Game Story


Worcester, MA — The Worcester Railers fell 2-1 to the Adirondack Thunder on Friday night at the DCU Center.

Jake Pinonka scored Worcester’s lone goal, while Henrik Tikkanen, in his third start of the season, made 27 saves. Filip Engaras found the back of the net twice for the Adirondack Thunder, and Vinnie Purpura stopped 30 shots. Purpura made his first return to the DCU Center since March 31, when he was carried off the ice on a stretcher after a collision that prematurely ended his season.

The game remained a one-goal contest, primarily thanks to Henrik Tikkanen’s performance in the net. Worcester has struggled on the power play, failing to convert in their last eleven opportunities, resulting in the second-worst power play record in the ECHL.

Adirondack took an early 1-0 lead at 13:18 of the first period when Filip Engaras scored on his own rebound to give the Thunder the lead. Devon Becker and Matt Stief were credited with assists, and the Thunder carried their one-goal lead into the intermission outshooting Worcester 12-11.

Filip Engras extended the Thunder’s lead to 2-0 in the second period. Jace Isely collected a rebound from a shot by Andrei Bakanov, who then passed it to Engras. Engras managed to beat Tikkanen at the 16:33 mark. Just a little over two minutes later, Jake Pivonka reduced the Thunder’s lead to one. Zsombar Garat initiated the play with an up-ice pass to Anthony Callin, who subsequently set up Jake Pivonka for a wrist shot that sailed over Vinnie Purpura’s shoulder. Adirondack outshot Worcester 12-7 during the period, while still maintaining a one-goal lead after the second period.

With the Railers playing dump-and-chase for a good portion of the third period, the Adirondack Thunder picked up their first win of the season after Worcester outshot them 13-5 in the third period.

The three stars of the game were:

  1. Filip Engaras (Adirondack) – 2 goals
  2. Vinnie Purpura (Adirondack) – win, 30 saves, 0.968 SV%
  3. Jake Pivonka (Worcester) – 1 goal

Friday night saw action from all seven North Division teams. Reading fell to the Toledo Walleye 5-2, Norfolk secured a 4-2 victory over Maine, and the red-hot Trois-Rivieres Lions triumphed with a 4-1 win against the Newfoundland Growlers.

The Railers and Thunder will return to the DCU Center on Saturday. The Railers will be sporting unique Lavender Specialty jerseys as they host their version of Hockey Fights Cancer night, with a puck drop of 7:05 p.m.

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Box Score


Scoring 1 2 3 T
1 1 0 2
0 1 0 1
Shots 1 2 3 T
12 12 5 29
11 7 13 31
Score Team Time Scored by Assisted by Type
1 – 0 13:18 – 1st F. Engaras (1) D. Becker, M. Stief
2 – 0 16:33 – 2nd F. Engaras (2) J. Isley PP
2 – 1 18:42 – 2nd J. Pivonka (3) A. Callin, Z. Garat

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 2 B. Less 0 0 0 0 0
D 4 D. Becker 0 1 +1 1 2
D 5 W. MacKinnon 0 0 -1 2 2
D 6 R. Wheeler 0 0 0 3 0
F 9 T. Ashbrook 0 0 0 1 0
F 10 R. Smith 0 0 -1 5 0
F 17 Y. Turcotte 0 0 0 1 0
F 21 P. Grasso 0 0 0 2 0
F 22 A. Willis 0 0 0 0 0
D 24 M. Stief 0 1 +1 0 0
F 27 T. Broughman 0 0 0 1 2
F 43 G. Jozefek 0 0 0 0 0
F 48 E. Middendorf 0 0 0 3 0
F 61 F. Engaras 2 0 +1 5 0
F 71 Y. Hirano 0 0 0 1 0
D 72 T. Thompson 0 0 -1 2 0
F 92 J. Isley 0 1 0 2 2
Team:
Totals: 2 3 0 29 8
Player MIN SH SVS GA SV%
29 V. Purpura (W) – 31 30 1 –
Totals: – 31 30 1 –
# Player G A +/- SH PIM
G 30 T. Lennox 0 0 0 0 0
G 39 H. Tikkanen 0 0 0 0 0
D 4 J. Schultz 0 0 +1 2 0
F 5 Z. White 0 0 0 3 0
D 8 C. Krygier 0 0 -1 0 0
F 9 Q. Ryan 0 0 0 1 0
D 10 T. Cosgrove 0 0 0 6 0
F 11 A. Bakanov 0 0 -1 2 0
F 12 J. Cipollone 0 0 0 1 0
F 13 J. Pivonka 1 0 +1 3 2
F 15 B. Robbins 0 0 -1 2 2
F 16 A. Calder 0 0 0 2 0
F 17 K. Howdeshell 0 0 0 2 0
F 19 B. Jenkins 0 0 0 2 0
D 26 C. Welsh 0 0 0 1 0
D 27 J. Copeland 0 0 -1 1 2
F 29 R. Piercey 0 0 0 0 0
F 44 A. Callin 0 1 +1 0 0
D 70 Z. Garat 0 1 +1 3 0
Team: 2
Totals: 1 2 0 31 8
Player MIN SH SVS GJ SV%
39 H. Tikkanen (L) – 29 27 2 –
Totals: – 29 27 2 –

Penalties

Time Team Player Mins Infraction
6:49 – 1st J. Isley 2 Hooking – minor (55.2)
10:39 – 1st D. Becker 2 Delay of Game (63.2)
15:37 – 1st T. Broughman 2 Slashing – minor (61.2)
16:14 – 1st J. Pivonka 2 Tripping – minor (57.2)
18:41 – 1st J. Copeland 2 Holding – minor (54.2)
13:44 – 2nd W. MacKinnon 2 Slashing – minor (61.2)
14:54 – 2nd Served by R. Piercey 2 Bench minor – Too many men (74.2)
1:49 – 3rd B. Robbins 2 Tripping – minor (57.2)


Notes

  • Worcester Scratches: Adam Goodsir, Anthony Repaci, Artyom Kulakov, Jack Quinlivan, and Ryan Verrier.
  • Adirondack Scratches: Bryce Martin, Jack Jeffers, Ryan Orgel, Shawn Weller, Tyler Brennan, and Zach Walker.
  • Railers held a moment of silence prior to puck drop for Carl Hens Beliard, Adam Johnson, and Victims of the Lewiston tragedy.
  • Zsombor Garat has changed his number from #20 to #70. He’s the first Railers player to wear that number. He was originally listed as wearing #70 during this pre-season.
  • The Railers played without their Captain, Anthony Repaci, who is still to be recovering from an injury sustained during last Wednesday’s game against Norfolk. He was listed on reserve before Friday’s game but there is a possibility he could be placed on injured reserve to open up a roster spot.
  • After Friday night’s game, the Railers had the following streaks and droughts:
    • Anthony Callin snapped a four-game point drought with an assist on Pivonka’s goal.
    • Jake Schultz is without a point in three games.
    • Zach White is without a point in three games.
    • Christian Krieger is without a point in three games.
    • Trevor Cosgrove is without a point in six games.
    • Andrei Bakanov is without a point in four games.
    • Joey Cipollone is without a point in six games.
    • Brendan Robbins is without a point in four games.
    • Connor Welsh is without a point in five games.
    • John Copeland is without a point in four games.

Railers Lines

Forward Lines LW C RW
Forward Line 1 Keeghan Howdeshell #17 Blade Jenkins #19 Quinn Ryan #9
Forward Line 2 Riley Piercey #29 Jake Pivonka #13 Ashton Calder #16
Forward Line 3 Andrei Bakanov #11 Joey Cipollone #12 Anthony Callin #44
Rotated Forwards – Brendan Robbins #15 Zach White #5
Defensive Pairings LD RD
Defense Pair 1 Connor Welsh #26 Trevor Cosgrove #10
Defense Pair 2 Christian Krygier #8 John Copeland #27
Defense Pair 3 Jake Schultz #4 Zsombor Garat #70
Rotated Defensemen – –
Goalie Tandem G
Starting Goaltender Henrik Tikkanen #39
Backup Goaltender Tristan Lennox #30

Opponent Lines

Forward Lines LW C RW
Forward Line 1 Jace Isley #92 Filip Engaras #61 Yushiroh Hirano #71
Forward Line 2 Grant Jozefek #43 Travis Broughman #27 Patrick Grasso #21
Forward Line 3 Erik Middendorf #48 Ryan Smith #10 Tristan Ashbrook #9
Rotated Forwards Yanick Turcotte #17 – Andy Willis #22
Defensive Pairings LD RD
Defense Pair 1 Tristan Thompson #72 Brendan Less #2
Defense Pair 2 Will MacKinnon #5 Ryan Wheeler #6
Defense Pair 3 Matt Stief #24 Devon Becker #4
Rotated Defensemen – –
Goalie Tandem G
Starting Goaltender Vinnie Purpura #29
Backup Goaltender Jeremy Brodeur #35

On-Ice Officials

– –
Referee Andrew Bell (24)
Referee Trevor Wohlford (38)
Linesman Laura Schmidlein (82)
Linesman Sam Schildkraut (46)




Notable Tweets as the Game Happened


Moment of Silence Prior to Puck Drop


Railers Lines


Thunder Lines


Flip Engaras goal (1-0 Thunder)


Flip Engaras goal (2-0 Thunder)


Jake Pivonka goal (2-1 Thunder)