Game Story


Worcester, MA — Following a southern road trip in which they went .500 across six games, the Worcester Railers returned to the DCU Center for back-to-back games against the Newfoundland Growlers on Friday night.

Jacob Hayhurst was the star of the night, racking up three points with a goal and two assists for Worcester, while Nick Fea and Bobby Butler also contributed with goals. Fea extended his point streak to five games (2 goals, 3 assists), while Butler scored his first goal in sixteen games and had his first multi-point game since New Year’s eve. Ken Appleby made 24 saves on the night, earning his first win of 2023 after being recalled from injured reserve. Appleby’s last victory dates back to December 17, when the Railers defeated the Growlers 8-3. Anthony Repaci’s point streak came to an end after fourteen games and an incredible month of February. Newfoundland’s lone goal was scored by Nolan Walker, and Luke Callavin made 32 saves for the opposition.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before – Growlers got an early goal in the opening minute of the first period. Nolan Walker was fed a cross-ice pass from Zach O’Brien and beat Ken Appleby at the 37-second mark. Bobby Butler scored after shooting just outside the right circle at 17:57. His shot deflected off Chris Martinet’s stick and was redirected into the net behind Luke Cavallin. Railers doubled Newfoundland’s shot count 14-7 at the end of the period, though Growlers seemed to have more quality shots in that time.

Nick Fea found the back of the net just outside the right post within 49 seconds of the second period, followed by Jacob Hayhurst’s goal at 8:35 where he skillfully navigated the goal line to score past Luke Cavallin, extending the lead to 3-1. Railers outshot the Growlers 14-10 in the second period.

Brent Beaudoin and Jacob Hayhurst had chances to score in the third but were unsuccessful and never really had opportunities to score on the empty net after Luke Cavallin was pulled for the extra skater with 2:15 remaining on the game clock. The Railers brought back the win in their first game on home ice since February 10.

The three stars of Friday night’s game were:

  1. Jacob Hayhurst (Worcester) – 1 goal, 2 assists
  2. Bobby Butler (Worcester) – 1 goal, 1 assist
  3. Ken Appleby (Worcester) – win, 24 saves

Around the north division, the Adirondack Thunder beat the Jacksonville Icemen 5-2 and Reading beat Trois-Rivieres 7-5. Norfolk Admirals fell 6-4 to the Greenville Swamp Rabbits 6-4 with Railers alum Brian Bowen scoring twice, now averaging a point-per-game with Norfolk. Not a great night for the division, with the Railers hoping to catch some ground on the Royals and Mariners who are four points ahead with four games in hand.

The Growlers and Railers continue their battle Saturday night at the DCU Center at 7:05 p.m.


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Box Score


Scoring 1 2 3 T
1 0 0 1
1 2 0 3
Shots 1 2 3 T
7 10 8 25
14 14 7 35
Score Team Time Scored by Assisted by Type
1 – 0 0:37 – 1st N. Walker (12) Z. O’Brien, B. Kruse
1 – 1 17:57 – 1st B. Butler (15) J. Hayhurst, J. Brandt
1 – 2 0:49 – 2nd N. Fea (6) J. Hayhurst
1 – 3 8:35 – 2nd J. Hayhurst (5) B. Butler

Rosters

# Player G A +/- SH PIM
G 30 D. McKay 0 0 0 0 0
G 33 L. Cavallin 0 0 0 0 0
D 3 M. Joyaux 0 0 -1 1 0
D 4 S. Kubicek 0 0 0 4 0
D 5 B. Kapcheck 0 0 -1 1 0
F 10 Z. O’Brien 0 1 0 1 0
F 11 D. Plouffe 0 0 -1 3 0
F 14 B. Budgell 0 0 -1 4 0
F 15 T. Skirving 0 0 -1 1 2
F 16 N. Noel 0 0 -1 1 0
F 17 B. Kruse 0 1 0 1 0
F 19 A. Dawe 0 0 -1 3 0
F 25 N. Walker 1 0 0 3 2
F 27 K. Suthers 0 0 -1 1 0
D 40 C. Martenet 0 0 -1 0 0
D 41 T. Egan 0 0 0 0 0
D 43 J. Melindy 0 0 -1 0 0
D 45 M. Sredl 0 0 0 1 0
D 49 A. Samuelsson 0 0 0 0 0
Team:
Totals: 1 2 -10 25 4
Player MIN SH SVS GA SV%
33 L. Cavallin (L) – 35 32 3 –
Totals: – 35 32 3 –
# 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 1 0
F 7 L. Coughlin 0 0 0 0 0
F 8 B. Butler 1 1 +2 3 0
D 9 N. Delmas 0 0 0 2 0
D 10 T. Cosgrove 0 0 0 3 2
F 12 B. Beaudoin 0 0 -1 2 0
F 13 B. Jerry 0 0 0 1 0
F 16 J. Hayhurst 1 2 +3 8 0
F 21 J. Pappalardo 0 0 0 2 0
F 22 N. Fea 1 0 0 3 0
F 23 A. Bakanov 0 0 0 0 0
D 25 P. Beaulieu 0 0 0 0 0
D 26 J. Brandt 0 1 +2 1 2
D 27 M. McGurty 0 0 +2 1 0
F 37 M. Johnson 0 0 +3 3 0
D 44 J. Victor 0 0 0 2 0
F 81 A. Repaci 0 0 -1 3 0
Team: 2
Totals: 3 4 10 35 6
Player MIN SH SVS GJ SV%
35 K. Appleby (W) – 25 24 1 –
Totals: – 25 24 1 –

Penalties

Time Team Player Mins Infraction
4:30 – 1st T. Skirving 2 Slashing – minor (61.2)
8:21 – 1st T. Cosgrove 2 High-sticking – minor (60.2)
1:50 – 2nd Served by B. Butler 2 Bench minor – Too many men (74.2)
8:28 – 3rd J. Brandt 2 Hooking – minor (55.2)
12:17 – 3rd N. Walker 2 Tripping – minor (57.2)


Notes

  • Worcester Scratches: Chris Ordoobadi, Christian Evers, Conor Breen, Jack Quinlivan, Nolan Vesey, and Zack Bross.
  • Newfoundland Scratches: Jordan Escott and Adam Holwell.
  • Railers dressed seven defensemen with Noah Delmas taking shifts as one of the extra forwards. Growlers were short a few forwards and dressed eight defensemen. Taylor Egan was an extra forward for the Growlers. The Growlers were without Pavel Gogolev, who was dealt before the NHL trade deadline earlier in the week. He heads to the Chicago Blackhawks organization where he was assigned to Rockford (AHL). The AHL’s trade deadline is Friday, March 10 at 3 p.m. The ECHL’s trade deadline is Thursday, March 16 at 6 p.m.
  • Paul Boutoussov and Tim Faulkner were released, while Collin Adams was activated off of injured reserve earlier in the week. Liam Coughlin was activated on Friday after missing 12 games. Paul Boutoussov was signed by the Orlando Solar Bears on Thursday.
  • The jersey auction of the game was a 2021-22 Pink in the Rink Jersey, issued to Tommy Besinger #17.
  • Following Friday night’s game, the Railers had the following streaks and droughts:
    • Noah Delmas is without a point in his last three games.
    • Trevor Cosgrove is without a point in his last three games.
    • Billy Jerry is without a point in his last three games.
    • Nick Fea extended his point streak to five games. (2-3-5)
    • Andrei Bakanov is without a point in his last three games.
    • Phil Beaulieu is without a point in his last three games.
    • Jared Brandt picked up his first point in nine games with an assist Friday.
    • Josh Victor is without a point in his last sixteen games.
    • Anthony Repaci ended his point streak at fourteen games. (10-10-20)

Railers Lines

Forward Lines LW C RW
Forward Line 1 Nick Fea #22 Brent Beaudoin #12 Anthony Repaci #81
Forward Line 2 Max Johnson #37 Jacob Hayhurst #16 Bobby Butler #8
Forward Line 3 Andrei Bakanov #23 Liam Coughlin #7 Billy Jerry #13
Rotated Forwards Noah Delmas #9 – Jake Pappalardo #21
Defensive Pairings LD RD
Defense Pair 1 Jared Brandt #26 Myles McGurty #27
Defense Pair 2 Josh Victor #44 Connor McCarthy #2
Defense Pair 3 Philip Beaulieu #25 Trevor Cosgrove #10
Rotated Defensemen – –
Goalie Tandem G
Starting Goaltender Ken Appleby #35
Backup Goaltender Henrik Tikkanen #39

Opponent Lines

Forward Lines LW C RW
Forward Line 1 Brandon Kruse #17 Nolan Walker #25 Zach O’Brien #10
Forward Line 2 Keenan Suthers #27 Brett Budgell #14 Adam Dawe #19
Forward Line 3 Derian Plouffe #11 Todd Skirving #15 Nathan Noel #16
Rotated Forwards Taylor Egan #41 – –
Defensive Pairings LD RD
Defense Pair 1 Michael Joyaux #3 Brennan Kapcheck #5
Defense Pair 2 Adam Samuelsson #49 Simon Kubicek #4
Defense Pair 3 Chris Martenet #40 James Melindy #43
Rotated Defensemen Matt Sredl #45 –
Goalie Tandem G
Starting Goaltender Luke Cavallin #33
Backup Goaltender Dryden McKay #30

On-Ice Officials

– –
Referee Dominic Cadieux (3)
Referee –
Linesman Sam Schildkraut (46)
Linesman Matthew Heinen (93)


Highlights

Notable Tweets as the Game Happened


Railers Lines


Growlers Lines


Nolan Walker goal (1-0 Growlers)


Bobby Butler goal (tied 1-1)


Nick Fea goal (2-1 Railers)


Jacob Hayhurst goal (3-1 Railers)