Game Story

Worcester, MA — The Worcester Railers dropped the first game in a 3-in-3 against the Norfolk Admirals at the DCU Center on Thursday night, 4-1.

Hugo Ollas stopped 17 of 20 shots for Worcester, while Thomas Milic made 30 saves for Norfolk, improving his season record to 8-4-0 and his career record against Worcester to 4-0-1. Brady Fleurent, Filip Fornåå Svensson, and Andrei Bakanov provided the offense for Norfolk, with Bakanov scoring twice against his former team. Anthony Callin netted Worcester’s lone goal on the power play.

Norfolk struck first on their opening shot of the game at 3:05 when Brady Fleurent deflected a Nathan Kelly shot from the blue line past Hugo Ollas, putting the Admirals up 1-0. Despite five early shots from the Railers, Norfolk’s Thomas Milic stood tall, stopping them all. Seven minutes later, Filip Fornåå Svensson extended the lead to 2-0, beating Ollas short side just after the Railers killed off a JD Dudek cross-checking penalty. Worcester outshot Norfolk 13-11 in the first period but trailed 2-0 after 20 minutes.

The Railers responded in the second period, cutting the deficit to 2-1 at 7:17 when Anthony Repaci fired a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle past Milic while Carson Musser was in the box for hooking. Milic made 12 saves in the period, and the Railers held a 26-15 shot advantage through two frames.

Former Railer Andrei Bakanov sealed the game for Norfolk in the third period, scoring twice — first at 7:53 on a rush into the Railers’ zone, then again on the empty net just seconds after Hugo Ollas was pulled for the extra attacker.

The Three Stars of the Game were:

  1. Thomas Milic (Norfolk) – win, 31 saves, 0.968 SV%
  2. Brady Fleurent (Worcester) – 1 goal, +4
  3. Anthony Callin (Worcester) – 1 goal

Earlier in the week, the Maine Mariners defeated the Norfolk Admirals 7-2 in a school day game on Tuesday morning. On Wednesday morning, the Trois-Rivières Lions shut out the Wheeling Nailers 2-0 in another school day game. This was the only game played in North Division on Thursday night, and all seven teams are set to play on Friday night. The Railers remain tied with Reading with 60 points in the division, but Reading has two games in hand.

The Bridgeport Islanders began their Canada road trip with a 5-2 win over the Toronto Marlies on Wednesday night. Henrik Tikkanen made 26 saves, while Jack Randl and Justin Gill each recorded an assist in the win.

The Railers and Admirals will face off again at the DCU Center on Friday night for Game 2 of the series, with puck drop set for 7:05 p.m.

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Box Score

Scoring 1 2 3 T
2 0 2 4
0 1 0 1
Shots 1 2 3 T
11 4 6 21
13 13 5 31
Score Team Time Scored by Assisted by Type
1 – 0 3:05 – 1st B. Fleurent (25) N. Kelly, G. Sward
2 – 0 10:31 – 1st F. Fornåå Svensson (25) B. Zloty, J. McDougall
2 – 1 7:17 – 2nd A. Callin (18) C. Welsh, A. Repaci PP
3 – 1 7:53 – 3rd A. Bakanov (13) G. Hebert
4 – 1 16:16 – 3rd A. Bakanov (14) G. Hebert, C. Musser EN

Rosters

# Player G A +/- SH PIM
G 32 T. Milic 0 0 0 0 0
G 37 K. Stead 0 0 0 0 0
D 2 D. Louis-Jean 0 0 +1 0 0
D 4 C. Musser 0 1 +1 2 4
F 5 T. Andrew 0 0 0 0 0
D 7 N. Kelly 0 1 +1 2 2
F 9 G. Sargis 0 0 0 0 0
F 10 F. Fornåå Svensson 1 0 +1 3 0
F 11 A. Bakanov 2 0 +3 5 0
D 14 C. Fedorek 0 0 +2 0 4
D 15 G. Sward 0 1 +1 0 0
F 16 M. Reifenberger 0 0 0 2 0
F 19 S. Montgomery 0 0 0 0 0
D 23 J. McDougall 0 1 +2 1 0
F 25 B. Osmundson 0 0 0 1 0
F 26 F. Anderson 0 0 0 1 0
F 28 G. Yavash 0 0 0 0 0
D 44 B. Zloty 0 1 +2 2 0
F 93 G. Hebert 0 2 +2 1 0
F 94 B. Fleurent 1 0 +4 1 0
Team:
Player MIN SH SVS GA SV%
32 T. Milic (W) – 31 30 1 –
Totals: – 31 30 1 –
# Player G A +/- SH PIM
G 30 H. Ollas 0 0 0 0 0
G 32 M. Bullion 0 0 0 0 0
F 4 R. Mahshie 0 0 -1 1 0
D 8 P. Walton 0 0 -1 0 0
F 10 J. Kaplan 0 0 -3 5 0
F 13 T. Kobryn 0 0 0 1 0
D 14 M. Rajaniemi 0 0 -1 0 0
C 15 J. Dudek 0 0 -2 0 2
F 16 G. Loughran 0 0 0 1 0
F 18 M. Kopperud 0 0 0 5 2
F 19 R. Piercey 0 0 -2 4 0
D 22 G. Luce 0 0 -1 1 2
D 24 M. Klee 0 0 -1 4 0
D 25 R. Dickinson 0 0 -1 0 0
D 26 C. Welsh 0 1 -2 1 0
F 29 C. Donhauser 0 0 0 3 0
F 33 L. Hatten 0 0 -1 1 0
F 37 M. DeMelis 0 0 -1 0 0
F 44 A. Callin 1 0 -1 2 0
F 81 A. Repaci 0 1 -3 2 0
Team:
Player MIN SH SVS GJ SV%
30 H. Ollas (L) – 20 17 3 –
Empty Net – 1 1 –
Totals: – 21 17 4 –

Penalties

Time Team Player Mins Infraction
8:23 – 1st J. Dudek 2 Cross-Checking Minor (59.2)
12:38 – 1st C. Musser 2 Hooking – minor (55.2)
6:07 – 2nd C. Musser 2 Hooking – minor (55.2)
15:41 – 2nd N. Kelly 2 Roughing – minor (51.2)
15:41 – 2nd M. Kopperud 2 Roughing – minor (51.2)
19:22 – 2nd G. Luce 2 Interference – minor (56.2)
19:47 – 2nd C. Fedorek 2 Roughing – minor (51.2)
1:50 – 3rd C. Fedorek 2 Interference – minor (56.2)

Notes

  • Worcester Scratches: Alec Cicero, Anthony Hora, Kabore Dunn, Kolby Johnson, Matt Ustaski, Riley Ginnell, and Tanner Schachle.
  • Norfolk Scratches: Brandon Yeamans, Denis Smirnov, Jaden Shields, Justin Young, Keegan Iverson, Pavel Padakin, and Stepan Timofeyev.
  • Pito Walton made his pro debut on Thursday. He becomes the first Railer to wear #8 since Bobby Butler, but also since the passing Matt Gaudreau. Railers have not issued #21 this season and with him wearing that number for most of his pro and college careers, the expectation is that number will not be issued at all the season.
  • Following Thursday Night’s game, the Railers had the following scoring streaks and droughts:
    • Matias Rajaniemi is without a point in his last 9 games.
    • Griffin Loughran is without a point in his last 4 games.
    • Griffin Luce is without a point in his last 5 games.
    • Ryan Dickinson is without a point in his last 11 games.

Railers Lines

Forward Lines LW C RW
Forward Line 1 Matthew Kopperud #18 Anthony Callin #44 Griffin Loughran #16
Forward Line 2 Anthony Repaci #81 Jordan Kaplan #10 Riley Piercey #19
Forward Line 3 Tyler Kobryn #13 Matt DeMelis #37 Cole Donhauser #29
Forward Line 4 Ryan Mahshie #4 JD Dudek #15 Lincoln Hatten #33
Defensive Pairings LD RD
Defense Pair 1 Connor Welsh #26 Griffin Luce #22
Defense Pair 2 Matias Rajaniemi #14 Ryan Dickinson #25
Defense Pair 3 Pito Walton #8 Mason Klee #24
Rotated Defensemen – –
Goalie Tandem G
Starting Goaltender Hugo Ollas #30
Backup Goaltender Michael Bullion #32

Opponent Lines

Forward Lines LW C RW
Forward Line 1 Andrei Bakanov #11 Grant Hebert #93 Brady Fleurent #94
Forward Line 2 Brandon Osmundson #25 Tanner Andrew #5 Filip Fornåå Svensson #10
Forward Line 3 Marko Reifenberger #16 German Yavash #28 Sean Montgomery #19
Forward Line 4 Gehrett Sargis #9 Connor Fedorek #14 Fletcher Anderson #26
Defensive Pairings LD RD
Defense Pair 1 Carson Musser #4 Josh McDougall #23
Defense Pair 2 Ben Zloty #44 Darick Louis-Jean #2
Defense Pair 3 Nathan Kelly #7 Graham Sward #15
Rotated Defensemen – –
Goalie Tandem G
Starting Goaltender Thomas Milic #32
Backup Goaltender Kristian Stead #37

On-Ice Officials

– –
Referee Logan Gruhl (29)
Referee –
Linesman Matthew Heinen (93)
Linesman Shane Kanaly (74)


Highlights

Notable Tweets as the Game Happened


Railers Lines


Connor Welsh’s dad reading opening lines


Brady Fluerent goal


Filip Fornåå Svensson goal


Anthony Callin goal


Hugo Ollas save