Game Story
Reading, PA – The Worcester Railers kicked off their second season in the ECHL against the Reading Royals at the Santander Arena on Saturday night. They entered the season on a high note, defeating the Reading Royals in overtime, 2-1.
Former Railer Frank DiChiara was the only one with scoring success in the first period, getting his first as a Royal on the power-play with a one-timed shot from the left circle of Mitch Gillam. DiChiara scored in a similar manner last season in the Railers’ season opener. Railers had a ton of shots on goal, and it seemed as if every other shot was ringing the crossbar. Worcester came out on top in the shots category, outshooting the Royals 14-12.
Barry Almeida scored the Railers first goal of the season under a minute into the second period from the left side of Branden Komm. The game was tied after two frames, with Worcester once again outshooting Reading 24-20.
Neither team scored in the third period, with Worcester outshooting Reading 38-27 in sixty minutes. Both teams had off-setting penalties going into the overtime period.
Josh Holmstrom scored the game-winning goal for Worcester in overtime. Holmstrom netted a rebound from Nick Sorkin, that was originally a breakaway in the Railers zone.
The Three Stars of the Game Were:
- Josh Holmstrom (WOR) – Game-Winning Goal, 5 shots
- Branden Komm (REA) – 41 saves, 2 GAA
- Mitch Gillam (WOR) – 29 saves, 1 GAA
Coming Up: The Railers and Royals wrap-up their weekend with the second match-up on Saturday. Puck drops at 5 PM.
Box Score
| Scoring | 1 | 2 | 3 | OT | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worcester Railers | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Reading Royals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Shots | 1 | 2 | 3 | OT | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worcester Railers | 14 | 10 | 14 | 3 | 41 |
| Reading Royals | 12 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 30 |
| 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 | 3 | A. Vanier | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| D | 4 | R. MacKinnon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| D | 5 | K. McKenzie | 0 | 0 | +1 | 0 | 0 |
| D | 6 | M. Cornell | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| F | 7 | T. Barnes | 0 | 0 | +1 | 1 | 0 |
| F | 8 | N. Sorkin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| F | 9 | A. Block | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| F | 11 | D. Willick | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| F | 12 | J. Holmstrom | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| C | 16 | J. Kubiak | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| F | 19 | B. Almeida | 1 | 0 | +1 | 2 | 0 |
| D | 20 | D. Quenneville | 0 | 0 | +1 | 5 | 0 |
| F | 22 | N. Bligh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| F | 23 | W. Hudson | 0 | 0 | +1 | 0 | 0 |
| D | 24 | T. Mueller | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| F | 51 | Y. Turcotte | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Team: | 2 | ||||||
| Totals: | 1 | 0 | 5 | 35 | 8 |
| No | Name | Min | SH | SVS | GA</s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35 | M. Gillam (W) | 61:53 | 30 | 29 | 1 |
| Totals: | 61:53 | 30 | 29 | 1 |
| Royals Roster | # | Name | G | A | +/- | SH | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | 30 | A. Redmond | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| G | 33 | B. Komm | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| F | 3 | C. McCarthy | 0 | 0 | -1 | 3 | 0 |
| D | 4 | S. Johnson | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 |
| D | 6 | D. Milan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| D | 7 | A. Larkin | 0 | 0 | -1 | 3 | 0 |
| F | 9 | B. Low | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D | 11 | C. Vasaturo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| F | 12 | S. Swavely | 0 | 1 | -1 | 5 | 2 |
| F | 14 | A. Schmidt | 0 | 0 | -1 | 3 | 0 |
| F | 18 | T. Brown | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| F | 19 | A. Krushelnyski | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| LW | 21 | F. DiChiara | 1 | 0 | -1 | 6 | 0 |
| D | 25 | N. Luukko | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 |
| F | 28 | B. Morgan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D | 43 | F. Hora | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| F | 77 | S. Walsh | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 |
| F | 86 | J. MacDonald | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Team: | |||||||
| Totals: | 1 | 2 | -8 | 30 | 8 |
| No | Name | Min | SH | SVS | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33 | B. Komm (L) | 61:53 | 41 | 39 | 2 |
| Totals: | 61:53 | 41 | 39 | 2 |
| P | T | Player | M | Offense | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | H | D. Milan | 2.00 | Holding – minor (54.2) | 1:09 |
| 1st | V | A. Block | 2.00 | Hooking – minor (55.2) | 7:03 |
| 2nd | H | D. Milan | 2.00 | Tripping – minor (57.2) | 3:48 |
| 2nd | V | J. Kubiak | 2.00 | Tripping – minor (57.2) | 9:23 |
| 2nd | V | Served by T. Barnes | 2.00 | Bench minor – Too many men (74.2) | 12:56 |
| 3rd | V | M. Cornell | 2.00 | Interference – minor (56.2) | 4:17 |
| 3rd | H | T. Brown | 2.00 | Slashing – minor (61.2) | 6:00 |
| 3rd | V | R. MacKinnon | 2.00 | Slashing – minor (61.2) | 18:09 |
| 3rd | H | S. Swavely | 2.00 | High-sticking – minor (60.2) |
Notes
- Railers Scratches: Tommy Panico (reserve), Tommy Kelley (14-day injury reserve), Tommy Tsicos (reserve), Bryan Arnesson, Connor Doherty, and Connor Graham.
- Royals Scratches: Anthony Cortese (reserve), Bo Pieper (reserve), Scott Dombrock, Steve Johnson, and Jack Riley.
- For those watching at home, the away (Railers) feed on ECHL.tv was messed up for the majority of the game. A workaround is listening on the iHeart Radio app or through the 989 Nash Icon website. Fans should recall that the Royals away games were plagued with these issues last season.
- Tommy Panico and Tommy Kelley are currently the only two injured Railers players, who have been injured since around or before the start of training camp. Tommy Kelley was put on the injured reserve list on October 10, so the earliest he can be activated to play is on October 24. Neither injury is considered to be serious as both have been seen in practice and participating in team events. The ECHL changed the injured reserve requirement from 21 days to 14 days for this season, which is likely for players with concussions who are medically cleared to return before the 21 days are up.
- Reading held a special promotion for their opener involving cowbells and setting seven cowbell world records. Whether or not these records were set tonight is up for some debate.
- Jeff Kubiak and Yanick Turcotte were assigned to Worcester by the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Friday morning before the team made their trip to Reading, PA. Trent Durocher was released to free some roster space.
- Former Railers goalie Eamon McAdam had a solid performance last night as the Newfoundland Growlers picked up their first-ever win against the Florida Everblades, 3-2. McAdam made 21 saves in his season debut. Another former Railer Ben Masella was a healthy scratch for Florida.
- The Railers (kinda?) announced in one of their recent press releases that the Railers Tavern will no longer be streaming Railers away games during the weekend. Instead, the games will be aired in the Napoli Room (private meeting space upstairs) at Nonna’s at the Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Center. Away games will still be aired at the Railers Tavern if they’re on weekdays and are free to attend.
- As I noted on Twitter, I’ll be doing my best to provide coverage for both the Worcester Blades and Railers throughout their seasons and updates when possible.
- The ECHL released a new version of their website earlier this week in what they consider to be a beta. You can check out some info from tonight’s game here. You’ll notice that the website removed the ability to show a box score or a game sheet, so finding information just got a little harder for writers covering a game from far away. Luckily, their mobile app is still functional and has this info for now. Thousands of articles have also gone missing from the site as many of the links have changed.
- I’ll be pitching these throughout the season, but if you haven’t already followed us on Facebook and Twitter, it would be greatly appreciated! A group of dedicated hockey fans created a Facebook group that is quickly approaching 300 members that we recommend all Railers fans check out.
- If you’ve actually gotten this far, I thank you for reading through everything. Happy Hockey Season!
Railers Lines (Observed by order in which they appeared):
| LW | C | RW | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward Line 1 | B. Almeida #19 “A” | N. Sorkin #8 | T. Barnes #7 |
| Forward Line 2 | J. Kubiak #16 | J. Holmstrom #12 “A” | W. Hudson #23 |
| Forward Line 3 | N. Bligh #22 | D. Willick #11 | A. Block #9 / Y. Turcotte #51 |
| LD | RD | |
|---|---|---|
| Defense Line 1 | T. Mueller #24 | M. Cornell #6 “C” |
| Defense Line 2 | A. Vainer #3 | D. Quenneville #20 |
| Defense Line 3 | K. McKenzie #5 | R. MacKinnon #4 |
| G | |
|---|---|
| Starting Goaltender | Mitch Gillam #35 |
| Backup Goaltender | Evan Buitenhuis #34 |