Game Story

Worcester, MA — The Worcester Railers took game two in the 3-in-3 series against the Norfolk Admirals, beating them 6-5 in overtime.

Michael Bullion earned his 12th win of the season, stopping 23 of 28 shots. Thomas Milic made his second start of the weekend for Norfolk, saving 31 of 37 shots. The six goals allowed by Milic were the most he’s given up in his professional career. Tyler Kobryn, Cole Donhauser, Anthony Repaci, Connor Welsh, Griffin Loughran, and Riley Piercey all found the back of the net for Worcester. German Yavash and Andrei Bakanov each scored twice for Norfolk, while Gehrett Sargis added another goal.

The Railers were 2-for-5 on the power play on Friday night, the special teams units also killed off all five penalties called against Worcester, including a including a 5-on-3 disadvantage for 1:15 in the second period. Casey Terreri and Austin O’Rourke were the referee duo for this game and while there were plenty of no-calls throughout regulation and overtime, the Railers had a successful power play and penalty kill night. It was a neck-and-neck game and yet another close game with one of the division’s top teams.

Norfolk struck first when German Yavash scored on the Admirals’ second shot of the game at 2:18. His shot bounced off Bullion’s pads and trickled over the goal line. Worcester responded at 9:02 when Tyler Kobryn fired a wrist shot from between the faceoff circles to tie the game. Andrei Bakanov reclaimed the lead for Norfolk on a rush into the Railers’ zone, scoring on a backhander at 15:07. Norfolk held a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes despite being outshot 11-6.

Cole Donhauser evened the score just 1:51 into the second, skating through two Norfolk defenders and beating Milic with a five-hole shot. Bakanov responded at 4:54, netting a deflected shot for his fourth goal against Worcester in back-to-back games. Shortly after a 5-on-3 advantage shifted to 5-on-4, Anthony Repaci buried a one-timer from Connor Welsh to tie the game at three. Worcester outshot Norfolk 23-13 through two periods.

Lincoln Hatten and Andrei Bakanov dropped the gloves at 10:28 in the second period. The fight was evenly matched with both players landing solid punches before Hatten lost his balance, allowing Bakanov to send him to the ice.

Norfolk regained the lead early in the third when Gehrett Sargis converted a feed from Grant Hebert at 3:04. Connor Welsh tied it up on a power play just a minute and a half later, and Griffin Loughran gave Worcester their first lead of the night at 5:40. That lead held until Yavash netted his second goal of the game with under five minutes left in regulation, sending the game to overtime with Worcester outshooting Norfolk 35-26.

Riley Piercey secured the win with a wrist shot between the circles at 2:07 in the overtime period.

The Three Stars of the Game were:

  1. Riley Piercey (Worcester) – game-winning goal
  2. Anthony Repaci (Worcester) – 1 goal, 2 assists
  3. Grant Hebert (Norfolk) – 3 assists

The Maine Mariners defeated the Adirondack Thunder, 4-2, in Glens Falls earlier Friday night. Trois-Rivières secured a playoff spot — the second team in the ECHL and the first in the North Division to do so — with a 5-3 win over the Reading Royals. The Wheeling Nailers also picked up a 3-1 victory over the Fort Wayne Komets. With Worcester’s win and Reading’s loss, the Railers remain in control of fourth place in the division with 62 points. However, Reading is close behind with 60 points and two games in hand, keeping the playoff race tight.

The Bridgeport Islanders fell to the Belleville Senators, 5-1, on Friday night. Jack Randl scored his first AHL goal at 10:25 of the third period to break the shutout, with an assist from Daylan Kuefler. Jakub Skarek made 18 saves for Bridgeport. Cam McDonald dressed for the game but is still searching for his first AHL point. The two teams meet again on Saturday at 7 p.m.

The Railers and Admirals wrap up their three-game series on Saturday night at 6:05 p.m.

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Box Score

Scoring 1 2 3 OT T
2 1 2 0 5
1 2 2 1 6
Shots 1 2 3 OT T
6 7 13 2 28
11 12 12 2 37
Score Team Time Scored by Assisted by Type
1 – 0 2:18 – 1st G. Yavash (5) F. Anderson, J. McDougall
1 – 1 9:02 – 1st T. Kobryn (8) A. Repaci, G. Luce
2 – 1 14:29 – 1st A. Bakanov (15) B. Fleurent, G. Hebert
2 – 2 1:51 – 2nd C. Donhauser (8) A. Repaci, P. Walton
3 – 2 4:54 – 2nd A. Bakanov (16) G. Hebert, T. Andrew
3 – 3 16:22 – 2nd A. Repaci (24) C. Welsh, A. Callin PP
4 – 3 3:04 – 3rd G. Sargis (2) G. Hebert, N. Kelly
4 – 4 4:31 – 3rd C. Welsh (7) A. Callin PP
4 – 5 5:40 – 3rd G. Loughran (9) C. Donhauser, J. Kaplan
5 – 5 15:45 – 3rd G. Yavash (6) M. Reifenberger, D. Louis-Jean
5 – 6 2:07 – OT R. Piercey (9) P. Walton

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 1 +1 1 0
D 4 C. Musser 0 0 -3 2 0
F 5 T. Andrew 0 1 -1 3 0
D 7 N. Kelly 0 1 +4 0 0
F 9 G. Sargis 1 0 +1 2 2
F 10 F. Fornåå Svensson 0 0 0 4 0
F 11 A. Bakanov 2 0 -1 4 5
D 14 C. Fedorek 0 0 0 0 0
D 15 G. Sward 0 0 -1 0 0
F 16 M. Reifenberger 0 1 +1 0 2
F 19 S. Montgomery 0 0 -1 2 0
D 23 J. McDougall 0 1 +1 1 0
F 25 B. Osmundson 0 0 +1 0 4
F 26 F. Anderson 0 1 +2 1 0
F 28 G. Yavash 2 0 +2 3 4
D 44 B. Zloty 0 0 0 1 2
F 93 G. Hebert 0 3 +1 2 0
F 94 B. Fleurent 0 1 0 2 0
Team:
Player MIN SH SVS GA SV%
32 T. Milic (L) – 37 31 6 –
Totals: – 37 31 6 –
# 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 0 0
D 8 P. Walton 0 2 -1 1 0
F 10 J. Kaplan 0 1 +1 3 0
F 13 T. Kobryn 1 0 -2 4 0
D 14 M. Rajaniemi 0 0 -2 1 0
C 15 J. Dudek 0 0 -2 1 0
F 16 G. Loughran 1 0 0 2 0
F 18 M. Kopperud 0 0 -1 4 2
F 19 R. Piercey 1 0 0 2 2
D 22 G. Luce 0 1 +1 3 0
D 24 M. Klee 0 0 +2 1 0
D 25 R. Dickinson 0 0 -1 1 2
D 26 C. Welsh 1 1 -1 2 0
F 29 C. Donhauser 1 1 +2 1 6
F 33 L. Hatten 0 0 0 1 7
F 37 M. DeMelis 0 0 0 3 0
F 44 A. Callin 0 2 -1 4 0
F 81 A. Repaci 1 2 -1 3 0
Team:
Player MIN SH SVS GJ SV%
32 M. Bullion (W) – 28 23 5 –
Totals: – 28 23 5 –

Penalties

Time Team Player Mins Infraction
3:27 – 1st C. Donhauser 2 Tripping – minor (57.2)
5:01 – 1st G. Sargis 2 Hooking – minor (55.2)
11:35 – 1st G. Yavash 2 Tripping – minor (57.2)
1:59 – 2nd B. Osmundson 2 Roughing – minor (51.2)
1:59 – 2nd M. Reifenberger 2 Roughing – minor (51.2)
1:59 – 2nd R. Dickinson 2 Roughing – minor (51.2)
1:59 – 2nd R. Piercey 2 Roughing – minor (51.2)
10:28 – 2nd A. Bakanov 5 Fighting – Major (46.14)
10:28 – 2nd L. Hatten 2 Instigating – minor (46.11)
10:28 – 2nd L. Hatten 5 Fighting – Major (46.14)
11:13 – 2nd C. Donhauser 2 Hooking – minor (55.2)
14:18 – 2nd B. Osmundson 2 Slashing – minor (61.2)
15:49 – 2nd G. Yavash 2 Tripping – minor (57.2)
4:15 – 3rd B. Zloty 2 Hooking – minor (55.2)
6:34 – 3rd M. Kopperud 2 Delay of Game (63.2)
13:15 – 3rd C. Donhauser 2 Slashing – minor (61.2)

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.
  • Following Friday Night’s game, the Railers had the following scoring streaks and droughts:
    • Ryan Mahshie is without a point in his last 3 games.
    • Matias Rajaniemi is without a point in his last 10 games.
    • JD Dudek is without a point in his last 3 games.
    • Griffin Loughran snapped his point drought after 4 games.
    • Matthew Kopperud is without a point in his last 3 games.
    • Griffin Luce snapped his point drought after 5 games.
    • Mason Klee is without a point in his last 3 games.
    • Ryan Dickinson is without a point in his last 12 games.
    • Lincoln Hatten is without a point in his last 5 games.
    • Matt DeMelis is without a point in his last 4 games.

Railers Lines

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

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

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Referee Casey Terreri (14)
Referee Austin O’Rourke (10)
Linesman Jack McQuesten (53)
Linesman Cody Sullivan (82)


Highlights

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Notable Tweets as the Game Happened


Railers Lines


Tyler Kobryn goal


Cole Donhauser goal


Anthony Repaci goal


Connor Welsh goal


Griffin Loughran goal


Riley Piercey goal