Game Story

Worcester, MA — The Worcester Railers hosted the Maine Mariners for the third of five games in the month of December at the DCU Center on Saturday.

It was Evan Buitenhuis getting the start for the Railers, seeing his first start in a week with Mitch Gillam backing him up after Friday’s shutout loss to Manchester. The Railers wore Ugly Sweater specialty jerseys that were auctioned off during and after the game to benefit The Shine Initiative.

Nick Sorkin made contact with a shot from Mike Cornell in front of the Maine net for the Railers tenth power play goal of the season and their first of the night. Seconds later, hundreds of teddy bears came flying over the boards in the Railers first-ever teddy bear toss. Maine went 0-for-3 on the power play with Railers’ penalties served by Tyler Mueller and Connor Doherty (x2). Railers had their first lead since Wednesday with the shot count being 9-5 with the first period in the books.

Fans saw a goaltender go down after being skated into for the second straight game at the DCU Center. Even Buitenhuis went down for a few minute in the second period after being run into by a Mariners skater. He was attended to by athletic trainer Rob Tagle, and stayed in net for the remainder of the game.

Sean Day tied things up on the power play with under a minute remaining in the second period. On the play leading up to their man advantage, Tyler Barnes was assessed two minor penalties for slashing and elbowing after a huge open ice hit on Mariners forward John Furgele. Shots were 22-12 with the game tied at one with forty minutes in.

David Quenneville left the game after drawing some blood on a high stick in the early minutes of the second period. Quenneville did not return for the remainder of the game.

The game was undecided through sixty minutes, so we were headed into overtime, and as it went undecided in overtime it went into the shootout.

Michael McNicholas scored the first shootout goal, sliding the puck under the pad of Evan Buitenhuis in the second round. Nick Sorkin evened it up as the first shooter in the third round, and the game was put away with another Mariners goal in the shootout by Alex Kile to end it 2-1 in the shootout and the game.

Railers are now 11-12-3-1 on the season with the shootout loss. They trail Brampton by one for the sixth position, and every position is within a point’s reach after that, except for first which is held by Newfoundland with 37 points.

The three stars of the game were:

  1. Brandon Halverson (Maine) – 46 saves, Win
  2. Alex Kile (Maine) – Shooutout Game Winner
  3. Nick Sorkin (Worcester) – goal

Can’t Win for Trying: The Railers will make a quick trip to Brampton, Ontario for Wednesday’s game and will be back in time for the game against the Adirondack Thunder on Friday. Puck drops at 7:15 on Wednesday evening.

Box Score

Scoring 1 2 3 OT SO T
Maine Mariners 0 1 0 0 1 2
Worcester Railers 1 0 0 0 0 1
Shots 1 2 3 OT SO T
Maine Mariners 5 7 8 5 1 26
Worcester Railers 9 13 19 6 0 47

 

Mariners Roster # Name G A +/- SH PIM
G 35 B. Halverson 0 0 0 0 0
G 40 C. LaCouvee 0 0 0 0 0
D 3 A. Adams 0 0 0 0 0
D 5 A. Plant 0 0 0 0 0
F 6 J. Kalisz 0 0 0 2 2
D 7 D. Pratt 0 0 0 0 0
D 8 R. Culkin 0 0 0 0 0
F 9 D. Melanson 0 0 0 2 0
F 11 J. Salvaggio 0 1 0 6 0
D 14 B. Martin 0 0 0 1 2
F 15 L. Stork 0 0 0 0 0
F 18 R. Ferrill 0 0 0 1 0
F 19 R. Gropp 0 0 0 3 0
D 21 J. Furgele 0 0 0 0 2
F 22 J. Breton 0 0 0 2 0
F 23 A. Kile 0 1 0 3 0
F 24 M. McNicholas 0 0 0 2 0
D 41 S. Day 1 0 0 3 0
Team: 1 1 2
Totals: 2 2 0 26 8
No Name Min SH SVS GA SOG-S
35 B. Halverson (W) 65:00 47 46 1 1-3
Totals: 65:00 47 46 1
Railers Roster # Name G A +/- SH PIM
G 34 E. Buitenhuis 0 0 0 0 0
G 35 M. Gillam 0 0 0 0 0
D 2 T. Panico 0 0 0 1 0
D 4 R. MacKinnon 0 0 0 0 0
D 6 M. Cornell 0 1 0 2 0
F 7 T. Barnes 0 0 0 4 4
F 8 N. Sorkin 1 0 0 6 0
F 10 I. Kosorenkov 0 0 0 1 0
F 11 D. Willick 0 0 0 0 0
F 12 J. Holmstrom 0 0 0 6 0
F 17 M. Schmalz 0 0 0 1 0
F 19 B. Almeida 0 0 0 3 0
D 20 D. Quenneville 0 0 0 0 0
F 21 M. Gaudreau 0 0 0 4 0
F 23 W. Hudson 0 0 0 6 2
D 24 T. Mueller 0 1 0 4 2
F 27 R. Hitchcock 0 0 0 5 0
D 28 C. Doherty 0 0 0 4 4
Team:
Totals: 1 2 0 47 12
No Name Min SH SVS GA SOG-S
34 E. Buitenhuis (SOL) 65:00 25 24 1 2-3
Totals: 65:00 25 24 1
P T Player M Offense Time
1st H C. Doherty 2.00 Interference – minor (56.2) 6:52
1st V J. Furgele 2.00 Hooking – minor (55.2) 13:24
1st H T. Mueller 2.00 Holding – minor (54.2) 16:56
1st H C. Doherty 2.00 Tripping – minor (57.2) 19:22
2nd V Served by J. Salvaggio 2.00 Bench minor – Too many men (74.2) 1:12
2nd V B. Martin 2.00 Unsportsmanlike conduct – minor (75.2) 18:21
2nd H T. Barnes 2.00 Slashing – minor (61.2) 18:21
2nd H T. Barnes 2.00 Elbowing – minor (45.2) 18:21
3rd H W. Hudson 2.00 High-sticking – minor (60.2) 7:58
3rd V J. Kalisz 2.00 Holding – minor (54.2) 9:15

Notes

  • Railers Scratches: Malcolm Gould, Tommy Kelley, Kyle McKenzie
  • Railers Scratches: Austin Block, Yanick Turcotte, Alex Vanier
  • Announced during the third period, the Railers Booster Club raised a rounded total of $2,500 towards the Ava Roy fund. The Railers Hockey Club also raised an undisclosed amount from chuck-a-puck this Wednesday.
  • The Hockey Community continues to rally behind the city of Worcester and the family of fallen firefighter Christopher J Roy:
    • The Junior Railers will be raising money at the Worcester Ice Center throughout the weekend and will be holding a fundraiser with 99 Restaurants throughout the city. More information can be found here.
    • The Boston Bruins Foundation is holding a 50/50 raffle (being Drawn on 12/16) with proceeds to benefit the Ava Roy Fund.

Railers Lines (Observed by order in which they appeared):

LW C RW
Forward Line 1  B. Almeida #19 “A”  R. Hitchcock #27  T. Barnes #7
Forward Line 2  N. Sorkin #8  J. Holmstrom #12 “A”  M. Gaudreau #21
Forward Line 3  Y. Turcotte #23  M. Schmalz #17 / D. Willick #11  W. Hudson #23
LD RD
Defense Line 1  T. Mueller #27  M. Cornell #6 “C”
Defense Line 2  D. Quenneville #20  C. Doherty #28
Defense Line 3  T. Panico #2  R. MacKinnon #4
G
Starting Goaltender  Evan Buitenhuis #34
Backup Goaltender  Mitch Gillam #35

Highlights