Game Story


Worcester, MA — The Worcester Railers lost 3-1 to the Adirondack Thunder on Military Appreciation night on Saturday, in front of a lower-bowl sellout crowd of 5,681.

Nolan Vesey scored the only goal for Worcester on the power play in the second period while Sebastian Vidmar, Matt Jennings, and Travis Broughman each scored for the Thunder. Henrik Tikkanen made 19 saves in his second appearance of the week. Adirondack goalie Isaac Poulter made 32 saves on 33 shots to earn the win for the Thunder. The Railers have lost six of their last ten games.

The Thunder took an early lead in the game when Sebastian Vidmar found the back of the net on a power play just 5:04 into the game. Vidmar’s goal was a tic-tac-toe sequence setup with Shane Harper and Ryan Orgel and just beat Tikkanen’s glove side. Adirondack doubled their lead late in the first period as Kyle Hallbauer made a breakaway pass to Matt Jennings, who scored his third goal of the season by slipping the puck through the legs of goaltender Henrik Tikkanen. Jennings received a pass up the ice from Hallbauer who broke past Trevor Cosgrove, scoring on a backhand shot as he raced Cosgrove to the crease.

The Railers managed to close the gap to 2-1 just 13 seconds into a power play when Nolan Vesey scored. Vesey was positioned in the slot and received a pass from Liam Coughlin, who managed to get a shot off through a pair of Adirondack defenders and tucked the puck into the corner of the net at 12:44 in the second period. Despite outshooting the Thunder 22 to 3 in the second period, the Railers were unable to generate many other offensive chances beyond that goal.

In the third period, the Railers outshot the Thunder 6-4, with all six shots occurring within a four-minute window in the middle of the period. Despite some back-and-forth play throughout the period, Adirondack also struggled to generate many shots on goal. However, the Thunder managed to turn things around in the latter half of the period and eventually sealed the victory with an empty-net goal by Travis Broughman with just 9 seconds remaining on the clock.

The three stars of Saturday’s game were:

  1. Issac Poulter (Adirondack) – 32 saves, win, 0.970 SV%
  2. Matt Jennings (Adirondack) – 1 goal
  3. Nolan Vesey (Worcester) – 1 goal

Trois-Rivieres topped Reading 3-1 earlier in the day on Saturday. Maine fell 4-2 to Tulsa. Newfoundland shutout Norfolk after being shutout by Norfolk on Friday, 3-0. The Thunder are just one point back from Worcester, and with Worcester’s loss on Saturday, they’ll need to win the remaining games against the Thunder and will need some help from the Mariners who face the Thunder next Friday and Sunday. Maine can clinch a playoff spot Sunday. Maine, Trois-Rivieres, and Reading play on Sunday.

The Railers host the Maine Mariners on Wednesday at the DCU Center.

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Box Score


Scoring 1 2 3 T
2 0 1 3
0 1 0 1
Shots 1 2 3 T
13 3 6 22
7 22 4 33

 

Score Team Time Scored by Assisted by Type
1 – 0 5:04 – 1st S. Vidmar (11) S. Harper, R. Orgel PP
2 – 0 18:55 – 1st M. Jennings (3) K. Hallbauer
2 – 1 12:44 – 2nd N. Vesey (12) L. Coughlin, S. Jandric PP
3 – 1 19:50 – 3rd T. Broughman (11) EN

Rosters

# Player G A +/- SH PIM
G 1 I. Poulter 0 0 0 0 0
G 39 M. Robinson 0 0 0 0 0
D 4 M. Slick 0 0 +1 0 0
D 7 M. Stief 0 0 0 0 0
D 8 W. Letourneau 0 0 0 1 2
F 9 C. Long 0 0 +1 2 0
F 10 R. Smith 0 0 +1 3 0
F 11 S. Harper 0 1 0 1 0
D 12 R. Orgel 0 1 +1 2 2
D 13 I. Chukarov 0 0 +1 0 2
F 14 M. Jennings 1 0 +1 2 0
F 21 P. Grasso 0 0 0 1 0
F 22 S. Vidmar 1 0 0 2 0
D 26 K. Hallbauer 0 1 +1 2 0
F 27 T. Broughman 1 0 +1 1 0
F 29 B. Fleurent 0 0 0 2 0
F 37 E. Middendorf 0 0 +1 2 0
F 43 G. Jozefek 0 0 +1 1 0
F 63 S. Weller 0 0 0 0 0
Team:
Totals: 3 3 10 22 6
Player MIN SH SVS GA SV%
1 I. Poulter (W) – 33 32 1 –
Totals: – 33 32 1 –
# Player G A +/- SH PIM
G 35 K. Appleby 0 0 0 0 0
G 39 H. Tikkanen 0 0 0 0 0
F 7 L. Coughlin 0 1 -1 3 0
F 8 B. Butler 0 0 -2 0 0
D 9 N. Delmas 0 0 0 1 0
D 10 T. Cosgrove 0 0 -2 1 0
F 11 N. Vesey 1 0 -2 2 2
F 12 B. Beaudoin 0 0 -1 4 0
F 13 B. Jerry 0 0 0 2 0
F 16 J. Hayhurst 0 0 0 3 0
F 17 A. Callin 0 0 0 4 0
F 18 A. Goodsir 0 0 0 1 2
D 22 J. Victor 0 0 -1 0 2
F 23 A. Bakanov 0 0 0 2 0
D 26 J. Brandt 0 0 0 3 0
D 27 M. McGurty 0 0 -1 2 0
D 29 A. Kulakov 0 0 0 3 0
F 44 S. Jandric 0 1 0 2 0
F 81 A. Repaci 0 0 -1 0 2
Team:
Totals: 1 2 -11 33 8
Player MIN SH SVS GJ SV%
39 H. Tikkanen (L) – 21 19 2 –
Empty Net – 1 1 –
Totals: – 22 19 3 –

Penalties

Time Team Player Mins Infraction
4:23 – 1st N. Vesey 2 Cross-Checking Minor (59.2)
13:12 – 1st A. Repaci 2 Hooking – minor (55.2)
19:07 – 1st A. Goodsir 2 Tripping – minor (57.2)
19:21 – 1st R. Orgel 2 Holding – minor (54.2)
12:30 – 2nd W. Letourneau 2 Tripping – minor (57.2)
17:52 – 2nd I. Chukarov 2 Interference – minor (56.2)
4:06 – 3rd J. Victor 2 Hooking – minor (55.2)


Notes

  • Worcester scratches: Chris Ordoobadi, Christian Evers, Connor McCarthy, Conor Breen, Jack Quinlivan, Max Johnson, Phil Beaulieu, Quinn Ryan, and Ryan Da Silva.
  • Adirondack scratches: Brandon Schultz, Bryce Martin, Jake Theut, Jeff Taylor, Mareks Mitens, Nick Rivera, Vinnie Purpura, and Yanick Turcotte.
  • The Adirondack Thunder announced Saturday that Vinnie Purpura was released from the hospital on Saturday afternoon. With a likely concussion he’s expected to be out for a while for the Thunder, but will be travelling back to Glens Falls with the team. The Thunder had some reinforcements with Issac Poulter being assigned from Utica prior to puck drop, with Purpura heading to injured reserve. Purpura is the third goaltender on their injured reserve, with Marek Mittens being on IR since the start of the season, and Jake Theut being placed on the list just last week.
  • Ryan DaSilva joined the Railers on Saturday after being claimed from the Wheeling Nailers on Friday, and was a healthy scratch for Saturday’s game. Conor Breen was released to free up a roster spot for DaSilva.
  • Reece Newkirk was recalled to the Bridgeport Islanders with Trevor Cosgrove was sent down in another transaction. Newkirk was a healthy scratch for Bridgeport’s game on Saturday, and they host Lehigh Valley on Sunday.
  • The jersey raffles of the game were a Mike Cornell #6 Worcester 6 Jersey from the 2019-20 season. Another Worcester 6 jersey with Ray Bourque’s name and number on the back were also raffled to benefit Central Mass Veterans Support Inc.
  • Following Saturday night’s game, the Railers had the following scoring streaks and droughts:
    • Liam Coughlin snapped a six-game scoring drought.
    • Bobby Bulter snapped a three-game scoring streak. (1-2-3)
    • Trevor Cosgrove is without a point in his last three games.
    • Nolan Vesey is now on a three-game point streak. (1-2-3)
    • Billy Jerry is without a point in his last three games.
    • Adam Goodsir is without a point in his last six games.
    • Josh Victor is without a point in his last seven games.
    • Jared Brandt is without a point in his last three games.

Railers Lines

Forward Lines LW C RW
Forward Line 1 Andrei Bakanov #23 Brent Beaudoin #12 Anthony Repaci #81
Forward Line 2 Steve Jandric #44 Bobby Butler #8 Bobby Butler #8
Forward Line 3 Jacob Hayhurst #16 Anthony Callin #17 Nolan Vesey #11
Rotated Forwards – Billy Jerry #13 Adam Goodsir #18
Defensive Pairings LD RD
Defense Pair 1 Jared Brandt #26 Myles McGurty #27
Defense Pair 2 Josh Victor #22 Trevor Cosgrove #10
Defense Pair 3 Artyom Kulakov #29 Noah Delmas #9
Rotated Defensemen – –
Goalie Tandem G
Starting Goaltender Henrik Tikkanen #39
Backup Goaltender Ken Appleby #35

Opponent Lines

Forward Lines LW C RW
Forward Line 1 Sebastian Vidmar #22 Shane Harper #11 Patrick Grasso #21
Forward Line 2 Grant Jozefek #43 Travis Broughman #27 Ryan Smith #10
Forward Line 3 Matt Jennings #14 Colin Long #9 Erik Middendorf #37
Rotated Forwards Shawn Weller #63 – Brady Fleurent #29
Defensive Pairings LD RD
Defense Pair 1 Matt Stief #7 Wayne Letourneau #8
Defense Pair 2 Ivan Chukarov #13 Kyle Hallbauer #26
Defense Pair 3 Matt Slick #4 Ryan Orgel #12
Rotated Defensemen – –
Goalie Tandem G
Starting Goaltender Isaac Poulter #1
Backup Goaltender Mike Robinson #39

On-Ice Officials

– –
Referee John Lindner (6)
Referee Casey Terreri (14)
Linesman Sam Schildkraut (46)
Linesman Brent Colby (77)


Highlights


Notable Tweets as the Game Happened

[Lines were not tweeted out on Saturday by the team or the writers covering the team, whooooooops.]

Railers Lines


Thunder Lines


Sebastian Vidmar goal (1-0 Thunder)


Matt Jennings goal (2-0 Thunder)


Nolan Vesey goal (2-1 Thunder)


Travis Broughman goal (3-1 Thunder)