcester.
  • Adirondack Thunder wore Spiderman jerseys, Railers wore a Groot (Guardians of the Galaxy) themed jersey. Worcester’s jerseys will be auctioned off at a later date through Meigray Auctions. Railers are scheduled to wear Iron Man jerseys at home later this season. Railers had a number of number changes for the game:
    • Linus Soderstrom #31 -> #35
    • Jack Stander #74 -> #4
    • Yanick Turcotte #51 -> #20
    • Shane Walsh #26 -> #27
  • Now that the first 10 games are in the books, I’ll be tracking hot and cold streaks and how well (or not so well) players have performed to date. These streaks represent how many consecutive games players have (or haven’t) scored a point.
    • Cold
      • Anthony Florentino (6 games)
      • Jake Bolton (6 games)
      • Drew Callin (8 games)
      • JD Dudek (3 games)
      • Kyle McKenzie (23 games)
      • Tanner Pond (4 games)
      • Kyle Thomas (6 games)
      • Yanick Turcotte (16 games)
  • For up-to-date news on all things Worcester Hockey, Like us on Facebook at Woo Hockey – Worcester Hockey News, Follow us on Twitter @WooHockeyNews, and join our Facebook Group – Worcester Railers Fan Club.

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 #27
Forward Line 2 K. Thomas #24 “A”  M. Schmalz #17  J. Dudek #14
Forward Line 3  R. Olsson #9  C. Payne #8  D. Callin #72 / Y. Turcotte #20
LD RD
Defense Line 1  C. Doherty #28  K. McKenzie #5
Defense Line 2  J. Stander #4  A. Florentino #16
Defense Line 3  J. Bolton #2  B. Brauer #15
G
Starting Goaltender  Linus Soderstrom #35
Backup Goaltender  Evan Buitenhuis #34

Highlights

Highlights will be posted upon completion of the game.