The Worcester Railers (30-28-6-4, 70 pts) head into the season’s last four games after going 6-6-1 in the month of March. Worcester had a strong start to the month with a weekend sweep over Adirondack and ended with six straight losses. Another scoring slump couldn’t have come at a worse time as the Railers sit six points out of a playoff position and one loss away from being eliminated from playoff contention.

Here are my thoughts and notes throughout the month of March.

The Good:

  • Ivan Chukarov led Worcester with a +5 rating.
  • Tyler Barnes passed Barry Almeida’s goal record from last season, a new franchise record at 28 goals in a season (and counting). He is five points short from Almeida’s point record set at 61.
  • Speaking of Almeida’s goal record, Barry also tied his 22 goal mark set in 68 games last season. It took 63 games for Almeida to tie his tally from last season.
  • Tyler Barnes and Barry Almeida still have ironman streaks going, having played in all 68 games so far.
  • Drew Callin averaged a goal per game in three games.
  • Mike Cornell, Ryan MacKinnon, and Nick Sorkin all returned from their AHL call-ups.
  • Spencer Trapp joined the one game and one point club – alongside Willie Raskob and Kyle Schempp with at least one point in their only game with the Worcester Railers.
  • 4,580 was the average attendance through eight home games in the month, which is higher from the accumulated average of the season – 4,254. They still rank thirteenth in attendance rankings.

The Bad:

  • The Railers lost Evan Buitenhuis to a lower-body injury on March 9. While goaltending alone won’t save this team, the loss of a goaltender who has been a big part of the team is still significant.
  • Josh Holmstrom is without a goal in 18 games. His drought dates back to February 15.
  • Just two games were one-goal games in March, on March 8 (SOW) and March 22 (SOL).

The Ugly:

  • Railers are one loss away from being eliminated from playoff contention.
  • Railers have played in three games where one team has scored seven points, all of them came in March and all three were blowout losses. (7-4 vs Manchester on 3/17, 7-0 on 3/30, 7-4 on 3/31).
  • Railers were shutout twice in March. Once against South Carolina on March 10th (2-0) and again by Brampton on March 30th (7-0). March 30th’s shutout was the biggest goal differential in the franchise’s history.
  • The month concluded with a six-game losing streak. It is the second longest this season and in franchise history, the longest was seven games – set earlier this season.
  • Robert Powers went -5 on March 17.
  • Injuries: Evan Buitenhuis, Kyle McKenzie, Tommy Panico, Alex Vanier

Scoring Leaders for March

  1. Barry Almeida (6-9-15), 13 games
  2. Ryan Hitchcock (5-9-14), 13 games
  3. Tyler Barnes (6-7-13), 13 games
  4. Bo Brauer (4-4-8), 12 games
  5. David Quenneville (1-6-7), 13 games

Trends and Numbers:

  • When scoring first: 19-9-2-3
  • Leading after 20 minutes: 12-2-2-4
  • Leading after 40 minutes: 19-1-2-2
  • Tied after 20 minutes: 11-10-3-0
  • Tied after 40 minutes: 9-6-2-2
  • Trailing after 20 minutes: 7-16-1-0
  • Trailing after 40 minutes: 2-21-2-0
  • Out Shooting Opponent: 12-12-3-3
  • Out Shot by Opponent: 16-15-3-1
  • Wearing Specialty Jerseys: 3-3-1-0 (10-3-1-0 all-time)