Game Story


Worcester, MA — After starting the season on a high note Saturday, the Worcester Railers met the Trois-Rivieres Lions for the first of fourteen meetings on Sunday afternoon. The Railers couldn’t sustain their early success, falling 4-1 in the second game of the season.

Tristan Lennox marked his professional debut by turning away 32 of the 35 shots fired at him by the Lions. Meanwhile, Zachary Bouthillier, making his fourth appearance against the Railers, managed to stop all but one of Worcester’s 31 shots. Bouthillier exhibited much greater composure in this game compared to his previous two outings, which occurred as back-to-back games on January 29th and 30th during the 2021-22 season. In those games, he had a short-lived performance, being pulled from the first game after allowing four goals in the opening period and allowing three goals in the initial five minutes of the second game. Anthony Repaci netted Worcester’s single goal, with Blade Jenkins contributing an assist on the score. Trois-Rivieres had goals from Justin Ducharme, Matthew Boucher, Jakov Novak, and Cedric Montminy.

Both teams came into Sunday undefeated and were two of the three teams undefeated in the North Division. As of Sunday night, Newfoundland also remained undefeated, winning in overtime over the Reading Royals, and will face Trois-Rivieres on Friday. Trois-Rivieres, after playing at home on Friday, traveling to Maine on Saturday, and ending the weekend in Worcester on Sunday, exhibited no signs of slowing down.

Fans were kept on the edge of their seats during the first period, despite no score in the opening period, Trois-Rivieres held the edge outscoring Worcester 14-10. None of those shots were quality shots capable of producing a goal.

The bulk of scoring for this game all came down to both team’s special teams units, all scoring within a five-minute window. The scoring deadlock was finally broken at 11:07 when Justin Ducharme, with an extra skater on the ice due to a delayed penalty, successfully found the back of the net. The Railers were hoping to take advantage of Nick Jermain’s penalty for the Lions, but Matt Boucher of the Lions capitalized on his own rebound to extend their lead to 2-0. The Railers found themselves on the penalty kill with Artoym Kulakov sitting for back-to-back penalties at 15:08 for high-sticking, and again at 17:15 for tripping. Anthony Repaci managed to score shorthanded after gathering the puck from Blade Jenkins at 15:55 into the period. 19 seconds after Repaci’s goal, Jakov Novak converted on the power play to make it 3-1.

The Lions maintained their dominance into the third period, successfully killing off the Railers’ power play with just under six minutes left in the frame. Lions’ captain Cedric Montminy sealed the game with an unassisted empty-net goal with under four minutes left in the game, securing the Lions’ third win of the weekend.

The three stars of the game were:

  1. Zachary Bouthiller (Trois-Rivieres) – win, 31 saves, 0.968 SV%
  2. Jakov Novak (Trois-Rivieres) – 1 goal, 1 assist
  3. Anthony Repaci (Worcester) – 1 goal

The Railers hit the road for three games in five days next week, traveling to Norfolk, Virginia to face the Admirals for the first time this season. Wednesday’s game is slated for a 7:05 p.m. puck drop.

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Box Score


Scoring 1 2 3 T
0 3 1 4
0 1 0 1
Shots 1 2 3 T
14 13 9 36
10 10 11 31
Score Team Time Scored by Assisted by Type
1 – 0 11:07 – 2nd J. Ducharme (2) J. Novak
2 – 0 12:45 – 2nd M. Boucher (2) E. Hjorth, C. Montminy SH
2 – 1 15:55 – 2nd A. Repaci (2) B. Jenkins SH
3 – 1 16:14 – 2nd J. Novak (2) C. Ortiz, E. Hjorth PP
4 – 1 16:26 – 3rd C. Montminy (2) EN

Rosters

# Player G A +/- SH PIM
G 31 Z. Bouthillier 0 0 0 1 0
G 35 J. Vrbetic 0 0 0 0 0
D 3 E. Hjorth 0 2 +2 2 2
D 6 N. Laaouan 0 0 +1 1 0
D 14 B. Martin 0 0 0 2 0
D 18 C. Ortiz 0 1 0 1 2
F 19 A. Voyer 0 0 0 3 0
C 21 C. Montminy 1 1 +1 1 0
D 23 M. Komuls 0 0 +2 1 0
F 24 N. Yaremko 0 0 0 3 0
F 49 M. Boucher 1 0 +1 3 0
F 67 N. Jermain 0 0 0 1 2
F 71 J. Ducharme 1 0 +1 6 0
RW 85 J. Parker-Jones 0 0 0 2 0
C 86 J. Novak 1 1 +1 5 0
D 89 M. Tourigny 0 0 0 0 0
RW 91 N. Guay 0 0 0 3 0
F 92 A. Beauregard 0 0 0 1 4
F 96 T. Smilanic 0 0 0 0 0
Team:
Totals: 4 5 9 36 10
Player MIN SH SVS GA SV%
31 Z. Bouthillier (W) – 31 30 1 –
Totals: – 31 30 1 –
# Player G A +/- SH PIM
G 30 T. Lennox 0 0 0 0 0
G 39 H. Tikkanen 0 0 0 0 0
D 3 R. Verrier 0 0 -1 1 0
F 5 Z. White 0 0 -1 0 2
D 8 C. Krygier 0 0 0 3 0
F 9 Q. Ryan 0 0 -1 1 0
D 10 T. Cosgrove 0 0 0 1 0
F 11 A. Bakanov 0 0 0 1 0
F 12 J. Cipollone 0 0 -1 2 0
F 13 J. Pivonka 0 0 -1 1 0
F 14 A. Goodsir 0 0 0 2 0
F 15 B. Robbins 0 0 0 1 0
F 16 A. Calder 0 0 -2 3 0
F 19 B. Jenkins 0 1 -1 4 0
D 26 C. Welsh 0 0 -1 2 0
D 27 J. Copeland 0 0 0 0 0
F 29 R. Piercey 0 0 -1 1 0
F 81 A. Repaci 1 0 -1 4 0
D 88 A. Kulakov 0 0 -1 4 4
Team:
Totals: 1 1 -12 31 6
Player MIN SH SVS GJ SV%
30 T. Lennox (L) – 35 32 3 –
Empty Net – 1 1 –
Totals: – 36 32 4 –

Penalties

Time Team Player Mins Infraction
4:51 – 1st Z. White 2 Roughing – minor (51.2)
5:32 – 1st E. Hjorth 2 High-sticking – minor (60.2)
8:59 – 1st A. Beauregard 2 Slashing – minor (61.2)
11:44 – 2nd N. Jermain 2 High-sticking – minor (60.2)
15:08 – 2nd A. Kulakov 2 High-sticking – minor (60.2)
17:15 – 2nd A. Kulakov 2 Tripping – minor (57.2)
19:05 – 2nd C. Ortiz 2 Slashing – minor (61.2)
14:09 – 3rd A. Beauregard 2 Hooking – minor (55.2)


Notes

  • Railers Scratches: Anthony Callin, Jack Quinlivan, Jake Schultz, Keeghan Howdeshell, and Zsombor Garat.
  • Lions Scratches: Dilan Savenkov, Marc-Antoine Pépin, Maxim Trépanier, Nicolas Lariviere, and William Lemay.
  • Blake Christensen, recently claimed by the Newfoundland Growlers, got suspended for not reporting. He might need to head to Europe again, as he did last season when leaving Worcester, unless his ECHL rights are traded.
  • Anthony Repaci and Blade Jenkins were the two Railers players wearing captain’s letters on Sunday, with Jake Schultz having the game off. Trevor Cosgrove seemed like a candidate for a sit-in alternate letter as he has the second-longest tenure on the roster. Schultz was seen on the concourse during Sunday’s game.
  • Following Sunday’s game, the Railers had the following streaks:
    • Anthony Repaci extended his six-game point streak, dating back to April 5, 2023. (5-4-9)
    • Blade Jenkins extended his four-game point streak, dating back to December 31, 2022. (0-4-4)
    • Quinn Ryan snapped a five-game point streak, dating back to February 11, 2023. (4-2-6)

Railers Lines

Forward Lines LW C RW
Forward Line 1 Ashton Calder #16 Blade Jenkins #19 Anthony Repaci #81
Forward Line 2 Riley Piercey #29 Quinn Ryan #9 Jake Pivonka #13
Forward Line 3 Zach White #5 Brendan Robbins #15 Andrei Bakanov #11
Rotated Forwards Adam Goodsir #14 – Joey Cipollone #12
Defensive Pairings LD RD
Defense Pair 1 Christian Krygier #8 John Copeland #27
Defense Pair 2 Ryan Verrier #3 Artyom Kulakov #88
Defense Pair 3 Connor Welsh #26 Trevor Cosgrove #10
Rotated Defensemen – –
Goalie Tandem G
Starting Goaltender Tristan Lennox #30
Backup Goaltender Henrik Tikkanen #39

Opponent Lines

Forward Lines LW C RW
Forward Line 1 Justin Ducharme #71 Nolan Yaremko #24 Jakov Novak #86
Forward Line 2 Cedric Montminy #21 Anthony Beauregard #92 Matthew Boucher #49
Forward Line 3 Ty Smilanic #96 Nicolas Guay #91 Alex-Olivier Voyer #19
Rotated Forwards Nick Jermain #67 – John Parker-Jones #85
Defensive Pairings LD RD
Defense Pair 1 Brycen Martin #14 Noah Laaouan #6
Defense Pair 2 Chris Ortiz #18 Miguël Tourigny #89
Defense Pair 3 Markuss Komuls #23 Eric Hjorth #3
Rotated Defensemen – –
Goalie Tandem G
Starting Goaltender Zachary Bouthillier #31
Backup Goaltender Joe Vrbetic #35

On-Ice Officials

– –
Referee Steven Sailor (5)
Referee Rocco Stachowiak (28)
Linesman Shane Kanaly (74)
Linesman Matthew Heinen (93)




Notable Tweets as the Game Happened

[The Railers did not tweet out their lines prior to puck drop, so this post does not exist. ] Railers Lines


Lions Lines


(1-0 Lions)


(2-0 Lions)


(2-1 Lions)


(3-1 Lions)


(4-1 Lions)