Game Story


Worcester, MA — On Tuesday, the Worcester Railers faced off against the Adirondack Thunder for an “Election Day” matinee at the DCU Center.

While this writer did not have the day off, many local area schools that also serve as polling places did have the day off. This game was one of three ECHL games that took place during the day, the other being school day games in Orlando and Kansas City. 1,285 fans attended this game according to the scoresheet, and was lowest lowest-attended home game in franchise history, excluding a game that was held behind closed doors, of course. This appears to be the first “Election Day” game of its kind, despite low attendance numbers, it doesn’t hurt to experiment with something new.

Despite the loss, Henrik Tikkanen displayed an impressive performance by making 52 saves out of 55 shots, marking a career and season-high for the Railers. Worcester’s goals were scored by Jake Pivonka, Ashton Calder, and Anthony Callin, with Pivonka and Callin both extending their point streaks to three games. Adirondack’s goals were netted by Erik Middendorf, Yushiroh Hirano, and Ryan Smith, with Middendorf and Hirano also contributing in the shootout.

The Thunder struck twice in the first period. First, Erik Middendorf tipped in a shot from Matt Stief on the power play at 11:32. Yushiroh Hirano capitalized on an inadvertent set-up from Zach White to make it 2-0. Worcester was outshot 16-9 in the frame.

Worcester would bounce back with a pair of their own. With 12 seconds left on the power play, Jake Pivonka scored on a slapshot from the right circle, with a nice pass from Connor Welsh to give a lucky section free guacamole as part of an in-game event. Ashton Calder scored to tie it up fifteen minutes later. The Railers lead would be short-lived, with Ryan Smith scoring top-shelf to give Adirondack a 3-2 lead.

Anthony Callin notched his first goal of the season at 3:30 in the third, tying the score at 3-3. The goal was a one-timer delivered by Trevor Cosgrove. Subsequently, the game proceeded into overtime.

The Railers managed to score a goal with just 2 minutes and 7 seconds remaining in the overtime period. However, the goal was reviewed and ultimately disallowed due to goaltender interference with goaltender Vinnie Purpura making contact with a few Railers skaters before Anthony Callin tapped in the puck.

After goals from Yushiroh Hirano and Jake Pivonka in the opening round of the shootout. Grant Jozefek and Ashton Calder would both miss in the second round. Erik Middendorf found his way past Henrik Tikkanen in the third round to give the Thunder their third straight win against the Railers.

The three stars of the game were:

  1. Erik Middendorf (Adirondack) – 1 goal
  2. Yushiroh Hirano (Adirondack) – 1 goal
  3. Henrik Tikkanen (Worcester) – 52 saves, 0.945 SV%

Next up, the Railers head to St. John’s Newfoundland to take on the Growlers on Thursday, and will play there again Friday and Sunday night. Thanks to time zone differences, Thursday’s game will take place at 5:30 EST.

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Box Score


Scoring 1 2 3 OT SO T
2 1 0 0 1 4
0 2 1 0 0 3
Shots 1 2 3 OT SO T
16 13 19 7 1 56
9 4 7 8 0 28
Score Team Time Scored by Assisted by Type
1 – 0 11:32 – 1st E. Middendorf (3) M. Stief, G. Jozefek PP
2 – 0 13:14 – 1st Y. Hirano (2)
2 – 1 1:48 – 2nd J. Pivonka (4) C. Welsh PP
2 – 2 16:38 – 2nd A. Calder (4) A. Bakanov, T. Cosgrove
3 – 2 17:26 – 2nd R. Smith (4) T. Friedmann, G. Jozefek
3 – 3 3:30 – 3rd A. Callin (1) T. Cosgrove PP
# Shooter Goal?
71 Yushiroh Hirano ✔️
43 Grant Jozefek ❌
48 Erik Middendorf ✔️
Goal? Shooter #
✔️ Jake Pivonka 13
❌ Ashton Calder 16
❌ Zach White 5

Rosters

# Player G A +/- SH PIM
G 29 V. Purpura 0 0 0 0 0
G 35 J. Brodeur 0 0 0 0 0
D 4 D. Becker 0 0 +1 0 0
D 5 W. MacKinnon 0 0 +1 2 2
D 6 R. Wheeler 0 0 0 1 0
F 9 T. Ashbrook 0 0 0 2 0
F 10 R. Smith 1 0 +1 6 0
D 12 R. Orgel 0 0 -1 1 0
F 21 P. Grasso 0 0 -1 8 2
D 24 M. Stief 0 1 0 4 0
D 26 C. Felix 0 0 +1 3 2
F 27 T. Broughman 0 0 +1 6 0
F 28 T. Friedmann 0 1 +1 3 0
F 43 G. Jozefek 0 2 +1 3 0
F 48 E. Middendorf 1 0 -1 3 0
F 61 F. Engaras 0 0 -1 1 2
F 71 Y. Hirano 1 0 +1 3 0
D 72 T. Thompson 0 0 0 3 0
F 92 J. Isley 0 0 +1 6 0
Team: 1 1
Totals: 4 4 5 56 8
Player MIN SH SVS GA SV%
29 V. Purpura (W) – 28 25 3 –
Totals: – 28 25 3 –
# 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 0 0 0
F 5 Z. White 0 0 -1 3 0
D 8 C. Krygier 0 0 -1 0 0
D 10 T. Cosgrove 0 2 0 3 0
F 11 A. Bakanov 0 1 0 2 0
F 12 J. Cipollone 0 0 0 1 2
F 13 J. Pivonka 1 0 +1 1 2
F 14 A. Goodsir 0 0 0 1 0
F 15 B. Robbins 0 0 -1 1 0
F 16 A. Calder 1 0 +1 5 0
F 17 K. Howdeshell 0 0 -1 0 0
F 19 B. Jenkins 0 0 -1 1 2
D 26 C. Welsh 0 1 0 2 0
D 27 J. Copeland 0 0 -2 1 2
F 29 R. Piercey 0 0 0 1 0
F 44 A. Callin 1 0 -1 4 0
D 70 Z. Garat 0 0 +1 2 0
Team:
Totals: 3 4 -5 28 8
Player MIN SH SVS GJ SV%
39 H. Tikkanen (SOL) – 55 52 3 –
Totals: – 55 52 3 –

Penalties

Time Team Player Mins Infraction
8:00 – 1st W. MacKinnon 2 Cross-Checking Minor (59.2)
10:37 – 1st J. Cipollone 2 Interference – minor (56.2)
20:00 – 1st C. Felix 2 Tripping – minor (57.2)
9:39 – 2nd P. Grasso 2 Roughing – minor (51.2)
9:39 – 2nd J. Copeland 2 Roughing – minor (51.2)
3:08 – 3rd F. Engaras 2 Interference – minor (56.2)
13:40 – 3rd B. Jenkins 2 Hooking – minor (55.2)
19:16 – 3rd J. Pivonka 2 Delay of Game (63.2)


Notes

  • Worcester Scratches: Anthony Repaci, Artyom Kulakov, Jack Quinlivan, Jake Schultz, and Quinn Ryan.
  • Adirondack Scratches: Andy Willis, Brendan Less, Bryce Martin, Jack Jeffers, Shawn Weller, Tyler Brennan, and Zach Walker.
  • Free Guac was given out on Jake Pivonka’s power-play goal. For your useless factoid of the day, Trevor Cosgrove scored an assist on the free guac goal, he scored an assist on the first one which was scored last season.
  • The Railers debuted their alternate orange jerseys on the ice during Tuesday’s game. They do resemble Edmonton Oilers jerseys more than Islanders-esque jerseys.
  • Following Tuesday’s game, the Railers had the following streaks and droughts:
    • Ryan Verrier is without a point in all six of the games he’s played this season.
    • Christian Krygier is without a point in his last five games.
    • Joey Cipollone is without a point in all eight of the games he’s played in this season.
    • Jake Pivonka is on a three-game point streak. (2-1-3)
    • Keeghan Howdeshell is without a point in his last four games.
    • Blade Jenkins is without a point in his last four games.
    • Connor Welsh snapped a six-game point drought with an assist.
    • John Copeland is without a point in his last six games.
    • Riley Piercey is without a point in his last three games.
    • Anthony Callin is on a three-game point streak. (1-4-5)

Railers Lines

Forward Lines LW C RW
Forward Line 1 Blade Jenkins #19 Jake Pivonka #13 Ashton Calder #16
Forward Line 2 Adam Goodsir #14 Joey Cipollone #12 Anthony Callin #44
Forward Line 3 Andrei Bakanov #11 Brendan Robbins #15 Zach White #5
Rotated Forwards Riley Piercey #29 – Keeghan Howdeshell #17
Defensive Pairings LD RD
Defense Pair 1 Connor Welsh #26 Trevor Cosgrove #10
Defense Pair 2 Christian Krygier #8 John Copeland #27
Defense Pair 3 Ryan Verrier #3 Zsombor Garat #70
Rotated Defensemen – –
Goalie Tandem G
Starting Goaltender Henrik Tikkanen #39
Backup Goaltender Tristan Lennox #30

Opponent Lines

Forward Lines LW C RW
Forward Line 1 Grant Jozefek #43 Filip Engaras #61 Patrick Grasso #21
Forward Line 2 Jace Isley #92 Travis Broughman #27 Yushiroh Hirano #71
Forward Line 3 Erik Middendorf #48 Ryan Smith #10 Tristan Ashbrook #9
Rotated Forwards Yanick Turcotte #17 – –
Defensive Pairings LD RD
Defense Pair 1 Will MacKinnon #5 Ryan Wheeler #6
Defense Pair 2 Tristan Thompson #72 Brendan Less #2
Defense Pair 3 Matt Stief #24 Devon Becker #4
Rotated Defensemen – Bryce Martin #62
Goalie Tandem G
Starting Goaltender Jeremy Brodeur #35
Backup Goaltender Vinnie Purpura #29

On-Ice Officials

– –
Referee Michael Zyla (34)
Referee –
Linesman Matthew Heinen (93)
Linesman Laura Schmidlein (82)



Notable Tweets as the Game Happened


Railers Lines


Thunder Lines


Erik Middendorf Goal (1-0 Thunder)


Yushiroh Hirano Goal (2-0 Thunder)


Jake Pivonka Goal (2-1 Thunder)


Ashton Calder Goal (Tied at 2)


Ryan Smith Goal (3-2 Thunder)


Anthony Callin Goal (Tied at 3)


Anthony Callin OT Goal that was called offf


Erik Middendorf Shootout Goal


Yushiroh Hirano Shootout Goal


Zach White Missed Shootout Attempt