Game Story

Worcester, Mass. – Class was in session Wednesday morning as the Worcester Railers were handed their seventh loss of the season by the hands of the Reading Royals.

Worcester was looking to find some momentum that hasn’t been there this season, and that trend continued as Reading got the early lead and never looked back. Railers had one of their larger crowds of the season with busses of local schools catching the early game, but could not keep up.

Kyle McKenzie and Yanick Turcotte skated in their 100th game in a Railers uniform, for McKenzie it was also his 100th professional game. Ryan MacKinnon made his season debut with a transaction coming in a little over an hour before puck drop, playing a significant role with a goal in two assists in his return to Worcester. Barry Almeida (3a), Ryan MacKinnon (1g, 2a), Jordan Samuels-Thomas (1g, 1a) each had multi-point games while and Kyle McKenzie (1g), Cody Payne (1a), and Matt Schmalz (1g) also made appearances on the scoresheet.

It was Reading scoring first with a deflection by Hayden Hodgson that went over the shoulder of Evan Buitenhuis at 6:35. Not much Buitenhuis could do to stop the puck as he lost sight of the puck to give the Royals the early lead. Railers would tie it up with the two-man advantage with a shot up high from the blue line, credited to Ryan MacKinnon with his first of the season at 16:06. Ralph Cuddemi re-gained the lead for Reading with a power-play goal late in the period late in the first period.

Railers alum Frank DiChiara extended the Royals lead to 3-1 with a wrist shot from the right circle at 1:22. Matt Schmalz tapped in a rebound from Ryan MacKinnon seconds shy of the five-minute mark in the third, but less than a minute later Hayden Hodgson would score his second of the game to give Reading their second two-goal advantage of the morning. Kyle McKenzie scored off a face-off for his first goal in over 45 games to make it a 4-3 game after forty minutes.

Hayden Hodgson was stretchered off the ice after sustaining a leg injury halfway through the second period. He was injured in one of the corners and made matters worse in an attempt to skate back to the bench while play continued, but slipped in his attempt to get back to the bench, forcing a stoppage of play while he received medical attention and was promptly carted off the ice.

Reading’s Trevor Yates snuck one past Evan Buitenhuis for another two-goal advantage at 10:35. Jordan Samuels-Thomas scored between the circles with the extra attacker at 16:57 in the third, but the Railers’ effort to tie the game would come up short with Ralph Cuddemi scoring on the empty net three and a half minutes later to seal the Royals’ win with under a minute left in the game.

The Three Stars of the Game were:

  1. Hayden Hodgson (Reading) – 2 goals, +3
  2. Ryan MacKinnon (Worcester) – 1 goal, 2 assists
  3. Frank DiChiara (Reading) – 1 goal, 1 assist

The listed attendance for Wednesday’s game was 6,718, a significant increase of fans if the game had been held at night, which would’ve ranged anywhere from 2,000 to 4,000 fans.

With their school day game in the books, the train keeps rolling into Thursday as they host the Brampton Beast on Thursday night.

Box Score

Scoring 1 2 3 T
Reading Royals 2 2 2 6
Worcester Railers 1 2 1 4
Shots 1 2 3 T
Reading Royals 8 13 12 33
Worcester Railers 16 12 12 40

 

Royals Roster # Name G A +/- SH PIM
G 35 T. Gorsuch 0 0 0 0 0
G 72 K. Ustimenko 0 0 0 0 0
D 4 J. Graves 0 0 -1 0 0
D 5 E. Knodel 0 1 +5 1 2
D 6 G. Cecere 0 0 -1 1 0
D 8 D. Drake 0 0 -1 0 0
F 9 B. Low 0 1 +1 4 0
F 11 M. Gaudreau 0 1 0 1 2
F 15 T. Yates 1 0 -1 4 0
F 16 H. Hodgson 2 0 +2 3 0
D 19 G. Cockerill 0 1 +4 3 2
F 21 F. DiChiara 1 1 +1 2 0
F 23 P. Laberge 0 1 0 2 2
F 28 R. Cuddemi 2 1 +1 6 0
F 36 G. Mitchell 0 0 0 1 2
F 67 M. Willman 0 1 -1 1 0
D 77 J. Mazza 0 0 0 3 0
F 81 C. Mackin 0 1 +1 1 0
Team:
Totals: 6 9 10 33 10
No Name Min SH SVS GA
72 K. Ustimenko (W) 59:56 40 36 4
Totals: 59:56 40 36 4
Railers Roster # Name G A +/- SH PIM
G 34 E. Buitenhuis 0 0 0 0 0
D 3 J. Murray 0 0 -1 3 2
D 4 R. MacKinnon 1 2 -1 4 0
D 5 K. McKenzie 1 0 +2 1 0
F 8 C. Payne 0 1 +1 0 2
F 9 R. Olsson 0 0 -1 1 0
D 13 I. Chukarov 0 0 0 0 0
F 14 J. Dudek 0 0 -1 2 0
F 15 B. Brauer 0 0 -3 2 0
D 16 A. Florentino 0 0 -2 2 0
F 17 M. Schmalz 1 0 0 4 0
F 19 B. Almeida 0 3 0 4 0
F 24 K. Thomas 0 0 -2 7 0
D 28 C. Doherty 0 0 -1 3 0
F 37 J. Samuels-Thomas 1 1 0 6 0
F 51 Y. Turcotte 0 0 0 1 2
F 72 D. Callin 0 0 -1 0 0
Team:
Totals: 4 7 -10 40 6
No Name Min SH SVS GA
34 E. Buitenhuis (L) 58:00 32 27 5
Empty Net 1 1
Totals: 58:00 33 27 6
P T Player M Offense Time
1st V G. Mitchell 2.00 Tripping – minor (57.2) 2:52
1st V M. Gaudreau 2.00 Holding – minor (54.2) 14:23
1st V E. Knodel 2.00 Slashing – minor (61.2) 15:15
1st H Y. Turcotte 2.00 Elbowing – minor (45.2) 17:55
2nd V P. Laberge 2.00 Holding – minor (54.2) 6:36
2nd V G. Cockerill 2.00 Tripping – minor (57.2) 16:50
3rd H J. Murray 2.00 Charging minor (42.2) 2:31
3rd H C. Payne 2.00 Delay of Game (63.2) 7:27

Notes

  • Railers Scratches: Jake Bolton, Tanner Pond, Chris Rygus, Jack Stander, Shane Walsh.
  • Royals Scratches: Jeremy Beaudry, Rob Michel, Felix Sandstrom, Steven Swavely.
  • Another sad day for the City of Worcester as another firefighter passed away after sustaining injuries in a fire in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Lt. Jason Menard’s selfless efforts saved the lives of at least two firefighters that morning in addition to residents who escaped the blaze. Donations are currently being accepted through the Greg Hill Foundation, which can be found here. As of this writing, donations have exceeded $45,000, which includes a donation match of $15,000 that was made by the foundation. Information on how the Booster Club and Hockey Club will be making donations will be passed on through social media as it becomes available.
  • Kyle McKenzie and Yanick Turcotte both played in their 100th games as Railers on Wednesday. They are the fifth and sixth players to reach the milestone. A big game for McKenzie, it was also his 100th professional game. Ryan MacKinnon is the next-closest player but still has a ways to go with 78 games played for Worcester.
  • Kyle McKenzie snapped a 23-game cold streak Wednesday with his first goal of the season. His last point and goal pre-dates in season-ending injury of last year, with his last point (assist) on October 26, 2018 and his last goal coming on February 16, 2018.
  • Ryan MacKinnon was assigned to Worcester on Wednesday morning.
  • Former Railers signee Henrik Samuelsson has signed overseas with the Manchester Storm of the EIHL. The signing was announced on Tuesday.
  • Hot Streaks:
    • Cody Payne (3 games – 1g, 2a)
    • Matt Schmalz (3 games – 2g, 2a)
    • Jordan Samuels-Thomas (3 games – 2g, 3a)
  • Cold Streaks
    • Anthony Florentino (7 games)
    • Jake Bolton (6 games)
    • Drew Callin (9 games)
    • JD Dudek (4 games)
    • Tanner Pond (4 games)
    • Kyle Thomas (7 games)
    • Yanick Turcotte (17 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  M. Schmalz #17
Forward Line 2  K. Thomas #24  C. Payne #8  J. Dudek #14
Forward Line 3  Y. Turcotte #51  D. Callin #72  B. Brauer #15 / R. Olsson #9
LD RD
Defense Line 1  K. McKenzie #5 “A”  I. Chukarov #13
Defense Line 2  C. Doherty #28 “A”  R. MacKinnon #4
Defense Line 3  J. Murray #3  A. Florentino #16
G
Starting Goaltender  Evan Buitenhuis #34
Backup Goaltender  Linus Soderstrom #31

Highlights

Highlights will be posted upon completion of the game.