Game Story

Worcester, MA — The Worcester Railers hosted the Wheeling Nailers on their annual Pink in the Rink night on Saturday.

Mitch Gillam had his second straight start this weekend, picking up his first loss in the month of February with 17 saves on 22 shots. Tyler Barnes was the lone goal scorer for Worcester, earning his 19th goal of the season and extended his goal and point scoring streaks to six and eight games, respectively. Saturday’s game was much of the same as Friday’s game with our opponent coming out on top early, but the boys in blue were unable to rally back with four Wheeling goals in the third period.

The action came quickly in the game as Yanick Turcotte picked up his seventh fighting major against Jake Schultz at 5:41.

The first goal of the night and the only goal of the first two periods came at 17:54 in the first period. Capitalizing on a turnover pass by Ryan MacKinnon in the Railers zone, Mike Phillips sent one home from about 25 feet in front of the Railers’ net. That goal was just the second shorthanded goal allowed by the Railers at home, and the third one allowed overall this season. Wheeling led 1-0, outshooting Worcester 10-4 through twenty minutes.

Neither team scored in the second frame, but it is worth nothing the Railers outshot Nailers in the period 15-1 but were unable to generate a legal goal. Ryan Hitchcock and Tyler Barnes both netted pucks during the period but were called off. With two periods and one goal in the books, Worcester outshot Wheeling 19-12.

Tyler Barnes scored his eighth goal in sixth games on a technicality as his skate caught a pass from Barry Almeida at 1:54 in the third period and bounced into the open net behind Nailers’ netminder Jordan Ruby. All hope would be lost for Worcester as Wheeling would go onto score four unanswered goals in the period, skating home with the victory.

A little over five minutes left in the game Dylan Willick was charged at by Cedric Lacroix which resulted in a scrum between the skaters left on the ice. After being stunned for a few minutes, Willick skated back to the bench before going down the tunnel for further evaluation and did not return to the game. Lacroix was kicked out of the game with a Charging Major and a Game Misconduct for Charging. Players who receive the charging major and the game misconduct are usually suspended and fined for a minimum of one game.

The Three Stars of the Game were:

  1. Michael Phillips (Wheeling) – 2 goals, 1 assist
  2. Jordan Ruby (Wheeling) – 33 saves, win
  3. Alec Bitcher (Wheeling) – 1 goal

Worcester (21-20-3-3) still sits within two points of fifth place in the north division, held by the Reading Royals who lost to the Brampton Beast tonight, 4-0.

The Railers will close out their February homestand on Sunday against the Cincinnati Cyclones at 3 PM.

Box Score

Scoring 1 2 3 T
Wheeling Nailers 1 0 4 5
Worcester Railers 0 0 1 1
Shots 1 2 3 T
Wheeling Nailers 11 1 10 22
Worcester Railers 4 15 15 34

 

Nailers Roster # Name G A +/- SH PIM
G 30 M. O’Connor 0 0 0 0 0
G 31 J. Ruby 0 0 0 0 0
D 2 J. Schultz 0 0 +1 1 7
F 4 A. Rauter 0 0 +1 5 2
D 5 D. Fick 0 1 +1 0 0
F 9 Y. Hirano 1 0 +1 1 6
F 10 T. Josephs 0 1 +2 3 0
F 11 A. Butcher 1 0 +1 1 0
F 14 C. Lacroix 1 0 +1 3 15
F 17 W. Day Chief 0 1 +1 1 0
F 19 T. Yates 0 0 +1 0 0
D 20 J. Austin 0 0 +2 0 0
F 23 M. Phillips 2 1 +2 3 0
D 24 J. Couturier 0 0 +1 0 0
F 25 B. Drobot 0 0 0 0 0
D 26 B. Diffley 0 0 +2 1 2
F 27 Z. Lynch 0 1 +1 1 0
D 28 D. Birks 0 0 +1 2 0
Team:
Totals: 5 5 19 22 32
No Name Min SH SVS GA
31 J. Ruby (W) 59:58 34 33 1
Totals: 59:58 34 33 1
Railers Roster # Name G A +/- SH PIM
G 34 E. Buitenhuis 0 0 0 0 0
G 35 M. Gillam 0 0 0 0 0
D 2 T. Panico 0 0 0 0 0
D 4 R. MacKinnon 0 0 -2 2 2
D 6 M. Cornell 0 0 -1 2 0
F 7 T. Barnes 1 0 -2 4 0
F 8 N. Sorkin 0 1 -3 4 0
F 11 D. Willick 0 0 0 1 0
F 12 J. Holmstrom 0 0 -2 3 0
F 15 B. Brauer 0 0 0 2 0
F 19 B. Almeida 0 1 -2 3 2
D 20 D. Quenneville 0 0 -2 4 0
F 21 M. Gaudreau 0 0 -2 0 0
D 24 T. Mueller 0 0 0 2 0
F 27 R. Hitchcock 0 0 -2 2 2
D 28 C. Doherty 0 0 -2 1 2
F 37 T. Kelley 0 0 0 3 0
F 51 Y. Turcotte 0 0 0 1 7
Team:
Totals: 1 2 -20 34 15
No Name Min SH SVS GA
35 M. Gillam (L) 60:00 22 17 5
Totals: 60:00 22 17 5
P T Player M Offense Time
1st V J. Schultz 2.00 Removing the Helmet (46.6) 5:41
1st V J. Schultz 5.00 Fighting – Major (46.14) 5:41
1st H Y. Turcotte 2.00 Removing the Helmet (46.6) 5:41
1st H Y. Turcotte 5.00 Fighting – Major (46.14) 5:41
1st H R. Hitchcock 2.00 Slashing – minor (61.2) 8:26
1st V B. Diffley 2.00 Tripping – minor (57.2) 16:21
1st H B. Almeida 2.00 Tripping – minor (57.2) 19:51
2nd V Y. Hirano 2.00 Cross-Checking Minor (59.2) 6:08
2nd V Y. Hirano 2.00 Roughing – minor (51.2) 6:08
2nd H C. Doherty 2.00 Cross-Checking Minor (59.2) 6:08
2nd V A. Rauter 2.00 Interference – minor (56.2) 15:12
3rd V Y. Hirano 2.00 Tripping – minor (57.2) 1:41
3rd H R. MacKinnon 2.00 Slashing – minor (61.2) 13:53
3rd V C. Lacroix 5.00 Charging Major (42.3) 14:39
3rd V C. Lacroix 10.00 Game misconduct – Charging (42.5) 14:39

Notes

  • Railers Injuries: Ivan Kosorenkov, Kyle McKenzie, Matt Schmalz
  • Railers Scratches: Bo Brauer, Malcolm Gould, Woody Hudson, Alex Vanier (suspended)
  • Nailers Injuries: Mike Fazio, Aaron Titcomb
  • Nailers Scratches: Renars Krastenbergs, Jake Schultz, Craig Skudalski
  • Tyler Barnes’ six-game goal streak ties a Worcester pro hockey record, and another game will set the city record.
  • Saturday’s attendance was listed at 6,721. That is the second highest attendance the Railers have posted this season. Opening night holds the number one spot with 8,853.
  • For up-to-date news on all things Worcester Hockey, Like us on Facebook at Woo Hockey – Worcester Hockey News, Follow us on Twitter @WooHockeyNews, and join our Facebook Group – Worcester Railers Fan Club.

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
Forward Line 2  J. Holmstrom #12 “A”  M. Gaudreau #21  N. Sorkin #8
Forward Line 3  B. Brauer #15 / Y. Turcotte #51  D. Willick #11  T. Kelley #37
LD RD
Defense Line 1  M. Cornell #6 “C”  T. Mueller #24
Defense Line 2 D. Quenneville #20  C. Doherty #28
Defense Line 3  T. Panico #2  R. MacKinnon #4
G
Starting Goaltender  Mitch Gillam #35
Backup Goaltender  Evan Buitenhuis #34

Highlights