Worcester Railers (28-23-5-4) vs Manchester Monarchs (32-25-2-2)

SNHU Arena – Manchester, New Hampshire

Friday, March 15, 2019 – 7:00 EST – ECHL Game #829

989 Nash Icon | ECHL.TV

Referee: Jeremy Tufts (#6)

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

Match Notes

  • Season Series: Game 9 of 12. (Manchester leads season-series at 4-3-1)
  • Railers have yet to lose a game against Manchester in overtime or later.
  • With one game in hand, Worcester will be within a point of Manchester’s fourth place in the division if they can pull off a win tonight.

Players to Watch

  • Matt Gaudreau (Worcester) – With two goals and four assists, Gaudreau is the current leader in points against Manchester this season.
  • Nic Pierog (Manchester) – Manchester’s leading ‘Rookie of the year Candidate’ is Nic Pierog. Pierog has points in all but two games against Worcester this season and leads Manchester in points against Worcester with 10.

Railers Notes

  • With Worcester being shutout on Sunday, all active scoring streaks by players on the active roster have been killed off.
  • Mitch Gillam has wins in his last three starts.
  • Yanick Turcotte has 15 fighting majors this season.
  • Worcester has the second-worst power play in the ECHL.
  • Railers have three-straight road wins, and have points in their last four road games.
  • Cold Streaks: Dylan Willick (11 games), David Quenneville (5 games), Yanick Turcotte (4 games), Josh Holmstrom (3 games)

Recent Railers Additions, Subtractions, Transactions

  • Ryan MacKinnon was assigned by Bridgeport on Friday.
  • Evan Buitenhuis was placed on reserve on Thursday.
  • Mitch Gillam was assigned by Bridgeport on Thursday.
  • Tommy Nixon was released from his ATO on Thursday.
  • Matt Schmalz was activated from injured reserve on Thursday.
  • Spencer Trapp and Tommy Nixon were signed to ATOs on Tuesday.
  • Ryan Hubbard was released as the team’s EBUG on Monday.

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 rookies with 27 goals.
  • David Kolomatis has five game-winning goals this season.
  • Charles Williams is 5-6-2 in games against Worcester.
  • Manchester has the worst penalty kill at home at 77.3 percent.
  • Monarchs have allowed five shorthanded goals this season.
  • Manchester is the least-penalized team in the ECHL with 583 minutes.

Recent Monarchs Additions, Subtractions, Transactions

  • Pierre-Luc Mercier was traded to Manchester (from Rapid City) on March 10.
  • Brenden Miller was traded to Manchester (from Florida) on March 10.
  • Danny Tirone was placed on injured reserve (retroactive to February 17) on March 10.
  • Joe Masonius was placed on injured reserve (retroactive to March 3) on March 10.
  • Matt Marcinew was assigned to Manchester by Springfield on March 9.

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 2.

Head-to-Head

Worcester  Manchester
Goals For  2.68 – 25th  3.21 – 12th
Goals Against  2.92 – 6th  3.26 – 16th
Shots For  31.88 – 14th  34.97 – 2nd
Shots Against  33.20 – 19th  33.38 – 20th
Fighting Majors  48  23
Power Play  13.7% – 26th  16.2% – 19th
Penalty Kill  85.1% – 6th  80.5 % – 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  22-8-1-2
Leading After 1  12-1-1-4  16-4-0-1
Leading After 2  17-0-1-2  20-2-0-1
Tied After 1  9-9-3-0  11-7-1-0
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  4-18-1-1
Outshooting Opponents  11-10-2-3  15-18-1-1
Out Shot by Opponents  15-13-3-1  17-5-1-1

On the Island and at the Port

  • Lee’s Late Goal Lifts Isles Past Canadiens [NHL]
  • Smith’s Stellar Play Backstops 3-2 Shootout Win [Sound Tigers]
  • Isles play Detroit tomorrow at 1 PM.
  • Sound Tigers face Hershey tomorrow on the road.

Closing Statements

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