Game Story


Worcester, MA — The Worcester Railers got caught snoozing on Sunday afternoon while there was a game going on at the DCU Center, and were shutout 3-0 to end a home 3-in-3 weekend.

Josh Boyko made his second appearance in net this season, making a better name for himself the second time around making 31 saves. Unfortunately for the him, there wasn’t much offense up front to support him. Kristian Stead earned his first ECHL shutout to accompany his five career shutouts at the SPHL level, all of which have been made with the Knoxville Ice Bears. Stead made 25 saves, though many of those shots weren’t a real challenge for him. Brandon Osmundson, Denis Smirnov, and Andrew McLean scored for Norfolk. Smirnov had a point against Worcester in all three games this weekend. Norfolk had previously lost seven straight games heading into this game. The Railers had just two shots on both of their power plays after playing the passing game across those four minutes.

Sunday games at the DCU Center have not been easy for the Railers so far this season, they’ve played in three so far and have lost all three of them. They lost 4-1 to the Trois-Rivieres Lions in the second game of the season and lost on their second Sunday home game against the Maine Mariners on November 19, 3-2. They have not held a lead in any of those three games. They’ll play another three by the time the season is over.

Brandon Osmondson scored with two seconds left on a power play as Brendan Robbins sat for a hooking call. Osmondson followed through on a shot from Carson Musser, scoring off the post to give Norfolk the early lead at 4:57 in the first period. Scoring opportunities were scarce for Worcester, as they managed to get four shots on net compared to Norfolk’s fourteen.

Denis Smirnov brought Norfolk’s lead to 2-0, tapping in a cross-ice pass from Danny Katic at 2:29 in the second period. Katic’s pass was well-timed as Smirnov was left open on the left side of the crease, allowing for a backdoor tip-in behind Josh Boyko. Worcester had the slight edge in shots, outshooting Norfolk 14-8 in the period, but failed to generate any scoring. John Copeland went to the box late in the second period for a cross-checking call, but no call was given on Mark Liwiski, who Copeland had cross-checked after Liwiski tripped him just seconds earlier.

Andrew McLean scored with two seconds left on a Railers power play, Josh Boyko had been pulled for a 6-on-4 advantage. A stick check in the Norfolk zone resulted in a turnover, where Andrew McLean sent the puck from the Norfolk blue line into the empty net to close out scoring with 45 seconds left in the game.

The three stars of the game were:

  1. Kristian Stead (Norfolk) – win, shutout, 25 saves
  2. Brandon Osmundson (Norfolk) – game-winning goal
  3. Denis Smirnov (Norfolk) – 1 goal

The Adirondack Thunder beat a shorthanded Newfoundland Growlers team in the only other divisional matchup on Sunday. Patrick Grasso scored twice in the Thunder’s 6-2 win. The Growlers had signed former Montreal and Fredericton Canadiens enforcer Terry Ryan to fill-in on what was his 47th birthday. The Growlers were notably without Jonny Tychonick, who is travelling for the ECHL All-Star Classic on Monday. Ryan ended up fighting Zach Walker in his first professional game in 21 years. With the Growlers losing, the Railers remain in second place in the North Division, but that could easily change with Worcester, Newfoundland, Norfolk, and Trois-Rivieres all being within two points of each other as the mid-way point of the season approaches. All North Division teams play on Friday.

The Railers hit the road for a 3-in-3 weekend against the Fort Wayne Komets starting on Friday with a special 8 p.m. puck drop at the Memorial Coliseum.

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Box Score


Scoring 1 2 3 T
1 1 1 3
0 0 0 0
Shots 1 2 3 T
14 8 12 34
4 14 7 25

Score Team Time Scored by Assisted by Type
1 – 0 4:57 – 1st B. Osmundson (3) C. Musser, K. Jameson PP
2 – 0 2:29 – 2nd D. Smirnov (5) D. Katic
3 – 0 19:15 – 3rd A. McLean (3) SH

Rosters

# Player G A +/- SH PIM
G 31 K. Stead 0 0 0 0 0
G 35 T. Milic 0 0 0 0 0
D 2 D. Louis-Jean 0 0 +1 0 0
D 4 C. Musser 0 1 +1 3 0
D 5 S. Kubicek 0 0 0 3 0
LW 8 D. Smirnov 1 0 +1 5 2
F 10 M. Liwiski 0 0 0 4 2
F 11 K. Nault 0 0 0 1 0
LW 12 D. Katic 0 1 +1 0 0
RW 13 K. Iverson 0 0 0 2 0
D 14 C. Fedorek 0 0 0 1 0
LW 15 M. Roy 0 0 +1 2 0
C 16 K. Jameson 0 1 0 3 0
F 17 A. Miller 0 0 0 4 0
D 18 A. McLean 1 0 +2 2 0
LW 22 S. Timofeyev 0 0 0 1 0
D 23 J. McDougall 0 0 0 1 0
F 25 B. Osmundson 1 0 +1 2 0
F 94 B. Fleurent 0 0 +1 0 0
Team:
Totals: 3 3 9 34 4
Player MIN SH SVS GA SV%
31 K. Stead (W) – 25 25 0 –
Totals: – 25 25 0 –

# Player G A +/- SH PIM
G 35 J. Boyko 0 0 0 0 0
G 40 J. Muse 0 0 0 0 0
D 3 R. Verrier 0 0 -1 0 0
F 11 A. Bakanov 0 0 0 0 0
F 12 J. Cipollone 0 0 -1 1 0
F 13 J. Pivonka 0 0 -2 2 0
F 15 B. Robbins 0 0 -1 2 2
F 16 A. Calder 0 0 -1 2 0
F 17 K. Howdeshell 0 0 0 0 0
F 19 B. Jenkins 0 0 0 2 0
F 21 B. Bowen 0 0 -2 2 0
F 22 D. Kuefler 0 0 -1 4 0
F 24 J. Quinlivan 0 0 -1 1 0
D 25 R. Dickinson 0 0 0 0 0
D 26 C. Welsh 0 0 -1 3 0
D 27 J. Copeland 0 0 0 0 2
F 44 A. Callin 0 0 0 2 0
F 81 A. Repaci 0 0 0 3 0
D 88 A. Kulakov 0 0 0 1 0
Team:
Totals: 0 0 -11 25 4
Player MIN SH SVS GJ SV%
35 J. Boyko (L) – 34 31 3 –
Totals: – 34 31 3 –


Penalties

Time Team Player Mins Infraction
2:58 – 1st B. Robbins 2 Hooking – minor (55.2)
14:12 – 1st D. Smirnov 2 Slashing – minor (61.2)
19:22 – 2nd J. Copeland 2 Cross-Checking Minor (59.2)
17:17 – 3rd M. Liwiski 2 Tripping – minor (57.2)


Notes

  • Worcester Scratches: Christian Krygier, Riley Piercey, Todd Goehring, Tristan Lennox, Zach White, and Zsombor Garat.
  • Norfolk Scratches: Justin Robidas, Matt Ustaski, and Owen Norton.
  • Blade Jenkins was released from his PTO with the Hartford Wolf Pack on Sunday morning. He joined the team on Saturday, dressed for warm-ups, but did not play.
  • The ECHL heads into their all-star game on Monday. Trevor Cosgrove was named as Worcester’s representative, but is on recall with the Bridgeport Islanders. He was not in the line-up Sunday in the Islanders’ shutout loss to the Providence Bruins, and is currently not listed on the all-star roster, and his first period jersey is marked as game-issued on the Meigray Auctions website.
  • Following Sunday afternoon’s game, the Railers had the following scoring streaks and droughts:
    • Joey Cipollone is without a point in his last three games.
    • Brendan Robbins is without a point in his last five games.
    • Keeghan Howdeshell is without a point in his last nine games.
    • Blade Jenkins snapped a four-game point streak. (2-3-5)
    • Brian Bowen is without a point in his last three ECHL games.
    • John Copeland is without a point in his last seven games.
    • Anthony Callin snapped a four-game point streak. (2-3-5)




Notable Tweets as the Game Happened


Railers Lines


Admirals Lines


Brandon Osmundson goal (1-0 Admirals)


Denis Smirnov goal (2-0 Admirals)


Kristian Stead save


Andrew McLean goal (3-0 Admirals)


Admirals highlight reel