Game Story


Worcester, MA — The Worcester Railers were unable to pick themselves up after blowing a 3-1 lead after the first period, eventually falling 6-4 to the Maine Mariners on Saturday night at the DCU Center.

The Railers wore Boston Celtics-themed specialty jerseys, the night was originally advertised as a St. Patrick’s Day-themed game. The Jerseys were auctioned off to benefit Be Like Brit, who has partnered with the Railers for the last several seasons. The jerseys follow a long line of Boston-sports-themed jerseys the Railers have worn over the years, with the Railers previously doing a few variations of Red Sox and Patriots jerseys. The jerseys, which were auctioned off during and after the game was well received, and by all accounts one of their most successful jersey auctions to date with several jerseys selling for $1,000 or more, all to support a good cause. Bobby Butler’s jersey sold for the most at $1,500 during the post-game auction.

Ken Appleby had his second straight start following Worcester’s 4-3 win on Friday. He made 35 saves in his second appearance of the weekend. Railers rolled with the same line-ups as Friday night, Maine substituted Grant Gabriele for Andrew Peski with Michael DiPietro getting 30 saves in net for Maine. Jacob Hayhurst and Liam Coughlin continued to contribute goals for Worcester, as did Andrei Bakanov, who scored his first goal on DCU Center ice. Nolan Vesey and Bobby Butler each had pairs of assists while Myles McGurty, Adam Goodsir, and Anthony Callin had single assists in the mix.

During the first half of the opening period, both teams scored power-play goals. Jacob Hayhurst scored for the Railers at 4:37 in the slot after the Mariners failed to clear the puck from their zone. Austin Albrecht evened things for the Mariners at 9:20 by backhanding a rebound past Ken Appleby after Marc-Olivier Duquette’s blue-line shot, five seconds into Max Johnson’s penalty for high-sticking. The Railers then scored two quick goals from Andrei Bakanov and Liam Coughlin in a 22-second time frame, prompting the Mariners to call a timeout. After the first period, the Railers led 3-1 and outshot Maine 17-10.

However, the Mariners came back strongly in the second period with Worcester looking like a completely different team, scoring three goals to take the lead. Alex Kile scored a one-timer in the slot at 7:02, reducing the deficit to one. Despite coming up empty on a lengthy 5-on-3, the Mariners continued their attack, and Chase Zieky scored by writing one home from down the left wing past Appleby. With less than 90 seconds left in the period, Pat Shea fed Carter Johnson, who tipped one between Appleby’s pads to make it 4-3 for Maine. Maine outshot Worcester 18-7 in the frame.

Tyler Hinam added another goal for the Mariners at 8:11 of the third period, stretching their lead to 5-3 after pouncing on a rebound off Appleby’s pad. The Railers pulled Appleby with less than four minutes to play, and Coughlin managed to score one back by pulling a loose puck around Michael DiPietro at 16:36 for his second goal of the night. Coughlin would then take a dumb elbowing penalty on Connor Doherty which led to Nick Master scoring on the power play a minute and ten seconds later to secure the victory for Maine. Maine outshot Worcester 13-10 in the third period, and a combined 31-17 in the second and third periods.

The three stars of Saturday night’s game were:

  1. Chase Zieky (Maine) – 1 goal, 2 assists, +2
  2. Liam Coughlin (Worcester) – 2 goals, +2
  3. Austin Albrecht (Maine) – 1 goal, 1 assist

The Newfoundland Growlers clinched a playoff spot with a 5-4 shootout win over the Newfoundland Growlers earlier in the night. Trois-Rivieres, Norfolk, and Reading each picked up wins in inter-divisional matches. The Railers hold a seven-point lead over the Adirondack Thunder for fourth place with the Thunder having one less game played. The Railers’ magic number remains at 18 with the Railers still in playoff contention with 15 games left in their regular season schedule. Maine clinched the VIP Rivalry Cup, which is a mutual sponsor-based trophy between both teams, on Saturday night with a 5-2-0-1 record against Worcester through eight games this season.

Railers and Mariners close out the weekend with a 3 p.m. puck drop back up in Portland on Sunday afternoon.

—

Stay in the loop and never miss an update on Worcester Railers hockey by following Woo Hockey on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. You can also get involved and connect with other fans of the team in the Worcester Railers Fan Club Facebook group, where you can share your thoughts on the team and discuss all things hockey.

Box Score


Scoring 1 2 3 T
1 3 2 6
3 0 1 4
Shots 1 2 3 T
10 18 13 41
17 7 10 34
Score Team Time Scored by Assisted by Type
0 – 1 4:37 – 1st J. Hayhurst (7) B. Butler PP
1 – 1 9:20 – 1st A. Albrecht (4) M. Duquette, C. Zieky PP
1 – 2 13:47 – 1st A. Bakanov (3) M. McGurty, A. Goodsir
1 – 3 14:09 – 1st L. Coughlin (9) N. Vesey, A. Callin
2 – 3 7:02 – 2nd A. Kile (12) A. Albrecht, C. Doherty
3 – 3 13:45 – 2nd C. Zieky (14) G. Chicoine
4 – 3 18:46 – 2nd C. Johnson (12) P. Shea, J. Wilson
5 – 3 8:11 – 3rd T. Hinam (6) F. Gordeev, C. Zieky
5 – 4 16:36 – 3rd L. Coughlin (10) B. Butler, N. Vesey
6 – 4 18:19 – 3rd N. Master (10) G. Chicoine, T. Doherty PP

Rosters

# Player G A +/- SH PIM
G 33 F. Brassard 0 0 0 0 0
G 40 M. DiPietro 0 0 0 0 0
D 2 A. Peski 0 0 0 2 0
D 3 G. Chicoine 0 2 0 3 0
F 4 A. Albrecht 1 1 0 3 0
F 10 N. Master 1 0 +1 2 0
F 14 R. Stefanson 0 0 0 3 2
F 17 T. Doherty 0 1 0 1 0
F 18 C. Johnson 1 0 -1 2 0
F 19 C. Askew 0 0 +1 1 2
F 20 T. Hinam 1 0 0 3 0
F 23 A. Kile 1 0 0 5 0
D 24 M. Duquette 0 1 0 3 0
D 25 J. Wilson 0 1 +1 2 0
F 27 P. Shea 0 1 +1 1 0
D 28 C. Doherty 0 1 -1 3 0
F 29 C. Zieky 1 2 +2 3 0
D 41 F. Gordeev 0 1 +2 0 4
F 42 A. Voyer 0 0 -1 4 0
Team:
Totals: 6 11 5 41 8
Player MIN SH SVS GA SV%
40 M. DiPietro (W) – 34 30 4 –
Totals: – 34 30 4 –
# Player G A +/- SH PIM
G 35 K. Appleby 0 0 0 0 0
G 39 H. Tikkanen 0 0 0 0 0
D 2 C. McCarthy 0 0 0 5 0
F 7 L. Coughlin 2 0 +2 3 2
F 8 B. Butler 0 2 -1 0 0
D 9 N. Delmas 0 0 -1 0 0
D 10 T. Cosgrove 0 0 -1 3 2
F 11 N. Vesey 0 2 +1 4 0
F 12 B. Beaudoin 0 0 0 5 0
F 13 B. Jerry 0 0 -1 0 0
F 16 J. Hayhurst 1 0 -1 2 2
F 17 A. Callin 0 1 +1 0 0
F 18 A. Goodsir 0 1 -1 1 0
F 20 C. Ordoobadi 0 0 -1 2 0
F 23 A. Bakanov 1 0 0 3 0
D 26 J. Brandt 0 0 0 1 0
D 27 M. McGurty 0 1 -1 2 2
F 37 M. Johnson 0 0 -1 1 4
D 44 J. Victor 0 0 +1 2 2
Team:
Totals: 4 7 -4 34 14
Player MIN SH SVS GJ SV%
35 K. Appleby (L) – 41 35 6 –
Totals: – 41 35 6 –

Penalties

Time Team Player Mins Infraction
3:22 – 1st R. Stefanson 2 Slashing – minor (61.2)
9:15 – 1st M. Johnson 2 High-sticking – minor (60.2)
3:32 – 2nd F. Gordeev 2 Cross-Checking Minor (59.2)
10:34 – 2nd T. Cosgrove 2 Tripping – minor (57.2)
11:01 – 2nd M. McGurty 2 Tripping – minor (57.2)
15:32 – 2nd F. Gordeev 2 Holding – minor (54.2)
10:11 – 3rd C. Askew 2 Roughing – minor (51.2)
10:11 – 3rd M. Johnson 2 Roughing – minor (51.2)
10:11 – 3rd J. Victor 2 Roughing – minor (51.2)
12:11 – 3rd J. Hayhurst 2 Roughing – minor (51.2)
17:09 – 3rd L. Coughlin 2 Elbowing – minor (45.2)


Notes

  • Worcester Scratches: Anthony Repaci, Christian Evers, Jack Quinlivan, Nick Fea, Philip Beaulieu, Quinn Ryan, and Zack Bross.
  • Maine scratches: Alden Weller, Conner Bleackley, Grant Gabriele, and Owen Norton.
  • Starting at $250, the following jerseys sold at the live auction following the game:
    • Bobby Butler – $1500
    • Henrik Tikkanen – $800
    • Ken Appleby – $1100
    • Brent Beaudoin- $800
    • Jacob Hayhurst – $750
  • All game-worn and game-issued specialty jerseys for this game appear to have all been sold, other than Trax’s mascot jersey, which had a 0 instead of his usual 7. There may be a few NNOB jerseys available for raffle at a later date.
  • Following Saturday night’s game, the Railers had the following scoring streaks and droughts:
    • Connor McCarthy is without a point in his last seven games.
    • Nolan Vesey snapped a seven-game scoring drought.
    • Max Johnson is without a point in his last three games.

Railers Lines

Forward Lines LW C RW
Forward Line 1 Adam Goodsir #18 Brent Beaudoin #12 Andrei Bakanov #23
Forward Line 2 Jacob Hayhurst #16 Max Johnson #37 Bobby Butler #8
Forward Line 3 Nolan Vesey #11 Liam Coughlin #7 Anthony Callin #17
Rotated Forwards – Billy Jerry #13 Chris Ordoobadi #20
Defensive Pairings LD RD
Defense Pair 1 Jared Brandt #26 Myles McGurty #27
Defense Pair 2 Trevor Cosgrove #10 Noah Delmas #9
Defense Pair 3 Josh Victor #44 Connor McCarthy #2
Rotated Defensemen – –
Goalie Tandem G
Starting Goaltender Ken Appleby #35
Backup Goaltender Henrik Tikkanen #39

On-Ice Officials

– –
Referee Tyler Hascall (8)
Referee Rocco Stachowiak (28)
Linesman Sam Schildkraut (46)
Linesman Davids Rozitis (90)


Highlights

Notable Tweets as the Game Happened


Railers Lines


Jacob Hayhurst goal (1-0 Railers)


Jacob Hayhurst Celebration Photos


Austin Albrecht goal (Tied 1-1)


Andrei Bakanov goal (2-1 Railers)


Liam Coughlin First goal (3-1 Railers)

[Maine did not tweet a video of this goal.]

Alex Kile goal (3-2 Railers)

[Maine did not tweet a video of this goal.]

Chase Zieky goal (Tied 3-3)


Jersey Promo Video


Carter Johnson goal (4-3 Mariners)


Tyler Hinam goal (5-3 Mariners)


Liam Coughlin goal (5-4 Mariners)


Nick Master goal (6-4 Mariners)