Game Story

Worcester, MA — The Worcester Railers earned their second win of the season on Friday over the Maine Mariners in the shootout.

Dillan Fox scored twice for Maine while Tanner Pond and Kyle Thomas netted goals for Worcester. Jakub Skarek made 24 saves in his second straight start. Cody Payne (pro debut), Barry Almeida, and Ryan Hitchcock earned assists for Worcester.

Fox’s first goal came at 56 seconds off a bounce on the left side of the net. Some twelve minutes later he scored his second with a snipe from the left circle. It wouldn’t take long for Worcester to answer back with Tanner Pond scoring his first of the season nine seconds after Fox’s second goal.

The Railers went 0-for-5 on the power-play while killing off all three of Maine’s opportunities on the power-play. Fans had some flashbacks from seasons past with poor control of the puck and a number of bad passes impacted their opportunities on the power play.

“I didn’t like that first period, our passing wasn’t very crisp. I give our guys credit, they stuck with it and we didn’t get rewarded until the final two minutes when we tied things up.” Said Railers head coach and GM Jamie Russell. “I really liked our play after their second goal, we changed momentum right after they scored. We were on our toes after they scored that second one.”

No scoring action came for either team during the second and a majority of the third periods. It wasn’t until Jakub Skarek was pulled at 17:51 in the third when Kyle Thomas tied the game up to force it into overtime. Maine outshot Worcester 4-3 in the OT period and other than a 3-on-1 chance by Worcester, left the game still tied after the seven-minute period.

“Skarek made things look easy in the shootout. The puck changed directions on the first goal and Alex Kile made a great shot on the second. Jakub is the real deal and kept things cool in the shootout. He played really well for us tonight.”

Nic Pierog was the only player to score in the shootout. Kyle Thomas and Jordan Samuels-Thomas had no luck with their shots, as did Ryan Culkin, Michael McNicholas, and Alex Kile for Maine.

It is the first time in the Railers’ three seasons that they’ve won both home games in the month of October.

Three Stars of the Game were:

  1. Dillian Fox (Worcester) – 2 goals
  2. Kyle Thomas (Worcester) – 1 goal, +1
  3. Nic Pierog (Worcester) – Shootout GWG

Railers head on a four-game road trip starting on Saturday against the Adirondack Thunder up in Glens Falls, NY.

Box Score

Scoring 1 2 3 OT SO T
Maine Mariners 2 0 0 0 0 2
Worcester Railers 1 0 1 0 1 3
Shots 1 2 3 OT SO T
Maine Mariners 8 9 5 4 0 26
Worcester Railers 8 11 12 3 1 35

 

Mariners Roster # Name G A +/- SH PIM
G 30 T. McCollum 0 0 0 0 0
G 40 C. LaCouvee 0 0 0 0 0
D 3 J. Racine 0 0 0 0 2
D 4 S. Savage 0 1 +1 3 2
D 5 B. Crawley 0 0 0 2 0
D 6 J. Taylor 0 0 -1 2 0
D 8 R. Culkin 0 0 -1 1 0
F 9 N. Master 0 0 +1 1 0
F 13 D. Fox 2 0 +1 3 0
F 14 L. Zerter-Gossage 0 0 0 0 0
F 15 R. Dmowski 0 0 0 2 2
F 16 M. McNicholas 0 0 -1 5 4
F 17 T. Ronning 0 0 0 1 2
F 23 A. Kile 0 0 -1 1 0
F 26 T. Cammarata 0 1 +1 1 0
D 27 Z. Tolkinen 0 2 +1 1 0
F 32 M. Adams-Moisan 0 0 -1 1 0
F 92 T. Wallin 0 0 0 2 0
Team:
Totals: 2 4 0 26 12
No Name Min SH SVS GA SOG-S
40 C. LaCouvee (SOL) 66:57 34 32 2 1-3
Totals: 66:57 34 32 2
Railers Roster # Name G A +/- SH PIM
G 34 E. Buitenhuis 0 0 0 0 0
G 35 J. Skarek 0 0 0 1 0
D 3 J. Murray 0 0 0 4 0
D 5 K. McKenzie 0 0 -1 2 0
D 6 M. Cornell 0 0 +1 3 0
F 8 C. Payne 0 1 0 1 0
D 13 I. Chukarov 0 0 -1 0 0
F 14 J. Dudek 0 0 0 1 0
F 15 B. Brauer 0 0 0 2 2
F 17 M. Schmalz 0 0 -1 1 2
F 19 B. Almeida 0 1 0 1 0
F 22 T. Pond 1 0 -1 3 0
F 24 K. Thomas 1 0 +1 2 0
F 27 R. Hitchcock 0 1 +1 3 2
D 28 C. Doherty 0 0 +1 1 2
F 37 J. Samuels-Thomas 0 0 0 4 0
F 61 N. Pierog 0 0 0 4 0
F 72 D. Callin 0 0 0 1 0
Team: 1 1
Totals: 3 3 0 35 8
No Name Min SH SVS GA SOG-S
35 J. Skarek (W) 67:00 26 24 2 0-3
Totals: 67:00 26 24 2
P T Player M Offense Time
1st V T. Ronning 2.00 Hooking – minor (55.2) 2:06
1st V R. Dmowski 2.00 Roughing – minor (51.2) 4:34
1st H C. Doherty 2.00 Roughing – minor (51.2) 4:34
1st V M. McNicholas 2.00 Slashing – minor (61.2) 5:38
1st V S. Savage 2.00 Tripping – minor (57.2) 17:58
2nd V J. Racine 2.00 Cross-Checking Minor (59.2) 6:46
2nd H R. Hitchcock 2.00 Unsportsmanlike conduct – minor (75.2) 14:33
2nd H B. Brauer 2.00 Slashing – minor (61.2) 16:58
3rd V M. McNicholas 2.00 Tripping – minor (57.2) 1:43
3rd H M. Schmalz 2.00 High-sticking – minor (60.2) 8:24

Notes

  • Railers Scratches: Jake Bolton, Anthony Florentino, Ross Olsson, Chris Rygus, Henrik Samuelsson.
  • Mariners Scratches: Francois Brassard, Greg Chase, Josh Couturier, Tyler Elmer, Ryan Ferril, Derek Leedahl, Shawn McBride, Marc-Olivier Crevier-Morin, Gabriel Sylvestre.
  • The Railers paid tribute to long-time School Committee member Brian O’Connell prior to the national anthem and puck drop with a moment of silence. O’Connell passed away on Friday at age 70.
  • Mariners wore white jerseys, Worcester debuted their blue jerseys for this season on Friday. This, of course, should be the opposite as home teams should be wearing their lighter colors at home, but didn’t seem to be the case. Neither team has jersey conflicts with their other game(s) this weekend.
  • Railers added defenseman Jake Bolton earlier this week in a trade with the Greenville Swamp Rabbits. Bolton played for the Holy Cross Crusaders for four seasons prior to turning pro, and will wear #2 for the Railers.
  • Ivan Chukarov, who left last Saturday’s game after incidentally blocking a Railers shot, didn’t seem impacted by the incident and played as usual on Friday. After speaking with him at the member event earlier this week, he said he’s fine other than having a “nasty bruise”, which was reminded with a liberal amount of ice in the days after that game.
  • Be on the lookout for players making their season debuts with the Railers in Saturday’s game against the Adirondack Thunder.
  • For up-to-date news on all things Worcester Hockey, Like us on Facebook at Woo Hockey – Worcester Hockey News, Follow us on Twitter @WooHockeyNews, and join our Facebook Group – Worcester Railers Fan Club.

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

LW C RW
Forward Line 1  R. Hitchock #27  N. Pierog #61  K. Thomas #24
Forward Line 2  B. Almeida #19 “C”  T. Pond #22  M. Schmalz #17
Forward Line 3  J. Samuels-Thomas #37  J. Dudek #14  D. Callin #72 / C. Payne #8
LD RD
Defense Line 1  J. Murray #3  M. Cornell #6 “A”
Defense Line 2  K. McKenzie #5  I. Chukarov #13
Defense Line 3  C. Doherty #28 “A”  B. Brauer #15
G
Starting Goaltender  Jakub Skarek #35
Backup Goaltender  Evan Buitenhuis #34

Highlights