Manchester Monarchs (32-26-2-2) vs Worcester Railers (29-23-5-4)

DCU Center – Worcester, Massachusetts

Sunday, March 17, 2019 – 3:05 EST – ECHL Game #847

989 Nash Icon | ECHL.TV

Referee: Liam Sewell (#7)

Linesmen: Shane Kanaly (#39), Kyle Richetelle (#73)

Match Notes

  • Season Series: Game 10 of 12. (Worcester leads season-series at 5-4)
  • Today’s game is an important one with some playoff position implications – Manchester just one point behind Worcester and Maine for the last two spots in the North Division.

Players to Watch

  • Mitch Gillam (Worcester) – Picking up his fifth straight win last night, Mitch Gillam is on his longest winning streak of the 2018-19 season. Gillam seems to be in the late-season form that he was in last season that led Worcester clinching their first playoff spot.
  • Kevin Dufour (Manchester) – Having only played in two games against Worcester this year, Dufour has looked pretty good against the Railers. He scored both of Manchester’s goals on Friday and scored one of Manchester’s three goals in their 4-3 loss to Worcester on February 27.

Railers Notes

  • Matt Schmalz is on a three-game point streak. (0-3-3)
  • With four points on Saturday, Tyler Barnes is the first Railer to earn 50 points this season. Barry Almeida has 47 and Ryan Hitchcock has 42.
  • Worcester still has the worst penalty kill at home, they trail behind the Tulsa Oilers by .1 percent.
  • Railers do not have a shorthanded goal at home this season.
  • Worcester has 10 wins when leading after two periods at home.
  • Cold Streaks: Yanick Turcotte (6 games), Josh Holmstrom (5 games), Ivan Chukarov (4 games), Tyler Mueller (3 games)

Recent Railers Additions, Subtractions, Transactions

  • No new transactions have been announced.

Possible Railers Scratches

  • Evan Buitenhuis – on reserve.
  • Kyle McKenzie – on injured reserve, out for the season.
  • Tommy Panico – on injured reserve, out for the season.
  • Alex Vanier – on injured reserve, last played on February 17.
  • Additional scratches to be determined closer to puck drop.

Monarchs Notes

  • Nic Pierog leads all Monarchs and all ECHL rookies in goals with 27.
  • David Kolomatis has five game-winning goals.
  • Manchester is 7-4 in games against the Railers at the DCU Center.
  • Monarchs have allowed one shorthanded goal on the road this season, tied with the Newfoundland Growlers for the least allowed this season.
  • Manchester is averaging 35.05 shots per game, the second most in the ECHL.

Recent Monarchs Additions, Subtractions, Transactions

  • No new transactions have been announced.

Possible Monarchs Scratches

  • Joe Masonius – on injured reserve, last played on March 2.
  • Jared Fiegl – on injured reserve, last played on January 8.
  • Brenden Miller – on reserve, last played on March 3.
  • Mario Puskarich – on injured reserve, last played on December 29.
  • Danny Tirone – on injured reserve, last played on December 21.
  • Travis Walsh – on injured reserve, last played on March 1.

Head-to-Head

Worcester  Manchester
Goals For  2.76– 24th  3.19 – 14th
Goals Against  2.90 – 6th  3.29 – 16th
Shots For  32.10 – 12th  35.05 – 2nd
Shots Against  33.21 – 19th  33.37 – 20th
Fighting Majors  48  23
Power Play  14.1% – 25th  16.2% – 16th
Penalty Kill  85.4% – 5th  80.6 % – 22nd
Avg Height / Weight / Age  6′ 1″ / 191 lbs / 24.33 years  6′ 0″ / 196 lbs / 24.22 years

Team Records

Worcester  Manchester
Scoring First  19-7-1-2  22-9-1-2
Leading After 1  12-1-1-4  16-4-0-1
Leading After 2  19-0-1-2  20-2-0-1
Tied After 1  11-9-3-0  11-8-1-0
Tied After 2  9-6-2-2  8-5-1-0
Trailing After 1  7-13-1-0  5-14-1-1
Trailing After 2  2-17-2-0  4-19-1-1
Outshooting Opponents  12-10-2-3  15-19-1-1
Out Shot by Opponents  16-13-3-1  17-5-1-1

On the Island and at the Port

  • Isles Like Effort, Not Result in 2-1 Loss to Red Wings [NHL]
  • Sound Tigers End Trip with 5-1 loss to Hershey [Sound Tigers]
  • Islanders play the Wild today at 6 PM.
  • Sound Tigers host the Springfield Thunderbirds today at 5 PM.

Closing Statements

  • For live updates during the game, follow us on Twitter @WooHockeyNews.