Game Story

Henrik Tikkanen made his season debut and his first appearance in net at the DCU Center since November 11, 2024, his only appearance at the DCU Center that season, he stopping 24 shots made by the Thunder. Tyler Brennan made 23 saves against Worcester.

Railers were 1-for-3 on the power play. Railers were shorthanded just once through 60 minutes of play, in which the Thunder converted for their second goal of the game. Matt Stief, Cole Donhauser, and Anthony Callin scored for Worcester. Dylan Wendt, Justin Taylor, Brannon McManus scored twice, and Brian Carrabes scored an empty net goal to secure Adirondack’s 5-3 victory.

There were a couple of oddities in the first couple of minutes of play. After the first stoppage, the game was delayed for a couple of minutes as sun from the Bud Light Lounge hit the ice. A few minutes later, the lights in the arena went off on the opposite side of the ice on the Coors Light Lounge side of the arena, Dylan Wendt opened the scoring at 2:51 of the first after Ross Mitton lost the puck, allowing Brian Carrabes to grab it and set up Wendt in the left faceoff circle. TJ Walsh was called for high-sticking at 8:48, and on the following power play, Justin Taylor slipped a shot past Tikkanen to make it 2-0. Adirondack led 9-8 in shots in the first period.

At 14:41, Cole Fraser dropped the gloves with Jacob Graves after laying a heavy hit on Dan Ebrahim near the penalty boxes. Fraser landed most of the punches before Graves pulled his jersey over his head to take him down. Worcester earned a power play out of the sequence, and because Graves was tagged as the instigator, the fight does not count toward Fraser’s 10-fight suspension threshold.

Worcester finally got on the board just six seconds into a power play after Luke Reid was called for high-sticking, Matt Stief ripped one off the faceoff, snapping Worcester’s scoreless streak at 83:47. Cole Donhauser tied it in similar fashion at 8:04. Brannon McManus responded off a turnover by Fraser at 14:41, but just eight seconds later, Anthony Callin buried a feed from Matt DeMelis to lock it at 3-3 after two periods. Adirondack held a narrow 20-19 edge in shots heading into the third.

McManus struck again in the third, capitalizing on another turnover from Fraser and firing a wrist shot from the left circle over Tikkanen’s shoulder to restore the Thunder lead. Carrabes later iced it with an empty-net goal with 1:12 remaining.

The Three Stars of the Game were:

1. Brannon McManus (Adirondack) – 2 goals, +2
2. Anthony Callin (Worcester) – 1 goal, 1 assist
3. Dylan Wendt (Adirondack) – 1 goal, 1 assist, +2

Worcester stands as the only North Division team without a point after opening weekend. Greensboro was blanked 3–0 by the Jacksonville IceMen, while Maine was shut out 4–0 by the Reading Royals on Sunday. Seven of the eight North Division teams are back in action on Friday.

The Railers now head south for their first road trip of the season, with back-to-back games against the Norfolk Admirals on Friday and Saturday. Friday’s puck drop at Norfolk Scope is set for 7:05 p.m.

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Box Score

Scoring	1	2	3	T
	2	1	2	5
	0	3	0	3

Shots	1	2	3	T
	9	11	9	29
	8	11	7	26

Score	Team	Time	Scored by	Assisted by	Type
1 – 0		2:51 – 1st	D. Wendt (1)	B. Carrabes
2 – 0		9:32 – 1st	J. Taylor (1)	C. Squires, D. Wendt	PP
2 – 1		3:47 – 2nd	M. Stief (1)	A. Callin, D. Callin	PP
2 – 2		8:04 – 2nd	C. Donhauser (1)	R. Miotto
3 – 2		14:41 – 2nd	B. McManus (1)
3 – 3		14:49 – 2nd	A. Callin (1)	M. DeMelis
4 – 3		3:00 – 3rd	B. McManus (2)
5 – 3		18:48 – 3rd	B. Carrabes (1)		EN

Rosters

	#	Player	G	A	+/-	SH	PIM
G	33	H. Welsch	0	0	0	0	0
G	34	T. Brennan	0	0	0	0	0
D	2	P. Brandon	0	0	+2	0	0
D	4	J. Hanzel	0	0	-2	1	0
D	6	R. Wheeler	0	0	+2	3	2
F	13	T. Fawcett	0	0	+1	1	0
D	14	C. Hutchison	0	0	-2	2	0
D	16	L. Reid	0	0	+3	0	2
F	17	C. Squires	0	1	0	1	0
F	19	T. Friedmann	0	0	+2	0	0
F	26	D. Ebrahim	0	0	+1	0	0
F	29	S. Olson	0	0	-2	2	0
F	37	D. Wendt	1	1	+2	4	0
F	39	B. McManus	2	0	+2	3	0
F	43	K. Gervais	0	0	0	1	0
D	44	J. Graves	0	0	+1	1	7
F	61	B. Carrabes	1	1	+2	3	0
F	72	A. Campbell	0	0	-1	2	0
F	92	M. Salhany	0	0	-2	2	0
F	93	J. Taylor	1	0	+1	3	0
		Team:	0			0

	Player	MIN	SH	SVS	GA	SV%
34	T. Brennan (W)	59:53	26	23	3	0.885
	Totals:	59:53	26	23	3	0.885

	#	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	A. Hora	0	0	+1	0	0
D	6	C. McDonald	0	0	0	3	0
F	7	M. Dorrington	0	0	-2	0	0
D	8	M. Ferrandino	0	0	0	2	0
F	10	R. Miotto	0	1	+1	3	0
F	11	L. Hatten	0	0	-3	2	0
F	12	K. Johnson	0	0	0	0	0
F	16	R. Mitton	0	0	-2	0	0
F	19	R. Piercey	0	0	-1	0	0
F	26	T. Walsh	0	0	+2	2	2
D	27	M. Stief	1	0	-3	1	0
D	28	K. Dunn	0	0	-1	0	0
F	29	C. Donhauser	1	0	+1	3	0
F	37	M. DeMelis	0	1	0	1	0
F	44	A. Callin	1	1	0	2	0
D	74	C. Fraser	0	0	-2	1	5
F	77	D. Callin	0	1	-1	3	0
F	81	A. Repaci	0	0	-1	3	0
		Team:	0			0

	Player	MIN	SH	SVS	GA	SV%
39	H. Tikkanen (L)	58:02	28	24	4	0.857
	Empty Net	–	1		1	–
	Totals:	58:02	29	24	5	0.857

Penalties

Time	Team	Player	Mins	Infraction
9:48 – 1st		T. Walsh	2	High-sticking – minor (60.2)
14:41 – 1st		J. Graves	5	Fighting – Major (46.14)
14:41 – 1st		C. Fraser	5	Fighting – Major (46.14)
14:49 – 1st		J. Graves	2	Instigating – minor (46.11)
3:41 – 2nd		L. Reid	2	High-sticking – minor (60.2)
8:49 – 3rd		R. Wheeler	2	Tripping – minor (57.2)

Notes

• Worcester Scratches: Calle Odelius, Jason Horvath, Porter Schachle, Riley Ginnell, Tanner Schachle, Thomas Gale, and Tyler Kobryn.
• Adirondack Scratches: Chase McLane, Grant Loven, Greg Smith, Jimmy Dowd Jr., Mathieu Boislard, and Sean Gulka.
• The issue with shots on goal for the new ribbon boards was fixed for Sunday’s game, with both the shots on goal and penalties also being shown on either side of the arena. The video board will need to be worked on after a Thunder skater shot the puck towards it and knocked a panel out of place. A delay of game penalty was not issued for the skater after shooting the puck out of play.
• The ice at the DCU Center is set to undergo some maintenance before the Railers’ next home games. A few sponsor logos are currently missing from the surface—word around the rink over the weekend was that the materials for those in-ice advertisements didn’t arrive in time to be installed beneath the ice layers.
• Also absent for opening weekend were the center-ice initials of longtime Worcester hockey broadcaster Eric Lindquist, which have been a tradition in previous seasons. With ice work already planned, his initials are expected to be added at the same time as the sponsor placements.
• I jokingly included a rating of the Wonder Bar pizza at the DCU Center in Saturday night’s recap and was immediately asked if this was going to become a recurring feature in these game notes. Since there are people who actually read these, the answer—for now—is yes. Railers Booster Club President and resident bar pizza expert Rich Lundin was the latest to grab a slice on the concourse. He gave it a 5 on a general pizza scale, but clarified it would land closer to an 8 when judged strictly as bar pizza.
• The jersey raffle for opening weekend was a 2024-25 Hockey Fights Cancer Jersey issued to Henrik Tikkanen.

Railers Lines

Opponent Lines

On-Ice Officials

Notable X Posts as the Game Happened

Railers Lines

Thunder Lines

Thunder Pre-Game Photos

Dylan Wendt goal

Justin Taylor goal

Cole Fraser v. Jacob Graves fight

Matt Stief goal

Cole Donhauser goal

Brannon McManus goal

Anthony Callin goal

Brannon McManus second goal

Brian Carrabes goal