Game Story

Parker Gahagen played all 60 minutes of Saturday night’s game and earned his first win of the season with 26 saves. Luke Cavallin made 15 saves for the Mariners. Matt DeMelis, Sam Stange, Jordan Kaplan, and Declan McDonnell scored for Worcester. Jack Bar and Owen Gallatin scored for Maine. This was the 1000th win in Worcester Pro Hockey history.

Saturday night was a different tone than the last two meetings between Worcester and Maine, which occurred last weekend for two pre-season games. Both games were blowout wins for Maine with 7-2 and 4-1 results, respectively.

Matt DeMelis scored 15 seconds into the game, recovering a loose puck and getting past Connor Doherty and Luke Cavallin on a backhanded shot to give Worcester an early lead. Worcester would have a power play three minutes later, unable to capitalize on that opportunity, they would end the period up 1-0 with Maine outshooting Worcester 7-6.

Worcester would have another early goal to start the second period when Sam Stange had a quick shot between the faceoff circles on a setup from MacAuley Carson at 1:02. 2:13 after Stange’s goal, Jordan Kaplan scored on a breakaway to extend the lead to 3-0. There would be a combined 12 penalty minutes handed out between the two teams throughout the period. Maine put the puck in the net with 38 seconds left in the period but was ruled no goal, but the game would remain 3-0 after fourty minutes. Maine outshot Worcester 17-12.

Parker Gahagen’s shutout bid came to an end when Jack Bar scored at 7:54 in the third period while the game was 4-on-4. Max Andreev and Jack Bar skated into the Railers zone on a 2-on-1 rush against Michael Suda. 29 seconds later, Declan McDonnell got a breakaway just seconds after exiting the penalty box to give Worcester a 4-1 lead. Maine’s Owen Gallatin scored a power play goal at 16:11 while Dalton Duhart was in the box for an interference penalty. The Mariners pulled Cavallin for an extra attacker with three minutes remaining, but the Railers held on to secure their first win of the season.

The three stars of the game were:

1. Matt DeMelis (Worcester) – 1 goal
2. Sam Stange (Worcester) – 1 goal
3. Parker Gahagen (Worcester) – win, 26 saves, 0.929 SV%

Out in Western Mass, the Springfield Thunderbirds fell 3-2 to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in overtime. They’ll head to North Carolina next weekend for the first of back-to-back games against the Charlotte Checkers.

The Railers return to the DCU Center on Sunday afternoon where they’ll host the Trois-Rivieres Lions at 3 p.m. The Mariners are off until next Saturday, where they’ll host the Railers in Portland at 1 p.m.

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Box Score

Scoring	1	2	3	T
	0	0	2	2
	1	2	1	4

Shots	1	2	3	T
	7	10	11	28
	6	6	7	19

Score	Team	Time	Scored by	Assisted by	Type
0 – 1		0:15 – 1st	M. DeMelis (1)
0 – 2		1:02 – 2nd	S. Stange (1)	M. Carson
0 – 3		2:15 – 2nd	J. Kaplan (1)	M. Suda
1 – 3		7:54 – 3rd	J. Bar (1)	M. Andreev
1 – 4		8:23 – 3rd	D. McDonnell (1)	G. Blanchard
2 – 4		16:11 – 3rd	O. Gallatin (1)	R. Francis, N. Renwick	PP

Rosters

	#	Player	G	A	+/-	SH	PIM
G	33	L. Cavallin	0	0	0	0	0
G	47	M. Lundgren	0	0	0	0	0
D	3	M. Underwood	0	0	-1	3	0
F	4	W. Deveaux	0	0	0	1	0
F	8	A. Venuto	0	0	-1	1	0
F	11	R. McGuire	0	0	0	0	0
F	13	R. Cronin	0	0	-1	1	4
F	14	R. Francis	0	1	-1	1	0
F	17	J. Bloom	0	0	0	1	2
F	19	B. Allison	0	0	-1	1	0
D	20	O. Gallatin	1	0	-2	4	0
F	21	L. Hemstrom	0	0	-1	0	0
F	23	M. Andreev	0	1	0	2	0
F	24	N. Renwick	0	1	-2	1	2
F	25	M. Primeau	0	0	-2	0	0
D	27	N. Anderson	0	0	-1	2	2
D	28	C. Doherty	0	0	-3	2	0
D	41	J. Bar	1	0	+1	4	0
D	44	J. Bellamy	0	0	0	4	0
F	58	K. Vaisanen	0	0	-1	0	0
		Team:	0			0

	Player	MIN	SH	SVS	GA	SV%
33	L. Cavallin (L)	57:00	19	15	4	0.789
	Totals:	2.37557:00	19	15	4	0.789
		00:00				0.000

	#	Player	G	A	+/-	SH	PIM
G	1	W. Lavallière	0	0	0	0	0
G	31	P. Gahagen	0	0	0	0	0
D	6	C. McDonald	0	0	+2	0	0
D	8	V. Corcoran	0	0	+1	1	0
F	10	J. Kaplan	1	0	+2	1	0
F	11	L. Hatten	0	0	+1	1	0
F	12	S. Moses	0	0	+1	2	0
F	13	T. Fawcett	0	0	+1	1	2
D	18	M. Suda	0	1	0	2	0
F	19	R. Piercey	0	0	+1	0	0
D	22	C. Moore	0	0	+1	1	0
D	23	A. Kehrer	0	0	+1	1	2
F	25	D. McDonnell	1	0	0	2	2
D	27	R. Wheeler	0	0	+1	0	0
F	28	S. Stange	1	0	0	3	0
F	29	C. Donhauser	0	0	+2	0	0
F	37	M. DeMelis	1	0	+1	1	0
F	74	M. Carson	0	1	0	2	2
D	88	G. Blanchard	0	1	+1	1	0
F	91	D. Duhart	0	0	0	0	4
		Team:	0			0	2

	Player	MIN	SH	SVS	GA	SV%
31	P. Gahagen (W)	–	28	26	2	–
	Totals:	–	28	26	2	–

Penalties

Time	Team	Player	Mins	Infraction
16:40 – 1st		J. Bloom	2	Cross-Checking Minor (59.2)
3:28 – 2nd		D. Duhart	2	Interference – minor (56.2)
4:10 – 2nd		R. Cronin	2	Hooking – minor (55.2)
4:20 – 2nd		T. Fawcett	2	Tripping – minor (57.2)
7:52 – 2nd		N. Anderson	2	Interference – minor (56.2)
8:29 – 2nd		Served by D. McDonnell	2	Bench minor – Too many men (74.2)
17:44 – 2nd		A. Kehrer	2	Delay of Game (63.2)
3:46 – 3rd		R. Cronin	2	Interference – minor (56.2)
6:16 – 3rd		D. McDonnell	2	Roughing – minor (51.2)
6:18 – 3rd		N. Renwick	2	High-sticking – minor (60.2)
10:29 – 3rd		M. Carson	2	Hooking – minor (55.2)
15:33 – 3rd		D. Duhart	2	Interference – minor (56.2)

Notes

• Worcester Scratches: Adam Samuelsson, Anthony Repaci, Chase Clark, Connor Federkow, Matt Hobbs, Michael Abgrall, and Riley Ginnell.
• Maine Scratches: Christian Propp, David Jankowski, Dylan MacKinnon, Jack Works, Jackson Stewart, and Xavier Henry.
• Captains and alternate captains were named earlier this week, with no surprise Anthony Repaci was named captain for another season. Repaci, who is recovering from an off-season injury, was behind the bench on Saturday night with head coach Nick Tuzzolino and Chris Rumble. Riley Piercey and Cam McDonald will be the alternate captains for home games, while DeClan McDonnell and Tyson Fawcett will be the alternates for away games. So far, it seems like they will not roll with three alternate captains with Repaci out of the line-up.
• The Railers claimed goaltender Gibson Homer on waivers this week after being released by the Kansas City Mavericks. While he was never officially added to the roster, the Railers haven’t suspended him either. He’s listed on Providence College’s roster and has already played a game with the Friars. Social media shows he was practicing the team prior to ECHL training camps starting, so it is likely he accepted a training camp invite for the experience. If the Railers suspend him, they’d hold his ECHL rights if he decides to turn pro this season.

Railers Lines

On-Ice Officials

Notable X Posts as the Game Happened

Railers Lines

Matt DeMelis goal

Scrappy end of the first period

Sam Stange goal

Jordan Kaplan goal

Railers first period pictures

Parker Gahagen save

Jack Bar goal

Declan McDonnell goal

Owen Gallatin goal

Victory Celebration

3 Stars of the game