Playing six games in the opening month of the season, the Worcester Railers are 3-and-3 on the season, with two losses of their losses coming from the Adirondack Thunder. They are ranked sixth out of seven teams in the ECHL North Division with 6 points.

Here are some positives and negatives of the first few weeks of the season:

The Good:

  • The second line the best line (so far). The line consisting of Woody Hudson, Josh Holmstrom, and Nick Bligh has produced seven of the 16 total goals for the Railers in the month of October.
  • Railers have yet to give up a shorthanded goal through six games.
  • Evan Buitenhuis and Mitch Gillam have a combined save percentage of .925.
  • Connor Doherty and David Quenneville have had as many points as games played this season.
  • Alex Vanier has been solid at keeping goals out of the net. Saves by defensemen isn’t something that is normally tracked, but there have been at least 4 times this season where he has stopped pucks from going in at the goal line.
  • Railers had the biggest opening night of all ECHL North Division teams with ~8,800 fans in attendance.
  • Nick Sorkin, Connor Doherty, Austin Block, and Kyle McKenzie are all pulling their weight in the assists department on some crucial plays. All four are chasing their first goals of the season.

The Bad:

  • Railers are ranked 21st in goals scored (16) and are ranked 10th (17) on the fewest goals allowed.
  • It’s still early in the season, but Adirondack looks to be a tough team to face, beating the Railers in both games in the Month of October. They’ll face each other twice in Worcester during the month of November.
  • Tommy Panico and Tommy Tsicos are still chasing their first points of the season, each has played in three games this season.

The Ugly:

  • Worcester is currently ranked at 23 in the league for the power play, scoring 2 times on 21 power plays (9.5 percent) and are Ranked 25 for penalty kills, allowing killing 17 out of 23 penalties this season (73.9 percent).
  • The state of the Railers goaltending is up in the air as both Evan Buitenhuis and Mitch Gillam get their opportunities in the AHL. Gillam’s time in Bridgeport is expected to be short-term, Buitenhuis’ stay in Ontario could be long-term.
  • Long(er)-term Injuries: Tommy Kelley, Yanick Turcotte

Trends and Numbers:

  • Railers are undefeated when leading after the first and second period (1-0-0-0).
  • Railers are undefeated when tied after two periods (2-0-0-0).
  • Railers are winless when trailing after two periods (0-3-0-0).
  • Railers are 2-1 when they are being outshot by their opponents, and are 1-2 when they are outshooting the opponents.
  • Railers are 0-2 when tied after the first period, and are 2-0 when tied after the second period.