Game Story
Worcester, MA — The Worcester Railers dropped their second straight in their 3-in-3 weekend against the South Carolina Stingrays on Saturday night with a final score of 3-1.
Reece Newkirk scored Worcester’s lone goal, while Henrik Tikkanen made 29 saves. South Carolina’s Tyler Wall looked fantastic in net, stopping all but one of Worcester’s 28 shots. Stingrays’ goals were scored by Josh Wilkins, Jackson Leppard, and Jonny Evans.
The Railers could not figure out what to do with the puck Saturday night, following many, many chances after skating into the attacking zone and ultimately forgetting what to do once they got there. South Carolina had tallies in the first and second periods. A screened shot gave Josh Wilins the early goal at 13:55. Jackson Leppard gave the ‘Rays some insurance at 6:28 in the second. Railes were outshot 24-13 through the first two periods, while miraculously making 16 shots in the third with the final tally being 32-29 at the end of the night.
Conor Breen, who has been signed and released a handful of times by the Railers this season, fought Jackson Leppard around the five-minute mark of the third period. The two dropped a handful before Leppard drew blood on Breen and was broken up by the linesmen, Leppard went to the box while Breen went down the tunnel for repairs, eventually returning around the fifteen-minute mark in the period.
Head coach Jordan Smotherman would pull Henrik Tikkanen with around three minutes left in the third period, which the Stingrays capitalized on, bringing the game to 3-0 with the empty net goal. Tikkanen would be called off again for the Railers’ two-man advantage following a scuffle that gave the Railers their second power play of the night. Reece Newkirk would avoid the shutout, scoring on the doorstep of Stingrays’ goaltender Tyler Wall with under two minutes left in the period. Tikkanen
The three stars of Saturday night’s game were:
- Tyler Wall (South Carolina) – 28 saves, win, 0.966 SV%
- Josh Wilkins (South Carolina) – 1 goal
- Reece Newkirk (Worcester) – 1 goal
The Railers 3-in-3 weekend wraps up Sunday with a 3:05 PM puck drop.
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Box Score
Notes
- Worcester Scratches: Jack Quinlivan, Jared Brandt, Ken Appleby, Liam Coughlin, Noah Delmas, Philip Beaulieu, and Zack Bross.
- South Carolina Scratches: Alexandre Fortin, Carter Allen, Chase Stewart, Chaz Reddekopp, Connor Russell, and Justin Florek.
- The game-worn jersey raffle of the game was a Jeff Kubiak #16 Jersey from the 2018-19 season.
- Following Saturday night’s game, the Railers had the following scoring streaks/droughts:
- Bobby Butler is without a point in his last five games.
- Trevor Cosgrove snapped a three-game point streak. (2-5-7)
- Nolan Vesey is without a point in his last four games.
- Billy Jerry is without a point in his last three games.
- Conor Breen is without a point in his last three games.
- Blake Christensen is without a point in his last three games.
- Quinn Ryan snapped a three-game point streak. (1-3-4)
- Artur Terchiyev is without a point in his last three games.
- Collin Adams snapped a four-game point streak. (2-3-5)
- Nick Fea is without a point in his last three games.
- Myles McGurty is without a point in his last eight games.
- Reece Newkirk extended his point streak to four games. (2-2-4)
Railers Lines
| Forward Lines | LW | C | RW |
| Forward Line 1 | Andrei Bakanov #23 | Reece Newkirk #37 | Bobby Butler #8 |
| Forward Line 2 | Nolan Vesey #11 | Brent Beaudoin #12 | Anthony Repaci #81 |
| Forward Line 3 | Nick Fea #22 | Reece Newkirk #37 | Quinn Ryan #19 |
| Rotated Forwards | Blake Christensen #18 | Billy Jerry #13 | – |
| Defensive Pairings | LD | RD |
| Defense Pair 1 | Christian Evers #15 | Connor McCarthy #2 |
| Defense Pair 2 | Artur Terchiyev #20 | Myles McGurty #27 |
| Defense Pair 3 | Trevor Cosgrove #10 | Connor Breen #17 |
| Rotated Defensemen | – | – |
| Goalie Tandem | G |
| Starting Goaltender | Henrik Tikkanen #39 |
| Backup Goaltender | Brent Moran #30 |
Opponent Lines
| Forward Lines | LW | C | RW |
| Forward Line 1 | Jonny Evans #7 | Josh Wilkins #15 | Kevin O’Neil #19 |
| Forward Line 2 | Anthony Del Gaizo #22 | Ryan Scarfo #20 | Andrew Cherniwchan #28 |
| Forward Line 3 | Anthony Del Gaizo #22 | Bear Hughes #25 | Carter Turnbull #21 |
| Rotated Forwards | Tarek Baker #16 | – | Lawton Courtnall #10 |
| Defensive Pairings | LD | RD |
| Defense Pair 1 | Michael Kim #36 | Evan Wardley #29 |
| Defense Pair 2 | Matt Anderson #3 | Benton Maass #18 |
| Defense Pair 3 | Connor Moore #74 | Martin Haš #39 |
| Rotated Defensemen | – | – |
| Goalie Tandem | G |
| Starting Goaltender | Clay Stevenson #33 |
| Backup Goaltender | Tyler Wall #1 |
On-Ice Officials
| – | – |
| Referee | Nolan Bloyer (31) |
| Referee | Steven Sailor (5) |
| Linesman | Shane Kanaly (74) |
| Linesman | Ryan Robinson (96) |
Highlights
Notable Tweets as the Game Happened
What's my line?#AllAboutTheW | #RailersHC | #Worcester pic.twitter.com/GlXWx0dZwY
— Worcester Railers (@RailersHC) February 4, 2023
Railers Lines
Full head of steam for tonight 🚂 pic.twitter.com/hUwJtbYASB
— SC Stingrays (@SCStingrays) February 4, 2023
Stingrays Lines
Tyler Wall stopped 28 of 29 shots as the Stingrays collected goals from Josh Wilkins, Jackson Leppard, and Jonny Evans in the 3-1 win over Worcester 🧱
— SC Stingrays (@SCStingrays) February 5, 2023
Stingrays highlight reel
WORCESTER SCORES WITH THE EXTRA MAN ON THE ICE!! Newkirk taps it in!! Railers down 3-1. #AllAboutTheW | #RailersHC | #Worcester pic.twitter.com/X1Cf2ug33q
— Worcester Railers (@RailersHC) February 5, 2023
Reece Newkirk goal (3-1 Stingrays)