Game Story

Worcester, MA – The Worcester Railers concluded their fan appreciation event with another high-scoring game, defeating the Maine Mariners 9-5 on Sunday afternoon.

Henrik Tikkanen secured his tenth win in his 18th start of the season, making 22 saves on 27 shots during the afternoon. Brad Arvantis stopped 16 shots out of 22 for Maine before being replaced after the second period. Shane Starrett entered the game in the third period, making one save on three shots. Ashton Calder scored five goals, supported by Reece Newkirk, Christian Krygier, Brendan Robbins, and Ryan Verrier. Jake Pivonka recorded three assists, while Zsombor Garat, Keeghan Howdeshell, Joey Cipollone, Riley Piercey, Trevor Cosgrove, Connor Welsh, Ryan Scarfo, Anthony Callin, and Henrik Tikkanen each contributed with assists of their own. Bennett Stockdale, Brooklyn Kalmikov, Ethan Ritchie, Sebastian Vidmar, and Tyler Drevitch scored for the Mariners. This was the Railers highest scoring game in franchise history, and Ashton Calder’s five-goal, seven-point performance was the highest in franchise history.

Maine took the initial lead with Bennett Stockdale following up on a pass up front from former Railer Connor Doherty at 9:32. A minute and two seconds later, Ashton Calder tied the game up for his first of the game on a bounce off the pad of Brad Arvantis. Maine regained their lead at 11:39 with Brooklyn Kalmikov scoring over the glove of Henrik Tikkanen. Maine extended that lead to 3-1 as Tikkanen had no coverage to his right, sending Maine into the second period with a comfortable lead.

The Maine advantage was extended again to 4-1 when Sebastian Vidmar scored on the power play at 3:24 of the second period. Vidmar’s goal was reviewed for a kicking motion and was ruled a good goal, despite the overhead view showing a kicking motion. From that point until the end of the period, the Railers responded with five unanswered goals, completely shifting the momentum of the game in their favor. Ashton Calder completed his hat trick with two goals within 1:40 of each other, while Reece Newkirk evened the game with a 4-on-4 goal. Christian Krygier handed the Railers their first lead at 11:11, still playing 4-on-4. Calder then scored a powerplay goal at 18:14 of the period, giving the Railers a two-goal lead heading into the third period.

Shane Starett entered the game for Maine for the start of the third period, their third goaltender of the weekend. Early in the third period, Tyler Drevitch narrowed the Mariners’ deficit to one goal, making the score 6-5 in favor of the Railers. Ashton Calder scored his fifth goal after a turnover by Maine in their own zone, reinstating Worcester’s two-goal advantage. Brendan Robbins scored on the empty net at 18:17 in the period to tie the franchise record of eight goals in a game. Ryan Verrier scored twenty seconds after Robbins, bringing the game to its final score of 9-5.

The three stars of the game were:

  1. Ashton Calder (Worcester) – 5 goals, 2 assists
  2. Jake Pivonka (Worcester) – 3 assists
  3. Christian Krygier (Worcester) – 1 goal

The attendance for this game was 4,867 and with it being the final game of the season, the average for the 2023-24 season was 3,666.

As they approach the last weekend of the year, the Railers remain in charge of their playoff destiny. To secure a playoff spot, they will likely need to win at least two games in their upcoming weekend series against the Trois-Rivieres Lions. The Railers will play their final three games of the season on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday against the Lions at the Colisée Vidéotron.

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