Game Story

Thomas Gale made his fourth start of the season making 15 saves on 19 shots before being pulled at the 6:33 mark in the second period. William Lavallière made his Railers debut, making 18 saves on 20 shots in the remainder of the game. Luke Cavallin had 24 saves for the Mariners. Jaxon Ballamy, Antonio Venuto, Brooklyn Kalmikov, Zach Jordan, and Max Andreev tallied goals for Maine. Lincoln Hatten and Anthony Callin scored for Worcester. Maine has won 13 of their last 15 games.

Worcester’s performance on Friday night wasn’t pretty, missed penalties aside, they dug themselves too big of a hole to get themselves out of after being down 5-0 through 40 minutes.

The two teams each had a power play early in the first period. Maine got on the board at 15:18 when Jaxon Ballamy found the back of the net on a wrist shot from atop the left circle. Ryan Cronin beat Thomas Gale 3:09 later from the left circle again to make it 2-0. Shots were 12-7 Maine after twenty minutes.

Brooklyn Kalmikov had two goals in the first seven minutes of the second period to give Maine a 4-0 lead. William Lavallière replaced Gale after Maine’s fourth goal. Riley Piercey earned a fighting Major and a Game misconduct for being an aggressor at 5:23 in the period after unsuccessfully attempting to force Xander Lamppa into a fight. Zach Jordan brought Maine’s lead to 5-0 with a shorthanded goal with 36 seconds left in the period. Maine outshot Worcester 15-5 in the second period.

Worcester had two goals early on in the third period. Lincoln Hatten killed Luke Cavallin’s shutout bid on a onetimer at 3:32 from the right circle. Anthony Callin made it 5-2 at 7:04, just after Anthony Repaci stole the puck from Cavallin behind his net and setup Callin as Cavallin rushed to get back into the net. The burst of momentum came to an end when Max Andreev scored to bring the game to 6-2.

The final five minutes of the game weren’t pretty and the bulk of it was Worcester killing off penalties. DeClan McDonell went to the box for high sticking at 15:46. Cole Donhauser and Zach Jordan had a meaningless fight at 16:59, then 38 seconds Lincoln Hatten tried to start another one and received a roughing minor and a 10-minute misconduct. MacAuley Carson went to the box two seconds after McDonell’s penalty was killed off for cross-checking.

The three stars of the game were:

1. Brooklyn Kalmikov (Maine) – 2 goals, 1 assist, +2
2. Max Andreev (Maine) – 1 goal, 1 assist, +2
3. Lincoln Hatten (Worcester) – 1 goal

Elsewhere in the North Division, the Reading Royals beat the Adirondack Thunder 4-3 in the shootout. The Wheeling Nailers beat the Trois-Rivieres Lions 4-3, also in the shootout. Norfolk Admirals beat the Greensboro Gargoyles 9-4, and the Gargoyles have been eliminated from playoff contention. All eight teams play Saturday in rematches from Friday night. Every team around Worcester in the standings gained ground. Trois-Rivieres is now two points ahead in fifth and Reading is nine points ahead in the fourth and final playoff spot.

The Bridgeport Islanders play on Saturday afternoon, hosting the Hershey Bears. A group of Railers fans and Boosters are heading down for the game in what will be the final Sound Tigers game for the franchise.

The Railers and Mariners meet again on Saturday night up in Portland. Puck drops at 6 p.m.

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Box Score

Scoring	1	2	3	T
	2	3	1	6
	0	0	2	2

Shots	1	2	3	T
	12	15	12	39
	7	5	14	26

Score	#	Per	Team	Time	Goals	Assists
1 – 0	1	1st		15:18	J. Bellamy (4)
2 – 0	2	1st		18:27	A. Venuto (14)	R. Cronin, J. Hudson
3 – 0	3	2nd		1:26	B. Kalmikov (16)
4 – 0	4	2nd		6:33	B. Kalmikov (17)	M. Andreev, O. Gallatin
5 – 0	5	2nd		19:23	Z. Jordan (13)	J. Bellamy
5 – 1	6	3rd		3:32	L. Hatten (13)	M. DeMelis, M. Carson
5 – 2	7	3rd		7:04	A. Callin (16)	A. Repaci
6 – 2	8	3rd		9:40	M. Andreev (13)	B. Kalmikov, B. Chabrier

Rosters

	No	Name	G	A	+/-	SH	PIM
G	1	B. Arvanitis	0	0	0	0	0
G	33	L. Cavallin	0	0	0	0	0
D	3	M. Underwood	0	0	+1	2	0
D	7	T. Ewart	0	0	+1	0	0
F	8	A. Venuto	1	0	+1	2	0
F	9	B. Kalmikov	2	1	+2	5	0
F	11	T. Cheveldayoff	0	0	-1	2	0
F	13	R. Cronin	0	1	+1	2	0
D	15	B. Chabrier	0	1	+1	2	0
F	19	X. Lamppa	0	0	0	3	0
D	20	O. Gallatin	0	1	-1	1	0
F	21	L. Hemstrom	0	0	0	1	0
F	22	S. Vidmar	0	0	0	1	0
F	23	M. Andreev	1	1	+2	1	2
D	26	N. Anderson	0	0	+1	1	0
F	27	Z. Jordan	1	0	+3	4	7
F	28	R. McGuire	0	0	-1	1	0
F	29	L. Gorman	0	0	-1	1	0
D	44	J. Bellamy	1	1	+3	5	0
F	92	J. Hudson	0	1	+2	5	0
		Team:	0			0
		Totals:	6	7	14	39	9

	Player	MIN	SH	SVS	GA	SV%
33	L. Cavallin (W)	60	26	24	2	0.923
	Totals:	60	26	24	2	0.923

	No	Name	G	A	+/-	SH	PIM
G	31	W. Lavallière	0	0	0	0	0
G	33	T. Gale	0	0	0	0	0
D	6	C. McDonald	0	0	+1	2	0
F	7	M. Dorrington	0	0	0	3	0
F	10	R. Miotto	0	0	0	0	0
F	11	L. Hatten	1	0	0	4	14
D	13	M. Ruoho	0	0	+1	0	0
D	14	A. Samuelsson	0	0	-1	0	0
F	16	R. Mitton	0	0	0	2	0
D	18	M. Suda	0	0	-3	0	0
F	19	R. Piercey	0	0	0	1	15
F	20	M. Dukovac	0	0	-1	0	0
D	24	J. Pulkkinen	0	0	-2	2	0
F	26	D. McDonnell	0	0	-3	2	2
D	27	X. Jean-Louis	0	0	-1	0	0
F	29	C. Donhauser	0	0	0	2	5
F	37	M. DeMelis	0	1	0	0	0
F	44	A. Callin	1	0	-3	4	0
F	74	M. Carson	0	1	0	1	2
F	81	A. Repaci	0	1	-3	3	0
		Team:	0			0
		Totals:	2	3	-15	26	38

	Player	MIN	SH	SVS	GA	SV%
33	T. Gale (L)	26:33	19	15	4	0.789
31	W. Lavallière	33:27	20	18	2	0.900
	Totals:	60	39	33	6	0.846

Penalties

Time	Team	Player	Mins	Infraction
01:21 – 1st		Z. Jordan	2	Cross-Checking Minor (59.2)
04:11 – 1st		L. Hatten	2	Tripping – minor (57.2)
05:23 – 2nd		R. Piercey	5	Fighting – Major (46.14)
05:23 – 2nd		R. Piercey	10	Game misconduct – Aggressor (46.2)
18:16 – 2nd		M. Andreev	2	Holding – minor (54.2)
15:46 – 3rd		D. McDonnell	2	High-sticking – minor (60.2)
16:59 – 3rd		Z. Jordan	5	Fighting – Major (46.14)
16:59 – 3rd		C. Donhauser	5	Fighting – Major (46.14)
17:37 – 3rd		L. Hatten	2	Roughing – minor (51.2)
17:37 – 3rd		L. Hatten	10	Misconduct (39.4)
17:48 – 3rd		M. Carson	2	Cross-Checking Minor (59.2)

Notes

• Worcester Scratches: Anthony Hora, Anton Rubtsov, Connor Federkow, Drew Callin, Gabe Blanchard, Michael Ferrandino, Riley Ginnell, and Tristan Lennox.
• Maine Scratches: Andrew Nielsen, Billy Girard, Jackson Stewart, Jacob Perreault, Loke Johansson, Mason Primeau, Mitch Deelstra, Wyllum Deveaux, and Zachary Massicotte.
• The Bridgeport Islanders announced on Thursday that the team intends to move to Hamilton, Ontario for the 2026-27 season. The move is pending approval from the AHL Board of Governors, but it would be a surprise if that does not get approved at this point. Bridgeport is another hockey market torched by the Lamoriello family. That list is now Trenton, Albany (2x), Lowell, and Bridgeport.
• Parker Gahagen was recalled to the Bridgeport Islanders on Wednesday.
• The Railers released AJ Schlepp and Khristian Acosta on Thursday. They signed forward Anton Rubtsov, defenseman Max Ruoho, and goaltender Lavalliere on the same day.
• The Railers acquired forward Dalton Duhart from the Indy Fuel on Thursday. Duhart was traded to Indy from Jacksonville earlier in the day, and traded him to Worcester to complete the trade that sent TJ Walsh there earlier this season. Duhart has 16 points (8-8-16) in 54 games with Jacksonville this season.
• A bit of a coincidence occurred during Friday night’s game. On Military Appreciation night from two seasons ago, John Muse and Joe Spagnoli both had white blank goalie helmets and both played in that game. Same thing happened Friday with Thomas Gale and William Lavallière.
• ECHL Commissioner Ryan Crelin was in attendance for Friday night’s game.
• Following Friday night’s game, the Railers had the following scoring streaks and droughts:
  • Lincoln Hatten snapped a six-game scoring drought with an assist.
  • Adam Samuelsson is without a point in his last nine games.
  • Max Dukovac is without a point in his last four games.
  • Xavier Jean-Louis is without a point in his last three games.
  • Cole Donhauser is without a point in his last six games.
  • Anthony Repaci is on a three-game point streak. (0-3-3)

Railers Lines

On-Ice Officials

Notable X Posts as the Game Happened

Railers Lines

Jaxon Ballamy goal

Antonio Venuto goal

Brooklyn Kalmikov goal

Brooklyn Kalmikov goal

Zach Jordan goal

Lincoln Hatten goal

Anthony Callin goal

Max Andreev goal