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Railers Suffer Tough Loss to Adirondack, 2-1

March 25, 2023 - ECHL (ECHL) - Worcester Railers HC News Release


Glens Falls, NY - The Worcester Railers HC (32-30-3-0, 67pts) lost to the Adirondack Thunder (27-26-8-2, 64pts) on Saturday night by the final score of 2-1 in front of a crowd of 5,029 at Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls, NY. The Railers are back in Worcester, MA at the DCU Center this Wednesday, March 29th to take on the Trois-Rivieres Lions at 7:05 p.m.

The two teams drew to an even 0-0 score after the first period, with Worcester outshooting the Thunder 13-9. The Railers had the only power play opportunity of the period thanks to a delay of game call against Adirondack's Matt Slick, but nothing came of it. Patrick Grasso (1-0-1) broke the stalemate 1:41 into the second before Reece Newkirk (1-0-1) would tie the game 11:31 later. Shawn Weller (1-0-1) scored the game-winner 1:01 into the third period on the power play, as Adirondack held off Worcester for the rest of the game to win 2-1.

Worcester played their best period of hockey all week long to open the final game of a three-game set between the Railers and Thunder. Worcester took the first nine shots of the game before Adirondack finally got one off on Railers goaltender Ken Appleby. Jake Theut was making his third start in net on the week against Worcester, having gone 2-0 already through Wednesday & Friday. Both goalies stood tall for the opening period of play as Worcester and Adirondack were tied after one, 0-0. Shots favored Worcester 13-9 through 20 minutes.

The stalemate would be broken on Adirondack's first shot of the second period. Patrick Grasso (31st) got in the way of a Worcester slapshot from the point and ran in the other direction with the puck unopposed. Grasso, who had netted a hat-trick the night prior in the Thunder's 4-1 win over Worcester, struck again as he beat Appleby and opened the scoring 1-0, 1:41 into the second period. It was the third game that week in which Adirondack had scored the first goal. Worcester would retaliate thanks to the efforts of Reece Newkirk (17th), who is now in his second stint with the Railers this season after being called up to Bridgeport mid-way through the month of February. The play started with Jared Brandt flipping the puck into the Adirondack zone off glass. Worcester captain Bobby Butler charged in and reached the puck first, then flipped it to a patient Newkirk in the slot. Newkirk unloaded on Theut who couldn't stop it, and it became a tie game 11:31 after the Thunder had jumped in front, 1-1. The second came to an end all tied up as Worcester continued to outshoot Adirondack 13-8 in the period, and 26-17 for the game.

The Thunder would once again score on their first shot of the period come the third. On the power-play thanks to an early tripping call against Worcester, Adirondack's Shawn Weller (11th) was parked out in front as he helped to move the puck past Appleby off a shot from the center point to make it a 2-1 Thunder lead just 61 seconds into the third period. Worcester continued to pour on offensive chances late into the game, including a flurry of opportunity with Appleby pulled with 1:48 remaining, but the Thunder kept the door shut as they beat the Railers in regulation 2-1 on Saturday evening.

Notes:

Three Stars: 3rd Star: Shawn Weller (1-0-1, 2 shots, GWG), 2nd Star: Jake Theut (33 saves, 1 GA, .971 SV%), 1st Star: Patrick Grasso (1-0-1, +1, 5 shots)... Final shots were 34-26 in favor of Worcester... Jake Thuet made 33 saves on 34 shots for the Thunder... Ken Appleby (12-11-1) made 24 saves on 26 shots for Worcester, while Henrik Tikkanen served as the backup... Worcester went 0-for-3 on the power play while Adirondack went 1-for-3... Chris Ordoobadi (DNP), Josh Victor (DNP), Billy Jerry (DNP), Quinn Ryan (IR), Jack Quinlivan (IR), Christian Evers (IR), and Max Johnson (IR) did not play for Worcester... Jacob Hayhurst led the Railers in shots with 6... The Railers are now 35-22-2-0 all-time vs. the Thunder and 19-13-1-0 at Cool Insuring Arena against Adirondack.

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