Game Story

Worcester, MA — The Worcester Railers head into their Christmas break with a big two-points, collecting their tenth win of the season with a 6-3 win over the Maine Mariners on Saturday night.

Henrik Tikkanen made this third consecutive start coming off a 3-1 win on Friday. He made 23 saves Saturday. Shane Arvantis made his first start against Worcester this season, stopping 34 shots by Worcester. Eleven different Railers made contributions to the 6-3 win, five of them had multiple points. Jake Pivonka, Keeghan Howdeshell, Daylan Kuefler, Anthony Repaci, and Trevor Cosgrove were the goalscorers for Worcester, Brooklyn Kalmikov and Alex Kile were the goal scorers for Maine. It was the second straight game where the Railers had staged a comeback after trailing after the first period.

A loose puck got past Artyom Kulakov, allowing Brooklyn Kalmikov to enter the Railers zone and score on the pad side, putting Maine up 1-0. Less than a minute later, Alex Kile extended Maine’s lead to 2-0 with a wraparound goal. Jake Pivonka narrowed the gap to 2-1 at 16:52 in the frame by tapping in a loose puck that had found its way behind Shane Arvantis. In the opening seven minutes, Maine had a 6-1 shot advantage, and after the ten-minute mark, they continued to intensify their offensive efforts, recording eight shots in a two-minute span. Eventually, Worcester outshot Maine 13-8 in the period.

Maine extended their lead to two goals as Brooklyn Kalmikov netted his second goal of the night during an odd-man rush. He successfully converted a pass from the left corner to the right circle, making it 3-1. However, with 3:04 remaining in the period, Worcester’s Keegan Howdeshell redirected a Riley Piercey shot past Shane Starrett at 16:56, narrowing the game back to within one goal.

Daylan Kuefler scored his first professional goal on the power play at 4:44 to tie the game and snapped the Railers’ month-long cold spell without a powerplay goal. Ashton Calder initiated the play but fumbled the puck, allowing Kuefler to tap it in on the right side. The Railers then took the lead at 7:52 when Anthony Repaci redirected a Ryan Verrier blue-line shot. Kuefler extended the lead with another goal at 12:44, this time from the left side, taking advantage of Arvantis being too far out of position. Finally, Trevor Cosgrove secured the victory with an empty-net goal at 18:12.

The three stars of the game were:

  1. Daylan Kuefler (Worcester) – 2 goals
  2. Joey Cipollone (Worcester) – 2 assists
  3. Brooklyn Kalmikov (Maine) – 2 goals

When the ECHL returns from their Christmas break on December 27, they’ll host the Maine Mariners again on the same day with a 5:05 p.m. puck drop.

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Box Score


Scoring 1 2 3 T
2 1 0 3
1 1 4 6
Shots 1 2 3 T
8 10 8 26
13 13 14 40

 

Score Team Time Scored by Assisted by Type
1 – 0 2:38 – 1st B. Kalmikov (4)
2 – 0 3:23 – 1st A. Kile (12) M. Dwyer, E. Keppen
2 – 1 16:52 – 1st J. Pivonka (8) A. Calder
3 – 1 4:32 – 2nd B. Kalmikov (5) A. Mechura, E. Keppen
3 – 2 16:56 – 2nd K. Howdeshell (4) R. Piercey, J. Cipollone
3 – 3 4:44 – 3rd D. Kuefler (1) J. Cipollone, A. Calder PP
3 – 4 7:52 – 3rd A. Repaci (7) R. Verrier, A. Callin
3 – 5 12:44 – 3rd D. Kuefler (2) A. Calder, J. Pivonka
3 – 6 18:12 – 3rd T. Cosgrove (3) B. Jenkins, A. Repaci EN

Rosters

# Player G A +/- SH PIM
G 33 B. Arvanitis 0 0 0 0 0
G 40 S. Starrett 0 0 0 0 0
D 3 G. Chicoine 0 0 0 2 2
F 4 W. Deveaux 0 0 0 2 0
D 5 A. Sheehy 0 0 0 0 0
F 7 O. Pederson 0 0 -1 0 0
F 9 B. Kalmikov 2 0 +2 5 0
D 10 M. Dwyer 0 1 -1 1 2
F 11 A. Albrecht 0 0 -1 0 0
D 12 J. Solow 0 0 0 1 0
F 14 R. Stefanson 0 0 +1 2 0
D 15 B. Constantinou 0 0 -2 2 0
F 19 C. Askew 0 0 -2 2 4
F 22 J. Lambert 0 0 +1 2 0
F 23 A. Kile 1 0 -2 6 0
F 24 A. Mechura 0 1 -2 0 0
F 25 G. Guertler 0 0 -1 1 2
F 27 E. Keppen 0 2 -2 0 0
F 42 T. Drevitch 0 0 -1 0 2
Team:
Totals: 3 4 -11 26 12
Player MIN SH SVS GA SV%
40 S. Starrett (L) – 39 34 5 –
Empty Net – 1 1 –
Totals: – 40 34 6 –
# Player G A +/- SH PIM
G 39 H. Tikkanen 0 0 0 0 10
G 40 J. Muse 0 0 0 0 0
D 3 R. Verrier 0 1 +2 2 2
D 10 T. Cosgrove 1 0 0 1 0
F 11 A. Bakanov 0 0 +1 5 0
F 12 J. Cipollone 0 2 +2 3 0
F 13 J. Pivonka 1 1 +1 1 0
F 16 A. Calder 0 3 0 2 0
F 17 K. Howdeshell 1 0 +1 1 0
F 19 B. Jenkins 0 1 0 3 0
F 22 D. Kuefler 2 0 -1 4 0
F 23 T. Goehring 0 0 0 2 0
D 26 C. Welsh 0 0 +3 0 0
D 27 J. Copeland 0 0 0 2 4
F 29 R. Piercey 0 1 +1 2 0
F 44 A. Callin 0 1 0 4 0
D 70 Z. Garat 0 0 0 0 0
F 81 A. Repaci 1 1 +1 5 0
D 88 A. Kulakov 0 0 -1 3 0
Team:
Totals: 6 11 10 40 16
Player MIN SH SVS GJ SV%
39 H. Tikkanen (W) – 26 23 3 –
Totals: – 26 23 3 –

Penalties

Time Team Player Mins Infraction
4:45 – 1st R. Verrier 2 Delay of Game (63.2)
12:03 – 1st M. Dwyer 2 Interference – minor (56.2)
19:34 – 2nd G. Chicoine 2 Holding – minor (54.2)
3:06 – 3rd G. Guertler 2 Holding – minor (54.2)
20:00 – 3rd C. Askew 4 Double Minor – Roughing
20:00 – 3rd T. Drevitch 2 Slashing – minor (61.2)
20:00 – 3rd J. Copeland 4 Double Minor – Roughing
20:00 – 3rd H. Tikkanen 10 Misconduct (39.4)


Notes

  • Worcester Scratches: Brendan Robbins, Christian Krygier, Jack Quinlivan, Quinn Ryan, Tristan Lennox, and Zach White.
  • Maine Scratches: Andrew Peski, Chase Zieky, Connor Doherty, and Nathan Noel.
  • Jake Schultz was released from his contract with the Railers on Saturday morning. Word from Darryl Hunt from 210 Sports is that the team parted ways as the fit didn’t work, allowing Schultz to play elsewhere. As Schultz is a native of upstate New York, returning to Binghamton Black Bears may be in his cards, but every ECHL team has the option to claim him off of waivers.
  • A couple of Railers alumni were in attendance for Saturday’s game – Ross Olsson, Conor Breen, and Connor Doherty to name a few. Doherty traveled with his team to Worcester but was a scratch due to a hand injury sustained in Maine’s game the night before. Breen has not played anywhere this season, while Ross Olsson retired a couple of seasons ago. All three are local to Massachusetts and likely would’ve been around given the holiday.
  • The ECHL implemented their Christmas roster freeze on Saturday, meaning players on standard players contracts cannot be released (waived) or traded, until Wednesday, December 27 at noon.
  • Following Saturday’s game, the Railers had the following scoring streaks and droughts:
    • Andrei Bakanov is without a point in his last four games.
    • Joey Cipollone is now on the first-point streak of his professional career with two assists. (2-2-4)
    • Jake Pivonka snapped a seven-game scoring drought with a goal and an assist.
    • Daylan Kuefler snapped a three-game scoring drought with two goals.
    • Todd Goehring is without a point in his last three games.
    • Connor Welsh is without a point in his last four games.
    • Zsombor Garat is without a point in his last thirteen games.
    • Artyom Kulakov is without a point in his last thirteen games.




Notable Tweets as the Game Happened


Railers Lines


Brooklyn Kalmikov goal (1-0 Maine)


Alex Kile goal (2-0 Maine)


Jake Pivonka goal (2-1 Maine)


Brooklyn Kalmikov goal (3-1 Maine)


Keeghan Howdeshell goal (3-2 Maine)


Daylan Kuefler goal (Tied at 3)


Anthony Repaci goal (4-3 Railers)


Daylan Kuefler goal (5-3 Railers)


Trevor Cosgrove goal (6-3 Railers)