ECHL Worcester Railers HC

Playoff Primer - March 14, 2022

Published on March 14, 2022 under ECHL (ECHL)
Worcester Railers HC News Release


WORCESTER, Mass. - The Worcester Railers Hockey Club (@RailersHC on Twitter), proud ECHL (@ECHL) affiliate of the New York Islanders (@NYIslanders), currently have 19 games remaining in the 2021-22 regular season schedule and hold the fourth and final playoff spot. Worcester heads on the road for a Wednesday matchup vs. Trois-Rivières which kicks off a stretch of nine games in 12 days with a home three-in-three weekend vs. South Carolina Friday and Newfoundland Saturday and Sunday at the DCU Center this weekend.

NORTH DIVISION STANDINGS

1. Reading Royals (19 GR, 32-12-6-2, 0.692)

2. Newfoundland Growlers (16 GR, 32-16-3-0, 0.657)

3. Trois-Rivières Lions (19 GR, 24-22-3-1, 0.520)

4. Worcester Railers (19 GR, 24-22-4-2, 0.519)

5. Maine Mariners (18 GR, 24-24-4-2, 0.500)

6. Adirondack Thunder (17GR, 23-29-2-0, 0.444)

LAST WEEK'S GAMES (2-0-0-0)

Wednesday, Mar. 9 Worcester (6) at Maine (3) Box Score Highlights

Friday, Mar. 11 Worcester (5) vs. Adirondack (4) Box Score Highlights

THIS WEEK'S GAMES

Wednesday, Mar. 16 at Trois-Rivières 7:00pm

Friday, Mar. 18 vs. South Carolina 7:05pm

Saturday, Mar. 19 vs. Newfoundland 7:05pm

Sunday, Mar. 20 vs. Newfoundland 3:05pm

REMAINING SCHEDULE

Games: 19

Home: 6

Away: 13

6X - Trois-Rivières Lions (4 away / 2 home)

5X - Newfoundland Growlers (3 away / 2 home)

3X - Reading Royals (3 away)

3X - Adirondack Thunder (3 away)

1X - Maine Mariners (1 home)

1X - South Carolina Stingrays (1 home)

RISING RAILERS

#8 Bobby Butler returned the lineup on Wednesday for the first time since Feb. 6 and tallied two assists last week and now is (2-6-8) in eight games this season.

#10 Blake Christensen has (3-1-4) in his last three games.

#11 Nolan Vesey has points in seven of his last eight games (4-6-10) including three multi-point performances and points in 10 of his last 13 games (6-10-16). Vesey has 13 multi-point games.

#14 Jordan Lavallee-Smotherman leads the Railers in goals (25) and points (44) while ranking tied for third in goals across the ECHL. He has (3-2-5) in his last five games and notched his 8th multi-goal outing on Saturday night.

#16 Jacob Hayhurst has points in three of his last four games (2-2-4).

#18 Reece Newkirk has points in four of his last five games (2-3-5).

#23 Ross Olsson has goals in back-to-back games and five in his last six games. He is tied for second in the ECHL with 10 power-play goals.

#24 Cole Coskey has a three-game point streak (2-4-6) including points in seven of his last nine games (4-11-15). The 7th round draft pick of the New Islanders back in 2019 has (9-20-29) in 26 games for Worcester since being assigned by the Bridgeport Islanders on Jan. 6.

#81 Anthony Repaci has a three-game point streak (1-4-5).

NOTABLE NUGGETS

Personal

Ross Olsson recorded his second hat trick of the season on Feb. 26 in a 4-2 win over Idaho. He registered his 50thpoint as a Railer on Mar. 9 with a goal in a 6-3 win at Maine. No other player in franchise history has scored multiple hat tricks in a season. Prior to this season the Railers had only recorded three regular season hat tricks in team history. This season alone they have scored three; Ross Olsson (11/26/21 + 2/26/22) and Jordan Lavallee-Smotherman (12/11/21). Olsson is second in the ECHL with 10 power-play goals.

Jordan Lavallee-Smotherman is tied for second in the ECHL with (25) goals while leading all Railers skaters in that category as well as points (25-19-44). The captain leads Worcester with 14 multi-point games including eight multi-goal games.

Team

Goal Scoring

The Railers rank sixth in the ECHL averaging 3.52 goals for and have scored 4+ goals 23 times this season posting a record of (20-2-1-0). Heading into the year the Railers had scored 4+ goals:

2017-18: 16X (14-1-1)

2018-19: 14X (9-3-1-1)

2019-20: 9X (5-2-2-0)

Worcester has seven different players with double digits in goals; Lavallee-Smotherman (25), Olsson (19), Repaci (18), Beaudoin/Christensen (13), and Hayhurst/Vesey (12).

Power-Play

Worcester ranks fifth in the ECHL on the power-play at 23% (42/183) and have scored a power-play goal in ten of the last 14 games 16-for-49 (32.7%) and in 12 of the last 17 games 18-for-58 (31%). Olsson leads the team with 10 man advantage goals and 13 points. Cole Coskey leads the Railers with 10 power-play assists while 14 different players have scored at least one power-play goal while 26 different players have recorded a point.

STATISCAL LEADERS

Points: (44) Jordan Lavallee-Smotherman

Goals: (25) Jordan Lavallee-Smotherman

Assists: (27) Jacob Hayhurst

Plus/Minus: (+17) Nolan Vesey

PIMS: (96) Ross Olsson

PPG: (10) Ross Olsson

SH Goals: (2) Jacob Hayhurst

GW Goals: (5) Anthony Repaci

Shots: (168) Jordan Lavallee-Smotherman

Wins: (13) Colten Ellis

GAA: (3.03) Colten Ellis

SV %: (.911) Colten Ellis

Check out the Worcester Railers HC Statistics

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