Game Story


Worcester, MA — The Worcester Railers fought back from a two-goal deficit in their first of back-to-back meetings against the Cincinnati Cyclones on Friday night, ultimately falling 5-4 after forcing overtime with 15 seconds left in regulation.

Henrik Tikkanen made his sixth start of the season, making 38 saves on the night. Olaf Lindbom made 26 saves in the opposing net for Cincinnati. Jake Pivonka had a two-goal night with additional goals from Brendan Robbins and Connor Welsh. Cristiano DiGiacinto, James Hardie, Justin Vaive, Luka Burzan, and Ole Julian Bjørgvik-Holm each scored for the Cyclones. While the Railers have won just one game with Tikkanen in net so far this season, Friday night’s game was the subject of some of the worst officiating so far this season. Worcester was without a power play as Andrei Bakanov sat for three of Worcester’s penalties with the fourth being a bench minor for too many men on the ice.

Brendan Robbins opened up scoring with a shot on a 3-on-1 rush down the left side, he got a quick shot from the left circle in what would end up being the Railers’ only lead of the night. Seven minutes later, Christiano DiGiacinto scored on a deflection to tie the game up. The goal should not have counted as it was deflected off of a high stick, but referee Dominic Cadieux reviewed the play for goaltender interference except there were no Cyclones close to Henrik Tikkanen on the play, and was ruled a good goal. Both teams had 12 shots and a goal through twenty minutes of play.

James Hardie collected a loose puck from Lee Lapid at 8:54 and scored five-hole through the pads of Henrik Tikkanen from the left circle. Justin Vaive made contact with a shot up front from Zack Andrusiak at 12:05. There’s an argument that Vaive’s goal could’ve been reviewed for goaltender interference, but the overhead view on the video board showed Vaive’s contact with Tikkanen well after the puck is under the pads of Tikkanen and heading toward the goal line. Jake Pivonka scored his fifth of the season with a shot from the point at 13:45. Luka Burzan regained the Cyclones lead to 4-2 with a one-timer just outside the right circle at 18:42.

The Railers looked to have scored at 16:25 in the third period, the play was reviewed and the call stood as no goal. A scuffle broke out following the goal, with referee Dominic Cadieux sending Andrei Bakanov and Jalen Smereck to the box on matching roughing calls after Bakanov was basically ganged up on by a couple of Cyclones skaters. Worcester would gather momentum with two goals in under two minutes from Connor Welsh and Jake Pivonka with Henrik Tikkanen pulled for the extra skater to force overtime.

Frustrations would ensue in overtime as Andrei Bakanov and Jake Schultz were both sent to the box in the overtime period, giving the Cyclones a 5-on-3 advantage. Bakanov was called for this third penalty of the game, while Schultz was given a cross-checking minor seconds after Tikkanen was brought down by Jake Gaudet, with no call for interference on Gaudet. Ole Julian Bjørgvik-Holm scored on a far shot as Bakanov’s penalty was set to expire, giving the Cyclones the victory at 3:55 in the overtime period.

The three stars of the game were:

  1. Ole Julian Bjørgvik-Holm (Cincinnati) – game-winning goal
  2. Jake Pivonka (Worcester) – 2 goals
  3. Ashton Calder (Worcester) – 2 assists

Railers and Cyclones return to the DCU Center for a rematch on Saturday night at 7:05 p.m.

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Box Score


Scoring 1 2 3 OT T
1 3 0 1 5
1 1 2 0 4
Shots 1 2 3 OT T
12 16 9 6 43
12 8 10 0 30
Score Team Time Scored by Assisted by Type
0 – 1 7:56 – 1st B. Robbins (3) J. Quinlivan, Z. Garat
1 – 1 14:42 – 1st C. DiGiacinto (2) J. Smereck, L. Burzan
2 – 1 8:54 – 2nd J. Hardie (1) L. Lapid
3 – 1 12:05 – 2nd J. Vaive (5) Z. Andrusiak, L. Caporusso
3 – 2 13:45 – 2nd J. Pivonka (5) A. Kulakov, K. Howdeshell
4 – 2 18:42 – 2nd L. Burzan (5) M. Pekar
4 – 3 18:09 – 3rd C. Welsh (2) T. Cosgrove, A. Calder
4 – 4 19:44 – 3rd J. Pivonka (6) B. Jenkins, A. Calder
5 – 4 3:55 – 1st OT O. Bjørgvik-Holm (2) Z. Andrusiak PP

Rosters

# Player G A +/- SH PIM
G 30 O. Lindbom 0 0 0 0 0
G 31 T. Boyko 0 0 0 0 0
D 2 L. Cato 0 0 -1 1 0
D 3 N. Favaro 0 0 0 0 0
D 5 J. Smereck 0 1 0 12 2
D 6 S. MacLean 0 0 0 0 0
F 8 Z. Andrusiak 0 2 -1 3 0
F 10 L. Burzan 1 1 +3 2 0
F 12 M. Pekar 0 1 +2 2 0
F 16 J. Gaudet 0 0 -2 3 0
C 23 L. Caporusso 0 1 -1 3 0
F 27 P. Polino 0 0 -2 2 0
F 28 L. Lapid 0 1 +2 1 0
F 39 A. Berg 0 0 0 1 0
F 46 J. Vaive 1 0 0 2 0
D 47 O. Bjørgvik-Holm 1 0 -1 4 0
F 62 S. Panwar 0 0 0 1 0
F 86 J. Hardie 1 0 +1 3 0
F 96 C. DiGiacinto 1 0 +1 3 0
Team:
Totals: 5 7 1 43 2
Player MIN SH SVS GA SV%
30 O. Lindbom (W) – 30 26 4 –
Totals: – 30 26 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 -2 1 0
D 4 J. Schultz 0 0 +1 0 2
F 9 Q. Ryan 0 0 0 2 0
D 10 T. Cosgrove 0 1 +1 6 0
F 11 A. Bakanov 0 0 -1 1 6
F 12 J. Cipollone 0 0 -1 1 0
F 13 J. Pivonka 2 0 +2 3 0
F 15 B. Robbins 1 0 -1 2 0
F 16 A. Calder 0 2 +1 4 0
F 17 K. Howdeshell 0 1 +1 1 0
F 19 B. Jenkins 0 1 +1 3 0
F 24 J. Quinlivan 0 1 0 0 0
D 26 C. Welsh 1 0 +1 2 0
D 27 J. Copeland 0 0 -1 0 0
F 44 A. Callin 0 0 -1 3 0
D 70 Z. Garat 0 1 0 1 0
D 88 A. Kulakov 0 1 0 0 0
Team: 2
Totals: 4 8 1 30 10
Player MIN SH SVS GJ SV%
39 H. Tikkanen (L) – 43 38 5 –
Totals: – 43 38 5 –

Penalties

Time Team Player Mins Infraction
4:43 – 3rd A. Bakanov 2 Hooking – minor (55.2)
9:04 – 3rd Served by K. Howdeshell 2 Bench minor – Too many men (74.2)
16:25 – 3rd J. Smereck 2 Roughing – minor (51.2)
16:25 – 3rd A. Bakanov 2 Roughing – minor (51.2)
1:55 – 1st OT A. Bakanov 2 Holding – minor (54.2)
2:33 – 1st OT J. Schultz 2 Cross-Checking Minor (59.2)


Notes

  • Worcester scratches: Anthony Repaci, Christian Krygier, Riley Piercey, and Zach White.
  • Cincinnati scratches: Julian Sime, Ole Julian Bjørgvik-Holm, and Roman Ahcan.
  • Adam Goodsir was traded this week, completing a future considerations trade that brought Zach White to Worcester for this season. Goodsir made his debut for Iowa on Friday and was a +1 with two shots against Utah.
  • Zach White was out of the lineup Friday after appearing in every game this season. Ashton Calder, Jake Pivonka, Blade Jenkins, and Trevor Cosgrove are the remaining Railers to have played in all twelve of their games this season.
  • Anthony Repaci was out of the lineup for a third straight game on Friday. It would appear he’s tweaked something again after missing four games but missing injured reserve by a couple of days. He was added to the reserve list Friday, but not injured reserve which would indicate he’d be out 14 days or longer.
  • Following Friday night’s game, the Railers had the following scoring streaks and droughts:
    • Ryan Verrier is without a point in all ten games he’s played in this season.
    • Jake Schultz is without a point in all eight games he’s played in this season.
    • Quinn Ryan is without a point in his last three games.
    • Keeghan Howdeshell snapped a three-game scoring drought with an assist.
    • John Copeland is without a point in all ten games he’s played in this season.
    • Anthony Callin is without a point in his last four games.
    • Zsombor Garat has snapped a four-game scoring drought with an assist.
    • Artyom Kulakov snapped a six-game scoring drought with an assist.




Notable Tweets as the Game Happened


Railers Lines

[The Cincinnati Cyclones do not tweet out their line-ups, so this tweet does not exist.]

Cyclones Lines


Brendan Robbins Goal (1-0 Railers)


Cristiano DiGiacinto Goal (Tied at 1-1)


James Hardie Goal (2-1 Cyclones)


Justin Vaive Goal (3-1 Cyclones)


Jake Pivonka Goal (3-2 Cyclones)


Luka Burzan Goal (4-2 Cyclones)


Connor Welsh Goal (4-3 Cyclones)


Jake Pivonka Goal (Tied at 4-4)


Henrik Tikkanen OT save


Ole Julian Bjørgvik-Holm Goal (5-4 Cyclones)