Game Story


Worcester, MA — The Worcester Railers rallied in overtime to defeat the Adirondack Thunder, 5-4, at the DCU Center on Friday night.

Anthony Repaci picked up his second hat trick of the season, scoring the game-winning goal in overtime. Jacob Hayhurst and Reece Newkirk also had goals for Worcester. Brent Beaudoin, Anthony Callin and Myles McGurty each had pairs of assists in the victory. Jared Brandt was a game-high +3. Meanwhile, the Thunder had four different goal scorers on Friday – Shawn Weller, Ryan Smith, Colin Long, and Shane Harper. Ken Appleby made 25 saves after a four-goal first period by the Adirondack Thunder. Vinnie Purpura was the starter for the Thunder making eight saves on eleven shots in the first period, he was stretchered off the ice with an injury late in the first period. Mike Robinson made 30 saves in his relief effort and finished the remainder of the game in net for the Thunder.

The Railers took an early lead at 6:41 when Jacob Hayhurst’s shot found the back of the net, giving them a 1-0 advantage. However, the Adirondack Thunder quickly turned the tables and scored three consecutive goals in just 2 minutes and 26 seconds, thanks to Shawn Weller, Ryan Smith, and Colin Long, to take a 3-1 lead. After Jordan Levallee-Smotherman called Worcester’s time out, Anthony Repaci answered back for Worcester, scoring two goals, including a power-play goal, and tying the game at 3-3 at 15:07 and 16:22. In the first period, there was a collision between Adirondack goalie Vinnie Purpura and Railers forward Andrei Bakanov at 17:53, where Bakanov inadvertently brought Purpura down while trying to evade him. Purpura was stretchered off the ice with an apparent head injury, and an early intermission was taken before the remainder of the first period was resumed. Bakanov was given a goaltender interference penalty and sent to the box, resulting in Shane Harper scoring just 27 seconds into the penalty and putting Adirondack ahead 4-3 at the end of the first period.

Neither team would find the back of the net in the second period, despite the Railers going shorthanded twice. Reece Newkirk would tie the game up at 10:17 in the third period to force the game into overtime. Anthony Repaci took advantage of the opportunity and scored the game-winning goal in overtime, securing the 5-4 victory for Worcester.

The three stars of Friday night’s game were:

  1. Anthony Repaci (Worcester) – 3 goals
  2. Shane Harper (Adirondack) – 1 goal, 1 assist
  3. Steve Jandric (Worcester) – 4 shots, -1

The Reading Royals clinched their playoff spot Friday night with a 6-2 win over the Trois-Rivieres Lions. The Maine Mariners are next in position to clinch a playoff spot in the north division with a magic number of 3. The Norfolk Admirals shut out the Newfoundland Growlers with four goals. The fourth and final playoff spot is still in play with Worcester and Adirondack having a three point difference in the standings with the Thunder having two games in hand. The Thunder have points in all of their last ten games, while the Railers snapped a four-game losing skid.

The Railers and Thunder play again Saturday night at the DCU Center.


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Box Score


Scoring 1 2 3 T
4 0 0 0 4
3 0 1 1 5
Shots 1 2 3 T
10 12 7 0 29
14 9 19 1 43

 

Score Team Time Scored by Assisted by Type
0 – 1 6:41 – 1st J. Hayhurst (8) A. Callin, N. Vesey
1 – 1 10:41 – 1st S. Weller (12) S. Harper, M. Stief PP
2 – 1 11:38 – 1st R. Smith (15) R. Orgel, B. Fleurent
3 – 1 13:07 – 1st C. Long (9) E. Middendorf, R. Orgel
3 – 2 15:07 – 1st A. Repaci (22) B. Beaudoin, A. Bakanov
3 – 3 16:22 – 1st A. Repaci (23) M. McGurty, B. Beaudoin PP
4 – 3 18:10 – 1st S. Harper (22) R. Orgel, S. Vidmar PP
4 – 4 10:17 – 3rd R. Newkirk (18) A. Callin, M. McGurty
4 – 5 0:19 – 1st OT A. Repaci (24) N. Delmas, B. Butler PP

Rosters

# Player G A +/- SH PIM
G 1 V. Purpura 0 0 0 0 0
G 39 M. Robinson 0 0 0 0 0
D 4 M. Slick 0 0 0 0 2
D 7 M. Stief 0 1 -1 0 0
D 8 W. Letourneau 0 0 -2 1 0
F 9 C. Long 1 0 +1 3 0
F 10 R. Smith 1 0 +1 4 0
F 11 S. Harper 1 1 -2 4 0
D 12 R. Orgel 0 3 +1 0 0
D 13 I. Chukarov 0 0 -1 0 0
F 14 M. Jennings 0 0 0 1 0
D 19 B. Martin 0 0 -1 2 0
F 21 P. Grasso 0 0 -1 1 0
F 22 S. Vidmar 0 1 -2 3 0
F 27 T. Broughman 0 0 -1 6 2
F 29 B. Fleurent 0 1 +2 2 4
F 37 E. Middendorf 0 1 +1 1 0
F 43 G. Jozefek 0 0 0 0 2
F 63 S. Weller 1 0 0 1 0
Team:
Totals: 4 8 -5 29 10
Player MIN SH SVS GA SV%
1 V. Purpura – 11 8 3 –
39 M. Robinson (L) – 32 30 2 –
Totals: – 43 38 5 –
# 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 0 0 1 0
F 8 B. Butler 0 1 -1 1 4
D 9 N. Delmas 0 1 -1 4 0
F 11 N. Vesey 0 1 +1 2 0
F 12 B. Beaudoin 0 2 0 4 2
F 16 J. Hayhurst 1 0 0 2 2
F 17 A. Callin 0 2 +2 1 0
F 18 A. Goodsir 0 0 0 3 0
D 21 C. Breen 0 0 0 1 0
D 22 J. Victor 0 0 0 0 0
F 23 A. Bakanov 0 1 +1 4 2
D 26 J. Brandt 0 0 +3 3 2
D 27 M. McGurty 0 2 +2 1 0
D 29 A. Kulakov 0 0 -2 2 0
F 37 R. Newkirk 1 0 +1 5 0
F 44 S. Jandric 0 0 -1 4 0
F 81 A. Repaci 3 0 0 5 0
Team:
Totals: 5 10 5 43 12
Player MIN SH SVS GJ SV%
35 K. Appleby (W) – 29 25 4 –
Totals: – 29 25 4 –

Penalties

Time Team Player Mins Infraction
9:02 – 1st G. Jozefek 2 Roughing – minor (51.2)
9:02 – 1st B. Butler 2 Roughing – minor (51.2)
10:31 – 1st B. Beaudoin 2 Hooking – minor (55.2)
15:10 – 1st B. Fleurent 2 High-sticking – minor (60.2)
17:53 – 1st A. Bakanov 2 Interference on the Goalkeeper – minor (69.2)
18:22 – 1st B. Fleurent 2 Hooking – minor (55.2)
2:35 – 2nd B. Butler 2 Hooking – minor (55.2)
16:33 – 2nd J. Brandt 2 Delay of Game (63.2)
8:08 – 3rd M. Slick 2 Tripping – minor (57.2)
14:12 – 3rd J. Hayhurst 2 Holding – minor (54.2)
18:41 – 3rd T. Broughman 2 Interference – minor (56.2)


Notes

  • Worcester scratches: Billy Jerry, Chris Ordoobadi, Christian Evers, Connor McCarthy, Jack Quinlivan, Max Johnson, Philip Beaulieu, and Quinn Ryan.
  • Adirondack scratches: Brandon Schultz, Jake Theut, Jeff Taylor, Kyle Hallbauer, Mareks Mitens, Nick Rivera, and Yanick Turcotte.
  • The Railers announced in an email that due to production delays, they will not be wearing specialty jerseys during the Military Appreciation Night game. The Railers wore white jerseys as the Thunder traveled with their home red jerseys as both teams had prepared for the Railers to wear a lighter white and grey colored camo specialty jersey on Saturday.
  • In lieu of military jerseys, the team is raffling off a Ray Bourque Worcester 6 jersey to benefit Central Mass Venterans Support, Inc. The raffle can be found here.
    Defenseman Ryan DaSilva was claimed on waivers from the Wheeling Nailers on Friday. He is expected to report in time for Saturday’s game. The Railers will need to move a player or place one on injured reserve, unless a player is recalled to the AHL Saturday in order to make room for DaSilva.
  • The jersey raffle of the game was a 2021-22 Nolan Vesey blue jersey.
  • Following Friday night’s game, the Railers had the following scoring streaks and droughts:
    • Liam Coughlin is without a point in his last six games.
    • Bobby Butler is on a three-game point streak. (1-2-3)
    • Adam Goodsir is without a point in his last five games.
    • Conor Breen is without a point in any of his eighteen games played this season.
    • Josh Victor is without a point in his last six 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 Liam Coughlin #7 Bobby Butler #8
Forward Line 3 Jacob Hayhurst #16 Anthony Callin #17 Nolan Vesey #11
Rotated Forwards Adam Goodsir #18 Reece Newkirk #37 –
Defensive Pairings LD RD
Defense Pair 1 Jared Brandt #26 Myles McGurty #27
Defense Pair 2 Josh Victor #22 Conor Breen #21
Defense Pair 3 Artem Kulakov #29 Noah Delmas #9
Rotated Defensemen – –
Goalie Tandem G
Starting Goaltender Ken Appleby #35
Backup Goaltender Henrik Tikkanen #39

Opponent Lines

Forward Lines LW C RW
Forward Line 1 Sebastian Vidmar #22 Shane Harper #11 Patrick Grasso #21
Forward Line 2 Erik Middendorf #37 Travis Broughman #27 Grant Jozefek #43
Forward Line 3 Matt Jennings #14 Ryan Smith #10 –
Rotated Forwards Shawn Weller #63 Colin Long #9 –
Defensive Pairings LD RD
Defense Pair 1 Matt Stief #7 Wayne Letourneau #8
Defense Pair 2 Ivan Chukarov #13 Bryce Martin #19
Defense Pair 3 Matt Slick #4 Ryan Orgel #12
Rotated Defensemen – –
Goalie Tandem G
Starting Goaltender Vinnie Purpura #1
Backup Goaltender Mike Robinson #39

On-Ice Officials

– –
Referee John Lindner (6)
Referee –
Linesman Stephen Drain (52)
Linesman Shane Kanaly (74)




Notable Tweets as the Game Happened


Railers Lines


Thunder Lines


Jacob Hayhurst goal (1-0 Railers)


Shawn Weller goal (Tied 1-1)


Ryan Smith goal (2-1 Thunder)


Colin Long goal (3-1 Thunder)


Anthony Repaci first goal (3-2 Thunder)


Anthony Repaci second goal (Tied 3-3)


Vinnie Purpura stretchered off the ice


Shane Harper goal (4-3 Thunder)


Reece Newkirk goal (Tied 4-4)


Anthony Repaci third goal (5-4 Railers)