Norfolk Admirals (23-29-4-3) vs Worcester Railers (27-22-5-4)

DCU Center – Worcester, Massachusetts

Saturday, March 7, 2019 – 7:05 EST – ECHL Game #805

989 Nash Icon | ECHL.TV

Referee: Jarred Mitrano (#14)

Linesmen: Kyle Richetelle (#73), Shane Kanaly (#39)

Match Notes

  • Season Series: Game 0 of 1. (season-series tied at 0-0)
  • Worcester will be rooting for Reading to win their game against Brampton, and Adirondack to win their game against Manchester. With the Railers just one point back, they’ll need all three teams to win to jump into a playoff spot.
  • With an average of 4,149 fans per game, the Railers will get an attendance boost with most of the seats in the lower bowl sold out.

Players to Watch

  • Nick Sorkin (Worcester) – Sorkin is on the verge of having the longest point streak (so far) of his career. If extended tonight, the streak will be at seven games. He is on has reached a six game point streak five times in his career.
  • Ben Duffy (Norfolk) – Duffy looks to bounce back after going -7 in the past three games. Coming off a seven-game point streak, followed by a three-game cold streak, he’ll be looking to turn around his luck as well as Norfolk’s luck tonight.

Railers Notes

  • Barry Almeida is on a four-game point streak. (2-3-5)
  • Nick Sorkin is on a six-game point streak and a four-game goal streak. (4-2-6)
  • Ryan Hitchcock is on a five-game point streak. (3-4-7)
  • Tyler Barnes is on a three-game point streak. (1-2-3)
  • Worcester is 3-2-1 against South Division teams this season.
  • Cold Streaks: Connor Doherty (10 games), Dylan Willick (9 games), Mike Cornell (8 games), Robert Powers (3 games), David Quenneville (3 games)

Recent Railers Additions, Subtractions, Transactions

  • Mike Cornell and Ryan MacKinnon were recalled to Bridgeport on Saturday morning.

Possible Railers Scratches

  • Kyle McKenzie – on injured reserve, out for the season.
  • Tommy Panico – on injured reserve, out for the season.
  • Matt Schmalz – on injured reserve, last played on January 25.
  • Alex Vanier – on injured reserve, last played on February 17.
  • Additional scratches to be determined closer to puck drop.

Admirals Notes

  • Ben Duffy leads Norfolk with 50 points in 57 games.
  • Goaltendner Ty Reichenbach has a league-leading 17 losses this season.
  • Jake Wood and Don Olivieri have points in back-to-back games.
  • Norfolk is 1-10-2 against North Division teams this season.
  • Admirals are on a four-game losing streak with their last win on February 23.
  • Norfolk is averaging 3.81 goals allowed per game.

Recent Admirals Additions, Subtractions, Transactions

  • Shane Eiserman and Christian Horn were acquired from the South Carolina Stingrays on Thursday.
  • Chase Harrison was traded to South Carolina on Thursday.
  • Chris Crane was traded to Toledo on Thursday.

Possible Admirals Scratches

  • Patrick D’amico – on injured reserve, last played on December 29.
  • John Gustafsson – on injured reserve, last played on January 9.
  • Merrick Madsen – on injured reserve, last played on February 2.
  • Cody Smith – on injured reserve, last played on February 2.
  • Additional scratches to be determined closer to puck drop.

Head-to-Head

Worcester  Norfolk
Goals For  2.67 – 24th  3.03 – 18th
Goals Against  2.97 – 9th  3.81 – 27th
Shots For  31.98 – 12th  31.27 – 16th
Shots Against  33.41 – 22nd  35.97 – 25th
Fighting Majors  44  34
Power Play  14.2% – 24th  14.9% – 21st
Penalty Kill  84.7% – 7th  81.7 % – 16th
Avg Height / Weight / Age  6′ 0″ / 192 lbs / 24.64 years  6′ 0″ / 191 lbs / 25.44 years

Team Records

Worcester  Norfolk
Scoring First  17-7-1-2  19-10-2-1
Leading After 1  10-1-1-4  13-3-1-1
Leading After 2  15-0-1-2  15-1-1-0
Tied After 1  9-9-3-0  8-7-2-1
Tied After 2  9-6-2-2  7-5-1-1
Trailing After 1  7-12-1-0  2-18-1-1
Trailing After 2  2-16-2-0  1-23-2-2
Outshooting Opponents  11-9-2-3  10-8-1-1
Out Shot by Opponents  13-13-3-1  13-19-3-3

On the Island and at the Port

  • Sound Tigers suffer 5-0 loss to Rochester [Sound Tigers]
    • Mitch Gillam made his AHL debut with 17 saves on 18 shots. Gillam was put in net after Jeremy Smith allowed 4 goals in the first 22 minutes.
  • Islanders host the Flyers tonight at 7.
  • Sound Tigers face the Marlies in Toronto on Sunday.

Closing Statements

  • The City of Worcester is hosting their first-annual Winter Fest as the Mercantile Center from 12:30 – 6 PM. The Stanley Cup will be making an appearance at the Winter Fest and at the game.
  • The Railers will be hosting their Nickelodeon night tonight and will wear and auction off Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle jerseys. The HandBid auction which will end around the beginning of the third period, can be found here.
  • For live updates during the game, follow us on Twitter @WooHockeyNews.