Game Story


Trois-Rivières, QC — The Worcester Railers fell 2-1 to the Trois-Rivières Lions at the Colisée Vidéotron on Wednesday evening.

The Railers scored the opening goal but allowed two in the second period. Despite making 19 shots on goal in the third period, they were unable to tie things up. Henrik Tikkanen made 28 saves in his fourteenth start of the season, and Philippe Desrosiers picked up his fifth win of the season with 37 saves for Trois-Rivieres. Worcester was unable to score on any of their five power play opportunities. Collin Adams scored the sole goal for Worcester. Ryan Francis and William LeBlanc netted goals for the Lions. It was just the third time this season Worcester lost after leading after the first period.

Collin Adams scored the first goal for the Worcester Railers at 9:39, capitalizing on a rebound after Philippe Desrosiers made an initial save. Adams was led into the zone with a pass from Bobby Butler to set-up the play. Adams was able to beat Desrosiers glove-side to extend his point streak to four games and put himself on a three-game goal streak. At the end of the first period, the Railers were ahead of their Lions with a score of 1-0.

Trois-Rivieres took advantage of a sluggish Railers team in the second period, scoring two goals in a short span of 80 seconds. Ryan Francis tied the game at 11:13, and William LeBlanc gave the Lions the lead at 12:33. The Railers struggled to generate offense during this period and only had six shots on goal.

The Lions were penalized three times in the closing three-and-a-half minutes of the third period, giving the Railers a three-man advantage (6-on-3) with Henrik Tikkanen pulled for the majority of that time. The Railers were unable to find the back of the net despite the power play and notching six shots on goal in those three minutes.

The three stars of Wednesday night’s game were:

  1. Philippe Desrosiers (Trois-Rivières) – win, 37 saves, 0.974 SV%
  2. Ryan Francis (Trois-Rivières) – 1 goal
  3. Henrik Tikkanen (Worcester) – 30 saves, 0.933 SV%

Reading Royals narrowly defeated the Maine Mariners 6-5 in the only other divisional matchup on Wednesday night. The Royals have a 9-1 record in their past ten games and have won four straight. They are four points behind the first-place tie between the Railers and the Newfoundland Growlers. The season series between the Railers and Lions is now split at one win a piece. They will face each other again on January 22nd, with the remaining three games of the series will be played at the DCU Center in Worcester.

The next stop on the road trip is a game against the Adirondack Thunder in Glens Falls on Friday. This will be the last game for the team before the holiday break before heading to Maine next Wednesday to face the Mariners.

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Box Score


Scoring 1 2 3 T
1 0 0 1
0 2 0 2
Shots 1 2 3 T
13 6 19 38
11 9 10 30
Score Team Time Scored by Assisted by Type
1 – 0 9:39 – 1st C. Adams (11) B. Butler
1 – 1 11:13 – 2nd R. Francis (4) C. Montminy
1 – 2 12:33 – 2nd W. Leblanc (5) N. Guay

Rosters

# Player G A +/- SH PIM
G 30 B. Moran 0 0 0 0 0
G 39 H. Tikkanen 0 0 0 0 0
D 2 C. McCarthy 0 0 -1 0 0
F 7 L. Coughlin 0 0 0 1 0
F 8 B. Butler 0 1 0 6 0
D 9 N. Delmas 0 0 0 2 0
F 11 N. Vesey 0 0 0 0 2
F 12 B. Beaudoin 0 0 0 2 0
F 13 B. Jerry 0 0 0 0 0
F 18 B. Christensen 0 0 0 2 0
F 19 Q. Ryan 0 0 -1 2 0
F 21 C. Adams 1 0 0 7 0
D 22 J. Solow 0 0 -1 1 2
F 23 J. Lambert 0 0 -1 4 0
D 25 P. Beaulieu 0 0 0 3 0
D 26 J. Brandt 0 0 0 1 0
D 27 M. McGurty 0 0 0 0 0
F 37 R. Newkirk 0 0 -1 3 0
F 81 A. Repaci 0 0 0 4 0
Team:
Totals: 1 1 -5 38 4
Player MIN SH SVS GA SV%
39 H. Tikkanen (L) – 30 28 2 –
Totals: – 30 28 2 –
# Player G A +/- SH PIM
G 30 P. Desrosiers 0 0 0 1 0
G 31 F. Marotte 0 0 0 0 0
C 7 B. Stapley 0 0 +1 1 4
F 14 J. Phelan 0 0 -1 1 0
F 16 K. El-Mir 0 0 0 0 0
LW 17 C. Collin 0 0 -1 1 0
C 21 C. Montminy 0 1 +1 2 0
D 25 M. Brodeur 0 0 0 1 0
D 28 F. Thibeault 0 0 +1 1 0
RW 44 R. Francis 1 0 +1 5 0
F 55 N. Lariviere 0 0 0 3 0
D 58 S. Centorame 0 0 +1 2 0
D 59 C. Welsh 0 0 0 2 0
D 65 P. Bureau-Blais 0 0 0 1 0
C 74 W. Leblanc 1 0 0 3 0
D 81 J. Horvath 0 0 0 0 2
F 89 R. McKay 0 0 0 1 2
RW 91 N. Guay 0 1 +1 4 0
F 92 A. Beauregard 0 0 +1 1 2
Team:
Totals: 2 2 5 30 10
Player MIN SH SVS GJ SV%
30 P. Desrosiers (W) – 38 37 1 –
Totals: – 38 37 1 –

Penalties

Time Team Player Mins Infraction
10:56 – 1st N. Vesey 2 Tripping – minor (57.2)
15:20 – 1st A. Beauregard 2 Hooking – minor (55.2)
3:02 – 2nd J. Horvath 2 Hooking – minor (55.2)
3:23 – 3rd J. Solow 2 High-sticking – minor (60.2)
17:21 – 3rd B. Stapley 2 Slashing – minor (61.2)
18:41 – 3rd R. McKay 2 Slashing – minor (61.2)
19:32 – 3rd B. Stapley 2 Holding – minor (54.2)


Notes

  • Worcester Scratches: Christian Evers, Jack Quinlivan, and Zack Bross.
    Trois-Rivieres Scratches: Bradley Johnson, Conner Chaulk, and Jonathan Joannette.
  • Ken Appleby was reassigned to the Bridgeport Islanders on Monday. The transaction comes after Cory Schneider, was called up to the NHL team on an emergency basis earlier that day. Semyon Varlamov is reportedly day-to-day with a lower-body injury with the New York Islanders, leaving with 6:22 left in Saturday night’s 5-2 win over Vegas. The Railers have signed Brent Moran to fill in for him. Moran played for the Fayetteville Marksmen of the FPHL earlier this season, where he had a record of 4 wins, 3 losses, and 2 overtime losses in 10 games, along with a goals against average (GAA) of 3.23 and a save percentage (SV%) of 0.903. Moran also attended the Railers’ training camp during the preseason. Moran will wear number 30 for the Railers.
  • Blade Jenkins was recalled to Bridgeport before Wednesday’s game. Forwards Hudson Fasching and Simon Holmstrom were recalled to Long Island in a concurrent transaction the same day.
  • The Railers weren’t the only north division team making goaltender moves. The Trois Rivieres Lions acquired Francis Marcotte, who had a record of 0 wins and 2 losses, a 3.70 goals allowed average, and a 0.872 save percentage, from the Adirondack Thunder in exchange for cash. As a result of this move, the Lions released Thomas Sigouin. The Thunder had four goaltenders on their roster, and Sigouin had recorded a shutout in his only appearance this season, which came in a game against the Norfolk Admirals on November 19.
  • Following Wednesday night’s game, the Railers had the following streaks:
    • Collin Adams extended his point streak to four games. (3-4-7)
    • Collin Adams is now on a three-game goal streak.
    • Connor McCarthy is without a point in his last eight games.
    • Jared Brandt is without a point in his last seven games.
    • Liam Coughlin snapped a four-game point streak. (1-5-6)
    • Nolan Vesey snapped a three-game point streak. (3-1-4)
    • Billy Jerry is without a point in 11-games played this season, five of which are with Worcester.

Railers Lines

Forward Lines LW C RW
Forward Line 1 Reece Newkirk #37 Jimmy Lambert #23 Quinn Ryan #19
Forward Line 2 Blake Christensen #18 Brent Beaudoin #12 Anthony Repaci #81
Forward Line 3 Collin Adams #21 Billy Jerry #13 Bobby Butler #8
Rotated Forwards Nolan Vesey #11 Liam Coughlin #7 –
Defensive Pairings LD RD
Defense Pair 1 Jared Brandt #26 Myles McGurty #27
Defense Pair 2 Philip Beaulieu #25 Noah Delmas #9
Defense Pair 3 Jeff Solow #22 Connor McCarthy #2
Rotated Defensemen – –
Goalie Tandem G
Starting Goaltender Henrik Tikkanen #39
Backup Goaltender Brent Moran #30

Lions Lines

Forward Lines LW C RW
Forward Line 1 Cedric Montminy #21 Anthony Beauregard #92 Ryan Francis #44
Forward Line 2 William Leblanc #74 Brett Stapley #7 Nicolas Guay #91
Forward Line 3 Nicolas Lariviere #55 Karl El-Mir #16 Riley McKay #89
Rotated Forwards Chrystopher Collin #17 Jason Horvath #81 –
Defensive Pairings LD RD
Defense Pair 1 Philippe Bureau-Blais #65 Francis Thibeault #28
Defense Pair 2 Connor Welsh #59 Santino Centorame #58
Defense Pair 3 Mathieu Brodeur #25 Jason Horvath #81
Rotated Defensemen – –
Goalie Tandem G
Starting Goaltender Philippe Desrosiers #30
Backup Goaltender Francis Marotte #31

On-Ice Officials

– –
Referee Samuel Bernier (33)
Referee Yannick Jobin-Manseau (30)
Linesman Guillaume Brunelle (81)
Linesman Philippe Pilon (68)


Highlights

The highlights from Wednesday’s game can be found on the ECHL website.

Notable Tweets as the Game Happened


Railers Lines


Lions Lines


Colin Adams goal (1-0 Railers)


Ryan Francis goal (Tied 1-1)


Willam LeBlanc goal (2-1 Lions)