Game Story


Worcester, MA — The Worcester Railers dropped their second game of the weekend against the Adirondack Thunder at the DCU Center on Saturday night, falling 5-4 in overtime.

Jeremy Brodeur was the winning goaltender for Adirondack, stopping 25 of 29 shots, while Tristan Lennox took the loss for Worcester in his fourth appearance of the season, making 34 saves on 39 shots. Andrei Bakanov had his first multi-point game of his career, scoring the first two Railers goals. Anthony Callin had a career-high of three points, providing assists for both of Bakanov’s goals and Brendan Robbins’ goal in the third period. Ashton Calder scored a shorthanded goal, marking his team-leading third goal of the season.

In a game where special teams scored six of the eight total goals, things definitely looked rough with Worcester allowing four goals while trying to kill those penalties off. Worcester themselves were 2-for-5 on the power play and had a shorthanded goal. They were at one point, leading 3-1, had lost that lead, and had regained it to make it 4-3. The Adirondack Thunder would battle back to force the game into overtime. A penalty with Zach White sitting on a questionable tripping call gave the Thunder the momentum to put the game away in overtime.

The first period remained scoreless, but Adirondack capitalized on a power play opportunity at 9:32 of the second period, with Tristan Thompson unleashing a powerful slap shot that found the back of the net past goaltender Tristan Lennox, granting Adirondack a 1-0 lead.

Worcester retaliated late in the second period on a power play as Anthony Callin orchestrated a goal for Andrei Bakanov, who successfully beat goaltender Jeremy Brodeur, tying the game back up at 1-1. Assists for the equalizing goal were attributed to Callin and Trevor Cosgrove at 17:59, setting the stage for a tied game as the teams entered the third period.

The third period witnessed a remarkable offensive surge with six goal, with Andrei Bakanov and Ashton Calder netting back-to-back goals early in the final frame to propel the Railers to a 3-1 lead. Bakanov’s power-play goal marked his second of the game, while Calder capitalized on a shorthanded breakaway opportunity. Adirondack’s Erik Middendorf staged a comeback with two power-play goals of his own, leveling the score at 3-3. Middendorf’s first goal came at 7:29 of the third period, with his second following at 8:57, both while on the man advantage. Worcester reclaimed the lead late in the third period, as Brendan Robbins capitalized on a loose puck to the left of Brodeur, slipping it past his left leg pad to notch his first goal of the year at 14:26, with assists credited to Anthony Callin and Adam Goodsir. The game took another dramatic turn as Tristan Thompson suffered an injury at one end of the ice, only for Ryan Smith to tie the game at the other end, eventually forcing overtime at 17:26.

In overtime, Matt Stief sealed the deal with a precise wrist shot on the power play which had Zach White sitting for a tripping call, securing a 5-4 victory for Adirondack, while Erik Middendorf and Ryan Smith provided the crucial assists.

The three stars of the game were:

Matt Stief (Adirondack) – 1 goal, 1 assist
Andrei Bakanov (Worcester) – 2 goals
Erik Middendorf (Adirondack) – 2 goals, 1 assist

The Railers and Thunder return to the DCU Center on Tuesday for an election day game, coverage for that game maybe delayed due to a conflict with my work schedule. Puck drop for that game starts at 1:05 p.m.

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Box Score


Scoring 1 2 3 OT T
0 1 3 1 5
0 1 3 0 4
Shots 1 2 3 OT T
11 10 15 3 39
7 12 9 1 29
Score Team Time Scored by Assisted by Type
1 – 0 9:32 – 2nd T. Thompson (1) Y. Hirano PP
1 – 1 17:59 – 2nd A. Bakanov (1) A. Callin, T. Cosgrove PP
1 – 2 1:55 – 3rd A. Bakanov (2) A. Callin, Z. White PP
1 – 3 5:45 – 3rd A. Calder (3) J. Pivonka SH
2 – 3 7:29 – 3rd E. Middendorf (1) G. Jozefek, F. Engaras PP
3 – 3 8:57 – 3rd E. Middendorf (2) G. Jozefek, M. Stief PP
3 – 4 14:26 – 3rd B. Robbins (1) A. Callin, A. Goodsir
4 – 4 17:26 – 3rd R. Smith (3) Y. Hirano, B. Less
5 – 4 3:13 – 1st OT M. Stief (1) E. Middendorf, R. Smith PP

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 1 +1 0 2
D 4 D. Becker 0 0 -1 2 2
D 5 W. MacKinnon 0 0 0 0 2
D 6 R. Wheeler 0 0 +1 2 0
F 9 T. Ashbrook 0 0 -1 3 0
F 10 R. Smith 1 1 0 2 0
F 17 Y. Turcotte 0 0 -1 3 0
F 21 P. Grasso 0 0 -1 3 2
D 24 M. Stief 1 1 -2 2 2
F 27 T. Broughman 0 0 0 2 2
F 43 G. Jozefek 0 2 -1 6 0
F 48 E. Middendorf 2 1 -1 4 0
F 61 F. Engaras 0 1 -1 0 0
D 62 B. Martin 0 0 0 0 2
F 71 Y. Hirano 0 2 +1 3 0
D 72 T. Thompson 1 0 0 5 0
F 92 J. Isley 0 0 +1 2 0
Team:
Totals: 5 9 -5 39 14
Player MIN SH SVS GA SV%
35 J. Brodeur (W) – 29 25 4 –
Totals: – 29 25 4 –
# 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 0 1 0
D 4 J. Schultz 0 0 0 1 2
F 5 Z. White 0 1 0 1 4
D 8 C. Krygier 0 0 0 1 12
D 10 T. Cosgrove 0 1 +1 1 0
F 11 A. Bakanov 2 0 0 3 0
F 12 J. Cipollone 0 0 0 2 0
F 13 J. Pivonka 0 1 +1 2 0
F 14 A. Goodsir 0 1 +1 2 4
F 15 B. Robbins 1 0 0 3 0
F 16 A. Calder 1 0 +1 5 2
F 17 K. Howdeshell 0 0 0 0 0
F 19 B. Jenkins 0 0 -1 2 0
D 26 C. Welsh 0 0 0 1 2
D 27 J. Copeland 0 0 +1 2 0
F 44 A. Callin 0 3 0 1 0
D 70 Z. Garat 0 0 0 1 0
Team:
Totals: 4 7 4 29 26
Player MIN SH SVS GJ SV%
30 T. Lennox (L) – 39 34 5 –
Totals: – 39 34 5 –

Penalties

Time Team Player Mins Infraction
2:30 – 1st W. MacKinnon 2 Cross-Checking Minor (59.2)
2:30 – 1st J. Schultz 2 High-sticking – minor (60.2)
7:56 – 1st C. Welsh 2 High-sticking – minor (60.2)
15:55 – 1st D. Becker 2 Slashing – minor (61.2)
19:52 – 1st C. Krygier 2 Tripping – minor (57.2)
6:35 – 2nd M. Stief 2 Cross-Checking Minor (59.2)
7:53 – 2nd A. Goodsir 2 Tripping – minor (57.2)
16:47 – 2nd P. Grasso 2 Roughing – minor (51.2)
16:47 – 2nd B. Martin 2 Roughing – minor (51.2)
16:47 – 2nd Z. White 2 Roughing – minor (51.2)
1:09 – 3rd T. Broughman 2 Interference on the Goalkeeper – minor (69.2)
5:32 – 3rd A. Goodsir 2 High-sticking – minor
7:24 – 3rd A. Calder 2 Tripping- minor
9:44 – 3rd B. Less 2 High-sticking – minor
2:36 – 1st OT Z. White 2 Tripping- minor
3:13 – 1st OT C. Krygier 10 Misconduct


Notes

  • Worcester Scratches: Anthony Repaci, Artyom Kulakov, Jack Quinlivan, Quinn Ryan, and Riley Piercey.
  • Adirondack Scratches: Andy Willis, Jack Jeffers, Ryan Orgel, Shawn Weller, Tyler Brennan, and Zach Walker.
  • The results of the live auction for the Railers Fight Cancer specialty jerseys were:
    • Jake Schultz – $550
    • Henrik Tikkanen – $625
    • Anthony Repaci -$800
    • Tristan Lennox – $575
    • Blade Jenkins – $500
  • Following Saturday’s game, the Railers had the following streaks and droughts:
    • Ryan Verrier is without a point in his last five games.
    • Jake Schultz is without a point in his last four games.
    • Zach White snapped a three-game scoring drought with an assist.
    • Christian Krygier is without a point in his last four games.
    • Andrei Bakanov snapped a four-game scoring drought with two goals in his first multi-point game of his career.
    • Joey Cipollone is without a point in his last seven games.
    • Brendan Robbins snapped a four-game scoring drought with a goal.
    • Keeghan Howdeshell is without a point in his last three games.
    • Blade Jenkins is without a point in his last three games.
    • Connor Welsh is without a point in his last six games.
    • John Copeland is without a point in his last five games.

Railers Lines

Forward Lines LW C RW
Forward Line 1 Blade Jenkins #19 Jake Pivonka #13 Ashton Calder #16
Forward Line 2 Adam Goodsir #14 Joey Cipollone #12 Anthony Callin #44
Forward Line 3 Andrei Bakanov #11 Brendan Robbins #15 Zach White #5
Rotated Forwards Keeghan Howdeshell #17 – Jake Schultz #4
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 Ryan Verrier #3 Zsombor Garat #70
Rotated Defensemen – –
Goalie Tandem G
Starting Goaltender Tristan Lennox #30
Backup Goaltender Henrik Tikkanen #39

Opponent Lines

Forward Lines LW C RW
Forward Line 1 Grant Jozefek #43 Filip Engaras #61 Patrick Grasso #21
Forward Line 2 Jace Isley #92 Travis Broughman #27 Yushiroh Hirano #71
Forward Line 3 Erik Middendorf #48 Ryan Smith #10 Tristan Ashbrook #9
Rotated Forwards Yanick Turcotte #17 – –
Defensive Pairings LD RD
Defense Pair 1 Will MacKinnon #5 Ryan Wheeler #6
Defense Pair 2 Tristan Thompson #72 Brendan Less #2
Defense Pair 3 Matt Stief #24 Devon Becker #4
Rotated Defensemen – Bryce Martin #62
Goalie Tandem G
Starting Goaltender Jeremy Brodeur #35
Backup Goaltender Vinnie Purpura #29

On-Ice Officials

– –
Referee Andrew Bell (24)
Referee Trevor Wohlford (38)
Linesman Conor Foley (86)
Linesman Matthew Heinen (93)




Notable Tweets as the Game Happened


Railers Lines


Thunder Lines


Tristan Thompson goal (1-0 Thunder)


Andrei Bakanov goal (Tied at 1-1)


Andrei Bakanov goal (2-1 Railers)


Ashton Calder goal (3-1 Railers)


Erik Middendorf goal (3-2 Railers)


Erik Middendorf goal (Tied at 3-3)


Brendan Robbins goal (4-3 Railers)


Ryan Smith goal (Tied at 4-4)


Matt Stief goal (5-4 Thunder)