Game Story

Worcester, MA — The Worcester Railers picked up three out of a possible four points in back-to-back games against the Adirondack Thunder, falling 3-2 in the shootout on Saturday night in front of a Teddy Bear Toss crowd of 5,029.

Tristan Lennox had his twelfth start of the season, facing 27 shots and stopping all but two of them. Vinnie Purpura made 36 saves, 20 of which came in the first period. Keeghan Howdeshell and Anthony Repaci each scored for Worcester, with Howdeshell now riding a three-game point streak. Jack Jeffers and Mike Gillespie scored in regulation for Adirondack, with Patrick Grasso eventually scoring in the four-round shootout.

For the second straight game, the Thunder struck first. It was Jack Jeffers who scored the first goal at 10:21 of the first period, firing a wrist shot past goaltender Tristan Lennox from the top of the left circle. Worcester evened the score later in the first period when Keeghan Howdeshell, in a solo effort, outplayed goaltender Vinnie Purpura to notch his third goal of the year, prompting a cascade of teddy bears from the stands. Riley Piercey and Ryan Verrier provided the assists with just 53 seconds left in the first period, knotting the game at 1-1. The first intermission began early as Railers players and staff took to the ice to clear the teddy bears. The remaining 53 seconds were appended to the start of the second period, where Blade Jenkins managed a shot on Vinnie Purpura before the period officially concluded, with the Railers outshooting the Thunder 21-6.

Adirondack capitalized on a power play in the second period to regain a one-goal lead. Mike Gillespie redirected a shot from Tristan Thompson at 5:44 of the second frame to give the Thunder a 2-1 lead. The Railers responded, tying the game as Anthony Repaci redirected the puck off his skate into the net. This marked his fourth goal of the year, assisted by Todd Goehring, sending the game into the third period knotted at 2-2.

The Railers came close to securing victory in overtime as a shot from Worcester struck the post, bounced off Thunder goaltender Vinnie Purpura, and almost crossed the goal line before coming to a stop. Since no goals were scored in the third period or overtime, the game’s outcome was ultimately determined through a shootout. In the fourth round, Patrick Grasso secured the win with a goal, and Vinnie Purpura’s save against Blade Jenkins solidified the 3-2 Victory.

The three stars of the game were:

Vinnie Purpura (Adirondack) – win, 36 saves, 0.947 SV%
Keeghan Howdeshell (Worcester) – 1 goal
Anthony Repaci (Worcester) – 1 goal

Earlier in the evening, Maine secured a 6-3 victory over Newfoundland, while the Reading Royals dominated the Trois-Rivieres Lions with a 5-1 win in Reading. Additionally, the Admirals triumphed 4-1 over the Jacksonville Icemen at the Norfolk Scope. Despite these outcomes, the Railers maintain their sixth position in points percentage, while Maine and Newfoundland, occupying the fourth and fifth spots, respectively, are the only North Division teams set to face off on Sunday. Saturday marked the eighth meeting between the Railers and Thunder, they’ll face each other another three times before the season ends.

The Railers head on the road for a single game against the Reading Royals on Friday night, and will meet again with the Thunder on Saturday in Glens Falls. Both games are slated for a 7 p.m. start time.

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Box Score


Scoring 1 2 3 OT SO T
1 1 0 0 1 3
1 1 0 0 0 2
Shots 1 2 3 OT SO T
6 10 6 5 1 28
21 4 8 5 0 38
Score Team Time Scored by Assisted by Type
1 – 0 10:21 – 1st J. Jeffers (2) T. Broughman, N. Blachman
1 – 1 19:07 – 1st K. Howdeshell (3) R. Piercey, B. Robbins
2 – 1 5:44 – 2nd M. Gillespie (2) T. Thompson, C. Felix PP
2 – 2 13:33 – 2nd A. Repaci (4) T. Goehring
# Shooter Goal?
9 Tristan Ashbrook ❌
19 Jack Jeffers ❌
43 Grant Jozefek ❌
21 Patrick Grasso ✔️
Goal? Shooter #
❌ Todd Goehring 23
❌ Ashton Calder 16
❌ Anthony Repaci 81
❌ Blade Jenkins 19

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 0 1 0
D 5 W. MacKinnon 0 0 -1 1 0
D 6 R. Wheeler 0 0 0 0 0
F 9 T. Ashbrook 0 0 -1 4 0
F 10 R. Smith 0 0 -1 3 0
F 11 S. Harper 0 0 -2 0 0
D 12 R. Orgel 0 0 0 1 0
F 13 T. Leeson 0 0 0 1 0
F 19 J. Jeffers 1 0 0 2 0
F 21 P. Grasso 0 0 -1 3 0
F 22 N. Blachman 0 1 +1 0 0
D 26 C. Felix 0 1 -1 1 2
F 27 T. Broughman 0 1 +1 1 0
F 37 M. Gillespie 1 0 0 2 0
F 43 G. Jozefek 0 0 0 2 0
F 55 Z. Walker 0 0 0 2 0
D 72 T. Thompson 0 1 0 3 0
Team: 1 1
Totals: 3 4 -5 28 2
Player MIN SH SVS GA SV%
29 V. Purpura (W) – 38 36 2 –
Totals: – 38 36 2 –
# 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 0 0
D 4 J. Schultz 0 0 -1 2 0
F 5 Z. White 0 0 -1 3 0
D 10 T. Cosgrove 0 0 +2 3 2
F 11 A. Bakanov 0 0 0 2 0
F 12 J. Cipollone 0 0 -1 2 0
F 13 J. Pivonka 0 0 0 3 0
F 15 B. Robbins 0 1 +1 3 2
F 16 A. Calder 0 0 0 2 0
F 17 K. Howdeshell 1 0 +1 2 0
F 19 B. Jenkins 0 0 0 5 0
D 20 Z. Garat 0 0 0 0 0
F 23 T. Goehring 0 1 +1 3 0
D 26 C. Welsh 0 0 0 1 0
F 29 R. Piercey 0 1 +1 1 0
F 81 A. Repaci 1 0 +1 6 0
D 88 A. Kulakov 0 0 0 0 0
Team:
Totals: 2 3 5 38 4
Player MIN SH SVS GJ SV%
30 T. Lennox (SOL) – 27 25 2 –
Totals: – 27 25 2 –

Penalties

Time Team Player Mins Infraction
4:32 – 2nd T. Cosgrove 2 Delay of Game (63.2)
11:58 – 3rd B. Robbins 2 Hooking – minor (55.2)
2:13 – 1st OT C. Felix 2 Tripping – minor (57.2)


Notes

  • Worcester Scratches: Anthony Callin, Christian Krygier, Jack Quinlivan, John Copeland, and Quinn Ryan.
  • Adirondack Scratches: Brendan Less, Bryce Martin, Darian Skeoch, Matt Stief, T.J. Friedmann, and Tyler Brennan.
  • The Railers wore “Ugly Sweater” specialty jerseys on Saturday night, which were auctioned off during and after the game to benefit The Shine Initiative, with 20 jerseys being auctioned off on the Dashapp website during the game, and five jerseys sold at a live auction after the game. With some outliers, most jerseys sold in the $300-$400 range. Artyom Kulakov’s jersey sold for the most at $600 on the Dashapp platform.
  • Former Railers defenseman Josh Victor dropped the gloves with Nathan Noel on Saturday in Newfoundland’s home game against Maine. Noel who is also St. John’s Native, who recently signed with the Maine Mariners, was released by the Growlers last season for an alleged racist taunt towards Victor at a game at the DCU Center last season. In a now-deleted X thread I had with Noel, he claimed that he and Victor had settled things. Based on their fight on Saturday, that does not appear to be the case. It appears Noel wants to clear his name without any self-accountibility for his antics on the ice.
  • The live auction results were the following, with all jerseys starting at $200, other than Schultz’s:
    • Tikkanen – $575
    • Schultz (started at $500) – $625
    • Repaci – $1,000
    • Lennox – $625
    • Jenkins – $650
  • Following Saturday’s game, the Railers had the following scoring streaks and droughts:
      • Ryan Verrier is without a point in all nineteen games he’s played this season.
      • Zach White is without a point in his last five games.
      • Brendan Robbins snapped a three-game scoring drought with an assist.
      • Keeghan Howdeshell is on a three-game point streak. (2-1-3)
      • Blade Jenkins’ point streak was snapped at three games. (1-2-3)
      • Zsombor Garat is without a point in his last nine games.
      • Todd Goehring snapped a three-game scoring drought with an assist.
      • Artyom Kulakov is without a point in his last nine games.

Railers Lines (via @210Darryl)

Forward Lines LW C RW
Forward Line 1 Andrei Bakanov #11 Jake Pivonka #13 Ashton Calder #16
Forward Line 2 Todd Goehring #23 Blade Jenkins #19 Anthony Repaci #81
Forward Line 3 Zach White #5 Brendan Robbins #15 Joey Cipollone #12
Rotated Forwards Keeghan Howdeshell #17 – Riley Piercey #29
Defensive Pairings LD RD
Defense Pair 1 Ryan Verrier #3 Trevor Cosgrove #10
Defense Pair 2 Artyom Kulakov #88 Connor Welsh #26
Defense Pair 3 Jake Schultz #4 Zsombor Garat #70
Rotated Defensemen – –
Goalie Tandem G
Starting Goaltender Tristan Lennox #30
Backup Goaltender Henrik Tikkanen #39

Thunder Lines

Forward Lines LW C RW
Forward Line 1 Grant Jozefek #43 Travis Broughman #27 Mike Gillespie #37
Forward Line 2 Patrick Grasso #21 Tristan Ashbrook #9 Nico Blachman #22
Forward Line 3 Jack Jeffers #19 Ryan Smith #10 Zach Walker #55
Rotated Forwards Tate Leeson #13 – Nico Blachman #22
Defensive Pairings LD RD
Defense Pair 1 Will MacKinnon #5 Devon Becker #4
Defense Pair 2 Tristan Thompson #72 Colin Felix #26
Defense Pair 3 Ryan Wheeler #6 Ryan Orgel #12
Rotated Defensemen – –
Goalie Tandem G
Starting Goaltender Tyler Brennan #34
Backup Goaltender Jeremy Brodeur #35
– –
Referee Marc-Olivier Phaneuf (23)
Referee –
Linesman Benjamin Lord (98)
Linesman Maxime Bedard (65)




Notable Tweets as the Game Happened


Railers Lines


Thunder Lines


Jack Jeffers goal (1-0 Thunder)


Keeghan Howdeshell goal (Tied at 1)


Mike Gillespie goal (2-1 Thunder)


Anthony Repaci goal (Tied at 2)


Patrick Grasso shootout goal (3-2 Thunder)