Game Story

Worcester, MA — Closing out an exciting week of hockey, the Worcester Railers hosted the South Carolina Stingrays at the DCU Center on Sunday afternoon.

Blake Wojtala had his first official start, making 23 saves on 25 shots. Playing more-or-less the same amount of time, it was quite unfortunate that the Railers could not put up a goal in the first loss of his career. Worcester used the same line-ups as the previous night, with Evan Buitenhuis being a scratched due to a lower-body injury, and Ryan Hubbard serving as the back-up goaltender. Since no Worcester player scored, I’ll mention that two South Carolina players scored goals: Ryker Killins (1st), Tad Kozun (14th).

Yanick Turcotte took no time to fight, dropping the gloves with veteran Josh Gratton in a bout that lasted a good couple of minutes that ended with Gratton coming out on top. Turcotte has penalty minutes in nine straight home games, which is the third-longest streak of that kind this season.

Ryker Killins scored the Rays’ first goal midway through the first period, shooting the puck towards a crowded net and eventually found its way in the left corner. Stingrays led 1-0 through twenty minutes, outshooting Worcester 12-10.

Both teams had an opportunity on the power play in the middle period but Milner and Wojtala had other plans. Yanick Turcotte caught the crossbar and bounced back for Worcester’s best chance to score. South Carolina still led 1-0 with Railers putting pressure, outshooting them 21-18.

Tad Kozun put the Stingrays up 2-0 with an insurance goal at 12:48. A turnover in the Railers’ zone put South Carolina in position to score as Kozun was fed a one-timer for his 14th goal of the season. Wojtala was pulled for the extra attacker late in the period but South Carolina skated away with the win after a handful of saves by Parker Milner.

The Three stars of the game were:

  1. Parker Milner (South Carolina) – 33 saves, win, shutout
  2. Tad Kozun (South Carolina) – goal, assist
  3. Blake Wojtala (Worcester) – 23 saves

Worcester (28-23-5-4) fall back to three points behind Manchester Monarchs. Manchester won their game over Norfolk in a shootout and Reading beat Brampton in regulation to keep Brampton within reach.

Reading won 6-4 in regulation over Brampton but the Monarchs won in overtime over the Norfolk Admirals, placing the Railers three points back from the last playoff spot in the North Division, and are still ranked sixth in the division, one point behind Brampton.

The Railers head back to Manchvegas on Friday, where they’ll face the Monarchs for the ninth time this season.

Box Score

Scoring 1 2 3 T
South Carolina Stingrays 0 0 0 0
Worcester Railers 0 0 0 0
Shots 1 2 3 T
South Carolina Stingrays 0 0 0 0
Worcester Railers 0 0 0 0

 

Stingrays Roster # Name G A +/- SH PIM
G 1 A. Morrison 0 0 0 0 0
G 35 P. Milner 0 0 0 0 0
D 3 K. McKernan 0 0 +1 1 0
D 6 T. Davison 0 0 +1 0 0
F 9 G. Besse 0 0 0 3 0
D 10 R. Killins 1 0 +1 4 2
F 11 J. Charbonneau 0 0 0 3 2
F 13 C. Askew 0 2 +2 1 0
F 17 S. Fioretti 0 0 0 2 0
D 18 M. Liberati 0 0 0 2 0
D 20 S. Johnson 0 0 +1 1 0
F 22 P. Gaul 0 0 0 0 0
F 23 P. Megannety 0 0 0 2 0
D 26 C. Harrison 0 0 0 0 0
F 27 T. Harrison 0 0 0 0 2
F 28 A. Cherniwchan 0 1 +2 2 0
F 29 T. Kozun 1 1 +2 3 2
F 44 J. Gratton 0 0 0 1 5
Team:
Totals: 2 4 10 25 13
No Name Min SH SVS GA
35 P. Milner (W) 60:00 33 33 0
Totals: 60:00 33 33 0
Railers Roster # Name G A +/- SH PIM
G 31 B. Wojtala 0 0 0 0 0
G 39 R. Hubbard 0 0 0 0 0
F 7 T. Barnes 0 0 -1 4 0
F 9 R. Olsson 0 0 -1 3 0
F 11 D. Willick 0 0 -2 1 0
F 12 J. Holmstrom 0 0 0 1 0
D 13 I. Chukarov 0 0 -1 0 0
F 15 B. Brauer 0 0 0 1 0
F 19 B. Almeida 0 0 -1 5 0
D 20 D. Quenneville 0 0 -1 6 0
F 21 M. Gaudreau 0 0 0 2 0
F 22 C. Michalowski 0 0 0 1 0
D 24 T. Mueller 0 0 0 2 2
F 27 R. Hitchcock 0 0 0 2 0
D 28 C. Doherty 0 0 0 3 0
F 37 T. Kelley 0 0 0 0 2
D 41 R. Powers 0 0 -2 1 0
F 51 Y. Turcotte 0 0 -1 1 5
Team:
Totals: 0 0 -10 33 9
No Name Min SH SVS GA
31 B. Wojtala (L) 57:01 25 23 2
Totals: 57:01 25 23 2
P T Player M Offense Time
1st V J. Gratton 5.00 Fighting – Major (46.14) 1:39
1st H Y. Turcotte 5.00 Fighting – Major (46.14) 1:39
1st V J. Charbonneau 2.00 Hooking – minor (55.2) 3:43
1st H T. Mueller 2.00 Slashing – minor (61.2) 14:02
2nd H T. Kelley 2.00 Tripping – minor (57.2) 6:43
2nd V R. Killins 2.00 Tripping – minor (57.2) 8:56
3rd V T. Kozun 2.00 Tripping – minor (57.2) 6:54
3rd V T. Harrison 2.00 Boarding – minor (41.2) 14:29

Notes

  • Railers Injures: Kyle McKenzie, Tommy Panico, Matt Schmalz, Alex Vanier
  • Railers Scratches: (none)
  • Stingrays Injuries: Mike Chen
  • Stingrays Scratches: Cameron Bakker, Chris Leone, John MacLeod, Jordan Samuels-Thomas
  • Word on the street is that Evan Buitenhuis is considered day-to-day. However, given some of the time frames that have been given out for injuries such as Connor Doherty and Matt Schmalz, it could be another week or so. I would not be surprised if Boots is given another week to rest up if Mitch Gillam returns back to Worcester. This depends on Robin Lehner’s return back on Long Island which is at least a week, maybe two out.
  • With Boots out, the Railers signed Ryan Hubbard as the EBUG. There’s no real surprise there as it could’ve been Rob Lemelin, Charlie Millen, or Joe Spagnoli who got the call. With Blake Wojala having back-to-back starts, I would not be surprised if the Railers claimed or signed Hannu Toivonen, who was recently released by the Maine Mariners on Sunday. Even if it is a few games with Gillam up and Bridgeport and Buitenhuis taking a few days to heal up, he could pull his own in net for Worcester.
  • Mike Cornell played his second game of the season for Bridgeport, with Ryan MacKinnon being the apparent healthy scratch on their trip to Toronto. Bridgeport picked up the two points in the shootout, with Woo Hockey Alum Jeff Kubiak picking up one of the goals in the 3-2 shootout win on Sunday.
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Railers Lines (Observed by order in which they appeared):

LW C RW
Forward Line 1  B. Almeida #19 “A”  R. Hitchcock #27  T. Barnes #7 “A”
Forward Line 2  J. Holmstrom #12 “C”  M. Gaudreau #21  T. Kelley #37
Forward Line 3  C. Michalowski #22 / Y. Turcotte #51  D. Willick #11  R. Olsson #9
LD RD
Defense Line 1  D. Quenneville #20 R. Powers #41
Defense Line 2  C. Doherty #28 T. Mueller #24
Defense Line 3  B. Brauer #15  I. Chukarov #13
G
Starting Goaltender  Blake Wojtala #31
Backup Goaltender  Ryan Hubbard #39

Highlights