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ECHL Worcester Railers HC

Four Point Night from Bobby Butler Propels Railers to 5-1 Win over Adirondack

March 25, 2022 - ECHL (ECHL)
Worcester Railers HC News Release


Glens Falls, NY - The Worcester Railers HC (28-25-4-2, 62pts) beat the Adirondack Thunder (25-33-2-0, 52pts) on Friday night by the final score of 5-1 in front of a crowd of 3, 320 at Cool Insuring Arena. The Railers are back in Glens Falls at Cool Insuring Arena on Saturday, March 26th to take on the Adirondack Thunder at 7:00 p.m.

Worcester fell behind midway through the period when the Thunder were able to clean up a puck in front of the net, but Mitchell Balmas (2-1-3) from Bobby Butler (2-2-4) tied things up at 1-1. It was a back-and-forth second period up until the very end of the frame, where two up ice rushes were capped off with goals for the Railers from Balmas and Anthony Repaci (1-0-1) to put the Railers ahead 3-1 going into the third. The former Olympian Butler broke through in the third as Myles McGurty (0-1-1) set him up to make it a 4-1 Worcester lead. Butler would pot his second of the night on an empty netter, as the Railers held on to win 5-1 over Adirondack. Shots in the game were even at 37 apiece.

The Railers were buzzing early, outshooting Adirondack 12-4 just midway through the first period. The Thunder would strike first however, as Pete MacArthur (8th) picked up a rebound off of the pads of Ken Appleby and went around the former member of the Thunder to tuck it in and give Adirondack the 1-0 lead. Then, in only his second road game of the season, Bobby Butler sent a centering feed from the near corner to Mitchell Balmas (4th) in front who ripped it home past Brandon Kasel to tie the game 1-1 going into the intermission. The Railers had two power play opportunities but couldn't convert on either look. Worcester outshot Adirondack 17-8 in the frame.

In the second, Adirondack was able to get into more of a rhythm. They held a lead in zone time possession, keeping the Railers on their heels for a majority of the period. Worcester went on the penalty kill twice in the frame as Max Newton and Butler each went to the box one after another. The penalty kill held strong for Worcester, as it has the past few weeks to keep the game tied 1-1. Worcester then got a power play chance of their own as Tyler Irvine went to the box for Holding. They had a few chances on the man-advantage, but nothing was able to connect as the game remained tied. Then, with just a minute to go in the period, Balmas (5th) broke through the Adirondack defense and ripped a shot home off of the right leg of Kasel in net as he recorded his second of the game and put Worcester up 2-1. Anthony Repaci (19th) just 31 seconds later received a cross-ice feed from Nolan Vesey and wristed the puck past Kasel, putting Worcester up 3-1 going into the second intermission. Worcester was outshot 15-11 in the second, but were still outshooting the Thunder 28-23 through two periods.

It was the Marlborough native, Bobby Butler (3rd) who got on the board in the third period. Butler was parked in the slot when Railers Defenseman Myles McGurty found him from the far corner, enabling Butler to beat Kasel blocker side to push the Worcester lead to 4-1. With the goal, Butler was up to three points on the night as he assisted on both of Balmas' goals as well. With three minutes remaining in regulation, the Thunder would pull Kasel for the extra attacker to try to make up the three-goal deficit which faced them. Butler would end up finding the back of the empty net for his second goal of the period and fourth point of the night, giving the game its final score of 5-1. Shots in the period were in favor of Adirondack 14-9, and were tied at the end of the game at 37 apiece.

Notes:

Three Stars: 3rd Star: Ken Appleby (36 saves, 1GA, .973 SV%), 2nd Star: Mitchell Balmas (2-1-3, +4, 4 shots), 1st Star: Bobby Butler (2-2-4, +4, 5 shots)... Final shots were tied 37-37... Brandon Kasel (7-14-0) made 32 saves on 36 shots for Adirondack... Ken Appleby (11-10-1) made 36 saves on 37 shots for Worcester, while Colten Ellis served as the backup... Worcester went 0-for-3 on the power play while Adirondack went 0-for-3... Liam Coughlin (IR), Felix Bibeau (IR), Chris Ordoobadi (IR), Grant Jozefek (IR), Blake Christensen (INJ), Jordan Lavallee-Smotherman (INJ), and Ethan Price (DNP) Bobby Butler led the Railers in shots with 5... The Railers are now 28-15-2-0 all-time vs. the Thunder and 15-7-1-0 at Cool Insuring Arena against Adirondack.

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