Sports stats



ECHL Worcester Railers HC

Worcester Railers Weekly Update - Week 8

December 12, 2022 - ECHL (ECHL)
Worcester Railers HC News Release


Worcester Railers goaltender Ken Appleby makes a stop while defenseman Jared Brandt stands ready
Worcester Railers goaltender Ken Appleby makes a stop while defenseman Jared Brandt stands ready
(Worcester Railers HC)

WORCESTER, Mass. - The Worcester Railers Hockey Club (@RailersHC), proud ECHL (@ECHL) affiliate of the New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) recorded a mark of 0-4-0-0 for the eighth week of the season. Worcester faced off against the Trois-Rivières Lions for one game on Wednesday night and fell 4-1. The Railers then hosted the Idaho Steelheads for three games and lost 5-1 on Friday, 4-1 on Saturday, and 5-3 on Sunday afternoon.

LAST WEEK'S GAMES

Wednesday, Dec. 7 at Trois-Rivières Lions | 4-1L

Anthony Beauregard (1-0-1) scored the first goal of the game for the Lions off of an assist from teammate Nicolas Guay (0-1-1). Defensemen Phillipe Bureau-Blais (1-0-1) followed up with the second goal for the Lions with three minutes left to go in the first. Oliver Galipeau (1-0-1) opened the scoring in the second period after his shot soared through traffic and past Tikkanen. Quin Ryan (1-0-1) scored the first goal for the Railers in the third period to make it 3-1 with 8:25 to go. William Leblanc (1-0-1) made it 4-1 Trois-Rivières and iced the game with his empty net goal at the end of the third.

Friday, Dec. 9 vs. Idaho Steelheads | 5-1L

AJ White arrived in town with two goals in 18 games. Friday night he had two in the first seven minutes or so. His first goal was at 1:32 and was unassisted. White carried down the left wing as part of a 2-on-1 and never relinquished the pack. White put it past Ken Appleby from the bottom of the left circle. Idaho's next goal was at 7:02 to make it 2-0. This time White popped in a rebound from just outside the crease. Appleby shut the door after that, though, to keep the game within reach at 2-0 after 20 minutes. The Steelheads outshot Worcester, 19-5, in that stretch. The Railers' best chance of the period was Anthony Repaci's shorthanded breakaway at 19:05 which Scheel stopped. Jared Brandt was in the box to start the second period and once again Worcester made a shorthanded bid with Jenkins being denied at 1:10. Newkirk finally got the home team on the scoreboard at 11:20, beating Scheel under the pads from the right circle. The goal, the 20th of Newkirk's Railers career, was set up by passes from Jenkins and Quin Ryan. It was a winnable game for the Railers heading into the final 20 minutes. It had a next-goal-wins feeling, but the Steelheads got the next goal as Murphy scored from in close at 3:19. It was all Idaho after that as Headrick made it 4-1 at 15:00 and Kehler closed out the scoring at 18:05.

Saturday, Dec. 10 vs. Idaho Steelheads | 4-1L

The Railers almost made it 1-0 at 6:51 of the first period when Nolan Vesey sliced down the slot alone but was stopped by Steelheads goaltender Remi Poirier, who had an excellent night with 35 saves. However, the play drew a hooking penalty by Colten Kehler and Worcester capitalized on the power play at 7:34. Ryan rammed a low shot past Poirier from about 15 feet out, set up by Liam Coughlin's pass from behind the goal line. The Railers continued to have the best of things until the game was more than half over. Worcester had a couple of great chances to add to its lead in the early minutes of the second period but could not finish. Blake Christensen made a couple of nice moves to provide himself with an open shot from about 12 feet out at 3:15 but Poirier got a piece of it. Anthony Repaci had a breakaway at 8:00 but missed the net on a backhand try. The Steelheads capitalized on that reprieve by scoring three goals in about six minutes, the first two on power plays, the third on an odd-man rush for the Steelheads. Headrick tied the game at 12:13 with a shot from the left point. Kudla put Idaho ahead at 15:58 from the left circle and Dmowski slipped a shortie past Tikkanen at 18:22, set up by Jade Miller. Dmowski's goal was the most damaging one of the night. Worcester forward Reece Newkirk was tripped into the boards behind the Idaho net and the Steelheads finished the long odd-man rush nicely. The kind of night it was for the Railers was typified by the third-period stats. Worcester had 14 shots and no goals. Idaho had one shot, and Pelton-Byce put it in behind Henrik Tikkanen at 8:50 to make it a 4-1 game.

Sunday, Dec. 11 vs. Idaho Steelheads | 5-3L

The Steelheads were 2 for 2 on the power play Sunday after going 2 for 3 Saturday. Idaho's first power-play goal by Zane Franklin at 10:21 of the second period was a bad bounce. The second, by Matt Register at 7:46 of the third period, came only six seconds after the power play began. Nolan Vesey scored two of the Railers' three goals. Reece Newkirk had the other. Jordan Kawaguchi, Owen Headrick, and Jade Miller scored the other Steelheads goals, Miller, into an empty net. Ken Appleby made 38 saves for the Railers, Adam Scheel 20 for Idaho. Vesey gave Worcester a 1-0 lead for the second game in a row when he scored his fourth of the season at 2:13 of the second period. Anthony Repaci sent Vesey away with a breakout pass that created a 2-on-1. Vesey took the shot - usually a good choice in that situation - and his 30-footer from the right circle gave the Railers the lead. It did not last that long, though, as the Steelheads scored a pair of goals in a span of three minutes to make it a 2-1 game. Kawaguchi tied it at 7:22 as he finished what amounted to a 1-on-2 rush with a wrist shot from between the circles that went off the far post and in. Franklin scored on a power play at 10:21. He flipped a shot from the left circle that went through a screen and found the top corner. Newkirk tied it at 2:38 of the third period, Register made it 3-2 at 7:46 and Vesey got his second of the night to make it 3-3 at 8:48. Idaho bounced right back as Headrick scored at 11:43 and Miller hit the empty net with 44 seconds to go.

THIS WEEK'S GAMES

Saturday, Dec. 17 vs. Newfoundland Growlers | 7:05 p.m. EST

Sunday, Dec. 18 vs. Newfoundland Growlers | 3:05 p.m. EST

INDIVIDUAL NOTES:

Reece Newkirk is 9th among all forwards in +/- (+12)

Newkirk scored his 20th career Railers goal on Friday night.

Myles McGurty is tied for ninth among ECHL defensemen in assists (10)

Henrik Tikkanen is tied for seventh in the ECHL in save percentage (.925)

Tikkanen and Ken Appleby are tied for fourth in the ECHL in wins (8)

Bobby Butler recorded his 30th career point in a Railers jersey with an assist in Saturday's game.

TEAM NOTES:

Worcester is now 16-7-1-0 on the season.

Worcester is the least penalized team in the ECHL at 8.00 penalty minutes per game. They are the only team averaging fewer than ten.

The Railers have scored the first goal of the game 15 times this season, the most in the ECHL.

Worcester leads the ECHL in first-period goals (35). No other team has 30.

The Railers are third in the ECHL in goals per game (3.79).

Worcester is 13-0-0 when leading after two periods.

Check out the Worcester Railers HC Statistics




Images from this story

Worcester Railers goaltender Ken Appleby makes a stop while defenseman Jared Brandt stands ready
Worcester Railers goaltender Ken Appleby makes a stop while defenseman Jared Brandt stands ready
   



ECHL Stories from December 12, 2022


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central