Game Story

North Charleston, South Carolina — The Worcester Railers traveled to South Carolina to face the South Carolina Stingrays at the  North Charleston Coliseum for the first time in franchise history on Friday.

Mitch Gillam got the start for the Railers’ first game of 2019, making 27 saves on 30 shots. Stingrays’ Gordon Defiel made 49 saves on 50 shots. Mike Cornell (3rd) scored the lone goal for Worcester. Grant Besse (13th), Andrew Cherniwchan (16th), Vinny Muto (2nd), and Kevin McKernan (5th) scored for South Carolina.

South Carolina’s Grant Besse scored the first and only goal of the first period, sliding a pass from Jonathan Charbonneau past goaltender Mitch Gillam at the crease. Railers were 0-for-2 on the power play as the Stingrays’ Kevin McKernan and David Baker sat in the sin bin during the period. Stingrays were 0-for-1 as Ivan Kosorenkov was called for tripping at 17:05, and Josh Holmstrom and Sam Fioretti both had roughing penalties 42 seconds later. Railers had 12 shots and Stingrays had 11 with the only goal through twenty minutes.

Mike Cornell scored his third goal of the season on a top-shelf shot which was fed from behind the net by Tyler Barnes. Cornell’s game-tying goal came as a power play that once was a 5-on-3 advantage concluded at 8:51 in the second period. It is important to note that one of the penalties was issued to Tad Kozun for charging the goaltender which is a penalty that officiating seems to be forgetting is a penalty with Railers goaltenders being run into countless times this season. This penalty was also missed earlier in that period as well. Andrew Cherniwchan gave the Stingrays their second lead of the game, slipping the goal over the pads of Mitch Gillam at the front of the net. Stingrays led 2-1 with Railers shooting them 30-23 at the end of the middle frame.

Woo Hockey Alum Vinny Muto extended the Stingrays lead to 3-1 at 16:50 in the third period and Kevin McKernan extended it again a minute later on the open net.

Railers (13-15-3-2, 31 points) face another big loss in a game they played through the full sixty minutes. They managed to go 0-for-7 on the power play and 5-for-5 on the penalty kill tonight. Railers will host the Stingrays on March 10.

The Three Stars of the Game were:

  1. Gordon Defiel (South Carolina) – 49 saves, win
  2. Andrew Cherniwchan (South Carolina) – 1 goal, 1 assist
  3. Grant Besse (South Carolina) – 1 goal, 1 assist

Llama, Taboot Taboot: The Railers will travel to Greenville, South Carolina tomorrow where they will take on the Swamp Rabbits on Saturday and again on Sunday.

Box Score

Scoring 1 2 3 T
Worcester Railers 0 1 0 1
South Carolina Stingrays 1 1 2 4
Shots 1 2 3 T
Worcester Railers 12 28 20 50
South Carolina Stingrays 11 12 8 31

 

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 -1 1 0
D 3 A. Vanier 0 0 0 1 0
D 4 R. MacKinnon 0 0 -2 4 0
D 6 M. Cornell 1 0 -2 8 0
F 7 T. Barnes 0 1 -2 2 0
F 8 N. Sorkin 0 0 -2 5 0
F 10 I. Kosorenkov 0 0 -1 3 2
F 11 D. Willick 0 0 0 3 0
F 12 J. Holmstrom 0 1 -2 3 2
F 17 M. Schmalz 0 0 -1 2 0
F 19 B. Almeida 0 0 -1 10 6
F 23 W. Hudson 0 0 0 4 0
D 24 T. Mueller 0 0 +1 2 0
D 28 C. Doherty 0 0 -2 1 2
F 37 T. Kelley 0 0 0 1 0
F 51 Y. Turcotte 0 0 0 0 0
Team: 2
Totals: 1 2 -15 50 14
No Name Min SH SVS GA
35 M. Gillam 59:26 30 27 3
Empty Net 1 1
Totals: 59:26 31 27 4
Stingrays Roster # Name G A +/- SH PIM
G 1 A. Redmond 0 0 0 0 0
G 32 G. Defiel 0 0 0 0 0
D 2 C. Bakker 0 1 +1 0 0
D 3 K. McKernan 1 0 +1 1 4
D 5 V. Muto 1 0 +2 3 0
D 6 T. Davison 0 0 0 4 0
F 9 G. Besse 1 1 +3 6 0
F 11 J. Charbonneau 0 1 +2 0 0
D 16 J. MacLeod 0 0 0 0 2
F 17 S. Fioretti 0 0 0 2 4
F 22 P. Gaul 0 0 +1 3 0
F 26 C. Horn 0 0 0 1 0
F 27 T. Harrison 0 1 0 2 2
F 28 A. Cherniwchan 1 1 +2 3 2
F 29 T. Kozun 0 0 -1 1 2
D 39 D. Baker 0 0 +2 0 2
F 42 M. Pohlkamp 0 0 +1 4 0
F 44 J. Gratton 0 1 +1 1 0
Team:
Totals: 4 6 15 31 18
No Name Min SH SVS GA
32 G. Defiel 60:00 50 49 1
Totals: 60:00 50 49 1
P T Player M Offense Time
1st H K. McKernan 2.00 Slashing – minor (61.2) 3:20
1st H D. Baker 2.00 Hooking – minor (55.2) 10:39
1st V I. Kosorenkov 2.00 Tripping – minor (57.2) 17:05
1st V J. Holmstrom 2.00 Roughing – minor (51.2) 17:47
1st H S. Fioretti 2.00 Roughing – minor (51.2) 17:47
2nd V C. Doherty 2.00 Interference – minor (56.2) 5:29
2nd H T. Kozun 2.00 Charging Goaltender in Crease Minor (43.2) 6:13
2nd H K. McKernan 2.00 Holding – minor (54.2) 6:42
2nd V Served by Y. Turcotte 2.00 Bench minor – Too many men (74.2) 13:19
2nd V B. Almeida 2.00 Tripping – minor (57.2) 14:21
3rd H A. Cherniwchan 2.00 High-sticking – minor (60.2) 0:26
3rd H J. MacLeod 2.00 Holding – minor (54.2) 4:30
3rd V B. Almeida 4.00 Double Minor – Roughing 6:44
3rd H S. Fioretti 2.00 Slashing – minor (61.2) 6:44
3rd H T. Harrison 2.00 Slashing – minor (61.2) 10:55

Notes

  • Railers Injuries: Malcolm Gould, Kyle McKenzie, David Quenneville
  • Railers Scratches: Alex Adams, Bo Brauer
  • Newcomer Bo Brauer joined the team on their road trip to the south this year. Brauer was a healthy scratch for Worcester as they faced one of the former teams that he played for earlier this season.
  • Mitch Gillam made his return to South Carolina for the first time since making his pro debut on April 2, 2017. Gillam made 36 saves in what would end up being an overtime loss for the Orlando Solar Bears.
  • Josh Gratton made his season debut for South Carolina on Friday. He last played in North America with the Manchester Monarchs when they were in the AHL in the 2014-15 season. Friday’s game marked his first ECHL game in over 13 years. Gratton also spent time with the Phoenix Coyotes and Philadelphia Flyers along with their AHL affiliates during his career and has been playing in Europe for the last four seasons.
  • Railers wore their orange alternate jerseys during Wednesday’s game. I presume they will end up wearing them for the other games on the road trip this weekend as well. The ECHL’s mandated “jersey reversal” date will come later this month, on January 25.
  • As mentioned during the first intermission on the audio feed, Boston Bruins legend Terry O’Reilly will be making an appearance at the Railers game on January 18. As is the case with most celebrity signings, he’ll be signing autographs on the concourse from 6 – 7:30 that night.
  • 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  J. Holmstrom #12 “A” M. Schmalz #17  N. Sorkin #8
Forward Line 2  B. Almeida #19 “A”  D. Willick #11  T. Barnes #7
Forward Line 3  Y. Turcotte #51 / I. Kosorenkov #10  T. Kelley #37  W. Hudson #23
LD RD
Defense Line 1  T. Mueller #24  M. Cornell #6 “C”
Defense Line 2  R. MacKinnon #4  C. Doherty #28
Defense Line 3  T. Panico #2  A. Vanier #3
G
Starting Goaltender  Mitch Gillam #35
Backup Goaltender  Evan Buitenhuis #34

Highlights