Worcester Railers (19-19-3-2) vs Newfoundland Growlers (29-12-2-0)
Mile One Centre – St John’s, Newfoundland
Saturday, February 2, 2019 – 5:30 EST – ECHL Game #608
Referee: Jason Faist (#18)
Linesmen: Sheldon Keough (#47), Brian Lambert (#36)
Match Notes
- Season Series: Game 7 of 8. (Newfoundland leads series 5-0-1)
- Three of the previous six games between the two teams have ended with Newfoundland winning 5-2.
- Worcester can tie Reading for fifth in the division with a win and a Reading loss. Newfoundland holds a five-point lead over the Adirondack Thunder.
Players to Watch
- Tyler Barnes (Worcester) – Barnes always seems to find a way to score when the rest of the team can’t. He leads the team in points and goals scored. Look for Barnes to extend his season-high point streak to six games tonight against the Growlers.
- James Melindy (Newfoundland) – There’s no question James Melindy is a pest on the ice, especially last night when he provoked Yanick Turcotte and drew a power play for the Growlers last night. Melindy also picked up his first goal of the season last night and an assist in Newfoundland’s win last night.
Railers Notes
- Tyler Barnes is on a five-game point streak. (4-3-7)
- Ryan Hitchcock has seven points in his last five games.
- Barry Almeida ranks second in shots on goal with 169.
- Cold Streaks: Alex Vanier (6 games), Bo Brauer (5 games), Connor Doherty (4 games), Woody Hudson (3 games)
Recent Railers Additions, Subtractions, Transactions
- No new transactions to report.
Possible Railers Scratches
- Bo Brauer – on reserve.
- Tommy Kelley – on reserve.
- Kyle McKenzie – on injured reserve, out for the season.
- Tyler Mueller – on injured reserve.
- Matt Schmalz – on injured reserve.
- Additional scratched to be determined closer to puck drop.
Growlers Notes
- Michael Gartieg is tied for second with 17 wins this season.
- Giorgio Estephan is fourth in points for rookies with 38.
- Marcus Power leads the ECHL in shooting percentage with 28.8 percent.
- Scott Pooley is tied for first in goals for rookies with 19.
- James Melindy is fifth in defensemen with 104 penalty minutes.
- Growlers have scored just two shorthanded goals this season.
- Newfoundland his ranked third on the power play at home at 23.7 percent.
Recent Growlers Additions, Subtractions, Transactions
- No new transactions to report.
Possible Growlers Scratches
- Brady Ferguson – suspended, serving game 4 of 4.
- Anthony Cortese – last played on January 4.
- Maxim Mizyurin – last played on January 5.
- Ilya Nekolenko – last played on November 24
- Kristian Pospisil – has yet to play a game this season.
- Additional scratched to be determined closer to puck drop.
Head-to-Head
| Worcester | Newfoundland | |
| Goals For | 2.45 – 25th | 3.79 – 3rd |
| Goals Against | 2.93 – 8th | 2.72 – 4th |
| Shots For | 31.91 – 13th | 29.86 – 22nd |
| Shots Against | 33.11 – 20th | 30.2 – 9th |
| Fighting Majors | 28 | 11 |
| Power Play | 11.4% – 27th | 20.4% – 6th |
| Penalty Kill | 83.7% – 9th | 85.2% – 5th |
| Avg Height / Weight / Age | 6′ 0″ / 191 lbs / 24.83 years | 6′ 0″ / 190 lbs / 25.79 years |
Team Records
| Worcester | Newfoundland | |
| Scoring First | 14-6-1-2 | 22-14-6-0 |
| Leading After 1 | 7-1-1-3 | 18-2-0-0 |
| Leading After 2 | 12-0-0-2 | 23-1-1-0 |
| Tied After 1 | 8-9-5-2 | 8-3-1-0 |
| Tied After 2 | 7-6-2-1 | 5-2-1-0 |
| Trailing After 1 | 4-9-0-0 | 3-7-1-0 |
| Trailing After 2 | 0-13-1-0 | 2-9-0-0 |
| Outshooting Opponents | 7-8-1-2 | 16-4-1-0 |
| Out Shot by Opponents | 10-11-2-1 | 13-7-1-0 |
On the Island and at the Port
- Isles Fall To Lightning 1-0 in Shootout [NHL]
- Woo Hockey Alum Thomas Greiss with 41 saves in the shootout loss.
- Sound Tigers Can’t Keep Pace in 7-5 Loss [Sound Tigers]
- Woo Hockey Alum Steve Bernier had two goals in the loss.
- Isles host the LA Kings tonight.
- Sound Tigers face the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins on the road tonight.
Closing Statements
- For live updates during the game, follow us on Twitter @WooHockeyNews.