Game Story


Worcester, MA — The Worcester Railers and Newfoundland Growlers wrapped up their regular season series Saturday night at the DCU Center. The Newfoundland Growlers skated home with a win after scoring three goals in the third period.

With the exception of Newfoundland having 16 skaters and Henrik Tikkanen taking over as the netminder for Worcester, both teams rolled with the same lineups as Friday. Tikkanen made 22 saves for Worcester, while Luke Cavallin made 35 stops with a number of highlight-reel saves in his second start of the weekend. Noah Delmas and Brent Beaudoin scored goals for Worcester, with Nick Fea extending his point streak to six games with an assist. Delmas had his second goal of the season, with his first coming on opening night. Anthony Repaci contributed to both goals with assists on both. Jacob Hayhurst had twelve of Worcester’s 37 shots. Keenan Suthers and Todd Skirving each scored twice for the Growlers, and defenseman Chris Martinet added the equalizer in the second period, which was only his second goal of the year.

For the second straight night shot counts fell in Worcester’s favor throughout the first two periods. The game remained scoreless until late into the first period with a number of Railers skaters engaging with Keenan Suthers behind the Railers net, which left Todd Skirving open up front where he was fed a pass from Suthers to give the Growlers the early lead. Railers outshot the Growlers 13-9 in the frame. The Growlers thought they had beaten the buzzer to make the lead 2-0, but upon a lengthy video review, it was ruled no goal as the clock had expired before the puck crossed the goal line. The Railers lucked out after going for a dumb line change seconds before the period ended, which set up the Growlers for that opportunity.

Noah Delmas tied the game on the power play midway through the second period, assisting a puck that was already rolling toward the goal line at 10:32. Brent Beaudoin made it 2-1 three minutes later. Chris Martinet would tie it up late into the period after a turnover heading into the third period.

The Railers remained in a position to regain the lead going into the third period but after a two-goal second period, they were unable to find the back of the net again. Todd Skirving scored two minutes into the third period during a Railers line change to regain the lead for the Growlers. Keenan Suthers scored his first at 11:32 which was initially waved off with the puck crossing the goal line in mid-air, but was ruled a good goal after a video review. Keenan Suthers scored again, this time on the empty net at 17:54.

Some tensions were high among the Railers community following Nathan Noel’s antics on the ice Saturday night. As highlighted in the highlight tab of this article, Noel is seen mocking Railers forward Josh Victor from the penalty box in the first period, and again late in the third period. The gestures made toward Victor are reminiscent of Jacob Panetta’s racial gestures toward Jordan Subban last season, which resulted in a ban by the ECHL. A report had been filed with the league following the gesture by Noel in the first period.

The three stars of the game were:

  1. Todd Skirving (Newfoundland) – 2 goals, 1 assist
  2. Luke Cavallin (Newfoundland) – win, 37 saves, 0.946 SV%, 1 assist
  3. Brent Beaudoin (Worcester) – 1 goal, 1 assist

In other news from the North Division, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits swept the Norfolk Admirals 5-1, while the Jacksonville Icemen defeated the Adirondack Thunder 5-2, featuring a hat trick from Ara Nazarian. Meanwhile, Reading emerged victorious over Trois-Rivieres with a score of 5-1, thanks to Evan Barratt’s hat trick. The number “5” appeared to be the theme of the night for winning teams in the division. As for the Railers, they are currently trailing the Mariners by four points for fourth place, with the Mariners having five games in hand. The Railers completed their regular season series against the Growlers with a record of 6-5-1, which is a significant improvement considering they had an all-time record of 6-18-2 heading into this season.

The Railers head to Portland Sunday, where they’ll wrap up the weekend in an afternoon matinee against the Maine Mariners at 3 p.m.

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Box Score


Notes

  • Worcester Scratches: Chris Ordoobadi, Christian Evers, Conor Breen, Jack Quinlivan, Nolan Vesey, and Zack Bross.
  • Newfoundland Scratches: Adam Dawe, Jordan Escott and Adam Holwell.
  • Saturday night was dubbed “WooSox” night, which was highlighted by the appearance of a number of the team mascots appearing for the ceremonial puck drop and an appearance of one of the world series trophies. Lee Greenwood was scheduled to perform at the game, but was canceled after his concert at Off The Rail was postponed due to Weather. This game was listed as a sell-out with 5797 fans listed as the attendance.
  • The jersey raffle of the game was a Red Red Sox-Themed Specialty Jersey with a #1 on the back that did not include a nameplate.
  • Following Saturday night’s game, the Railers had the following scoring streaks and droughts:
    • Liam Coughlin is without a point in his last three games.
    • Noah Delmas scored his first goal in 46 games, and picked up his first point, ending a three-game scoring drought.
    • Trevor Cosgrove is without a point in his last four games.
    • Billy Jerry is without a point in his last four games.
    • Nick Fea extended his point streak to six games. (2-4-6)
    • Andrei Bakanov is without a point in his last four games.
    • Phil Beaulieu is without a point in his last four games.
    • Josh Victor is without a point in his last seventeen games.

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 Todd Skirving #15
Forward Line 3 Derian Plouffe #11 Nathan Noel #16 Taylor Egan #41
Rotated Forwards – – –
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 – –
Goalie Tandem G
Starting Goaltender Luke Cavallin #33
Backup Goaltender Dryden McKay #30

On-Ice Officials

– –
Referee Dominic Cadieux (3)
Referee –
Linesman Noah Merrow (57)
Linesman Nathan Frechette (49)


Highlights


Notable Tweets as the Game Happened


Railers Lines


Growlers Lines


(1-0 Growlers)


Noah Delmas goal (1-1)


Nathan Noel’s Antics During First Period


Brent Beaudoin goal (2-1 Railers)


Todd Skirving goal (3-2 Growlers)


(4-2 Growlers)


(5-2 Growlers)


Nathan Noel’s Antics during Third Period