Game Story

St. John’s, Newfoundland — The Worcester Railers closed out their Canadian road trip against the Newfoundland Growlers on Saturday.

Worcester had a clean slate after an all-around ugly game last night. Mitch Gillam was swapped with Evan Buitenhuis, and the Growlers swapped Michael Gartieg with Eamon McAdam. Woody Hudson was also swapped out for Tommy Kelley on the third forward line. Josh Holmstrom (10th), Matt Gaudreau (8th), Tyler Barnes (16th), Yanick Turcotte (2nd), Ryan Hitchcock (6th) scored for Worcester. Tyler Barnes became the first Railer to score in four straight games and extended his point streak to six games, tied with Ryan MacKinnon’s franchise-high that was set earlier this season.

Matt Gaudreau set up a pass to Nick Sorkin from behind the net who passed it Josh Holmstrom from the right side of the net to give the Railers an early lead at 1:36 in the first. Not much to note after that goal, other than a scrum late in the period in the Railers zone, in which referee Jason Faist was hesitant to issue penalties to either side. Newfoundland outshot Worcester by one, with Worcester outscoring Newfoundland with the game’s only tally.

The lead that the Railers held since the first two minutes of the game would go away as Marcus Power scored his sixteenth goal of the season on a breakaway at 40 seconds into the second period. Matt Gaudreau would regain the lead halfway through the period with a quick wraparound shot that bounced off the skate of Michael Garteig and into the net behind him. Tyler Barnes scored the first shorthanded goal of the season at 16:08 in the period, using Tommy Kelley as a decoy, he was able to snipe it behind Gartieg nailing the water bottle attached to the net and bouncing the puck back out. The Railers’ extended their lead to 3-1, overtaking the Growlers in shots at 19-15.

Yanick Turcotte scored his second of the season, set-up with a cross-crease pass by Tommy Kelley that was shot over the left pad of Gartieg. Railers went on a 5-on-3 advantage after Hudson Elynuik went after Mitch Gillam and Ryan Hitchcock at the crease and was issued a roughing minor. James Melindy also sat for an unsportsmanlike conduct minor after questioning the call. Melindy would later get a game misconduct after continuing to chirp at the refs after the conclusion of his minor penalty. Ivan Kosorenkov sat for a delay of game call, which would produce the Railers’ second shorthanded goal of the season, top-shelf by Ryan Hitchcock. With 4.5 seconds remaining in the game, there was a scrum between the Growlers and Railers, but most of the action between Yanick Turcotte and Evan Neugold.

The three stars of the game were:

  1. Matt Gaudreau (Worcester) – goal, two assists
  2. Josh Holmstrom (Worcester) – goal, assist
  3. Mike Cornell (Worcester) – +1

Back at a game over .500 this season, the Worcester Railers (20-19-3-2) will hold onto sixth place in the north and depending on the results of the Manchester-Reading game, could be tied for fifth in the division.

The Railers will make their way back to Worcester tomorrow and will host their only three home games of February next weekend. They’ll pick things back up on Friday against the Greenville Swamp Rabbits at 7:05.

Box Score

Scoring 1 2 3 T
Worcester Railers 1 2 2 5
Newfoundland Growlers 0 1 0 1
Shots 1 2 3 T
Worcester Railers 8 11 6 25
Newfoundland Growlers 9 6 11 26

 

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 +2 0 0
D 3 A. Vanier 0 0 0 1 9
D 4 R. MacKinnon 0 1 +2 1 0
D 6 M. Cornell 0 0 +1 1 0
F 7 T. Barnes 1 0 0 1 0
F 8 N. Sorkin 0 1 +2 2 0
F 10 I. Kosorenkov 0 0 0 3 2
F 11 D. Willick 0 1 +1 1 0
F 12 J. Holmstrom 1 1 +2 2 0
F 19 B. Almeida 0 0 -1 2 0
D 20 D. Quenneville 0 0 +1 1 2
F 21 M. Gaudreau 1 2 +3 1 0
F 27 R. Hitchcock 1 0 0 3 0
D 28 C. Doherty 0 0 +2 2 2
F 37 T. Kelley 0 1 +2 0 0
F 51 Y. Turcotte 1 0 +1 4 14
Team:
Totals: 5 7 18 25 29
No Name Min SH SVS GA
35 M. Gillam (W) 60:00 26 25 1
Totals: 60:00 26 25 1
Growlers Roster # Name G A +/- SH PIM
G 34 M. Garteig 0 0 0 0 0
G 35 E. McAdam 0 0 0 0 0
D 2 A. Pardy 0 0 -2 0 0
D 5 K. Rubins 0 1 0 0 0
D 8 E. Neugold 0 0 -3 2 14
F 9 M. Power 1 0 0 2 0
F 10 Z. O’Brien 0 0 -1 3 0
F 11 D. Plouffe 0 0 0 1 0
F 12 S. Pooley 0 0 0 4 0
F 14 J. Piccinich 0 0 -2 1 0
F 16 H. Elynuik 0 0 -3 1 4
D 24 A. Gudbranson 0 0 -1 1 0
F 26 J. Kestner 0 0 -2 1 2
F 27 M. Bradley 0 1 -1 2 0
F 29 G. Estephan 0 0 -2 3 0
F 40 R. Moore 0 0 -2 1 0
D 43 J. Melindy 0 0 +1 0 12
D 48 G. Johnston 0 0 -2 4 2
Team:
Totals: 1 2 -20 26 34
No Name Min SH SVS GA
34 M. Garteig (L) 60:00 25 20 5
Totals: 60:00 25 20 5
P T Player M Offense Time
2nd V A. Vanier 2.00 High-sticking – minor (60.2) 11:56
2nd V D. Quenneville 2.00 Hooking – minor (55.2) 14:27
2nd H G. Johnston 2.00 Hooking – minor (55.2) 16:44
3rd H H. Elynuik 2.00 Cross-Checking Minor (59.2) 1:17
3rd H H. Elynuik 2.00 Roughing – minor (51.2) 6:43
3rd H J. Melindy 2.00 Unsportsmanlike conduct – minor (75.2) 6:43
3rd V I. Kosorenkov 2.00 Delay of Game (63.2) 9:12
3rd H J. Melindy 10.00 Game misconduct – Abuse of Officials (39.5) 9:12
3rd V A. Vanier 2.00 Cross-Checking Minor (59.2) 14:48
3rd V C. Doherty 2.00 Roughing – minor (51.2) 16:14
3rd H J. Kestner 2.00 Roughing – minor (51.2) 16:14
3rd V Y. Turcotte 4.00 Double Minor – Roughing 19:55
3rd V Y. Turcotte 10.00 Misconduct – Unsportsmanlike Conduct (75.4) 19:55
3rd V A. Vanier 5.00 Match – Illegal Check to Head (48.5) 19:55
3rd H E. Neugold 4.00 Double Minor – Roughing 19:55
3rd H E. Neugold 10.00 Misconduct – Unsportsmanlike Conduct (75.4) 19:55

Notes

  • Railers Scratches: Kyle McKenzie, Tyler Mueller, Matt Schmalz
  • Railers Scratches: Bo Brauer, Malcolm Gould, Woody Hudson
  • Growlers Injuries: Anthony Cortese, Maxim Mizyurin, IIya Nekolenko, Kristian Pospisil, Todd Skirving
  • Growlers Scratches: Brady Ferguson (suspended), Sam Babintsev
  • 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  M. Gaudreau #21  N. Sorkin #8
Forward Line 3  I. Kosorenkov #10 / Y. Turcotte #51  D. Willick #11  T. Kelley #37
LD RD
Defense Line 1  M. Cornell #6 “C”  R. MacKinnon #4
Defense Line 2 D. Quenneville #20  C. Doherty #28
Defense Line 3  T. Panico #2  A. Vanier #3
G
Starting Goaltender  Mitch Gillam #35
Backup Goaltender  Evan Buitenhuis #34

Highlights