With a scoring and winning slump out of the way, the Railers are well on their way into the 2018-19 season. Through twenty games and two months into the season, the boys in blue are 8-10-2 (18 pts) through twenty games. The Railers are slowly turning around from a rough start to the season with two solid weeks in November.

Here are my thoughts and notes through the month of November.

The Good:

  • Railers are slowly turning around from their franchise-worst seven-game losing streak. They are 5-2-1-0 since snapping the streak earlier this month.
  • Worcester is ranked #10 in attendance with an average of 4,655 fans per game, which is 262 more fans compared to the average at the end of last season.
  • Railers are undefeated in games that have gone into the shootout this season with two games occurring back-to-back on November 14 and 15.
  • Mitch Gillam and Evan Buitenhuis have been solid in net so far this season, with both goalies making the top 20 goalies in the league in save percentage and goals allowed average.
  • Railers are 4-2 in games going to overtime or shootout.
  • Ryan Hitchcock is hot with 4 points (all assists) through 4 games with Worcester.
  • Tyler Barnes leads the team with 13 points and 7 goals. Ten of those points were scored in the month of November.
  • Tyler Barnes, Barry Almeida, Josh Holmstrom, Mike Cornell, Tyler Mueller, Nick Sorkin, Woody Hudson, and Dylan Willick have all played in every game so far this season.

The Bad:

  • Ivan Kosorenkov’s stint in Worcester was great while it lasted with five points in eight games. It’s a shame that Bridgeport didn’t beat San Jose to signing him as he has some potential to do well in the upper leagues.
  • Tyler Barnes is the only Railers player ranked in the top 100 skaters in points, he has 13 points at #96. Nick Bligh, Barry Almeida, and Mike Cornell rank within the top 200.
  • Defensemen account for just six of the 46 goals scored by the Railers this season.
  • Railers are 0-3 against Newfoundland and 1-3 against Adirondack.

The Ugly:

  • Injured Reserve: Malcolm Gould, Tommy Kelley, Kyle McKenzie.
  • Railers have eight goals on the power play and are ranked 26 overall on special teams.
  • Railers are the only team in the league that hasn’t scored while shorthanded this season.
  • Railers have scored the least amount of goals out of all 27 teams this season. They have 46 goals in 20 games, which averages to 2.30 per game.
  • While Tyler Barnes and Barry Almeida lead the team in scoring, their numbers can certainly be better. Almeida ranks 43rd (tied) in goals, and Barnes ranks 90 in points and 59 in assists.
  • Not including players who haven’t played this season, there are seven players (Austin Block, Ryan Hitchcock, Connor Doherty, Kyle McKenzie, Nick Sorkin, Yanick Turcotte, Alex Vanier) that are still chasing their first goals of the season.

Trends and Numbers:

  • When scoring first: 4-4-1-0
  • Leading after 20 minutes: 2-0-1-0
  • Leading after 40 minutes: 4-0-0-0
  • Tied after 20 minutes: 2-6-1-0
  • Tied after 40 minutes: 4-3-1-0
  • Trailing after 20 minutes: 4-4-0-0
  • Trailing after 40 minutes: 0-7-1-0
  • Out Shooting Opponent: 2-4-1-0
  • Out Shot by Opponent: 5-6-1-0
  • Wearing Specialty Jerseys: 0-2-0-0 (7-2-0-0 all-time)