WORCESTER, MA – The Worcester Railers HC (19-17-3-2, 43 points) scored four first period goals to sweep the home-and-home series over the visiting Adirondack Thunder (22-15-3-2, 49 points) after a 5-1 win in front of 5,101 fans at the DCU Center on Saturday evening.
Yanick Turcotte, Woody Hudson, Ryan Hitchcock (2-1-3), and Barry Almeida (1-1-2) all scored for Worcester while Mitch Gillam made 27 saves in net for the Railers in his 12th win of the season. Dylan Willick added two assists and Turcotte was an assist away from the Gordie Howe hat trick as the Railers improved to 12-7-3-1 on home ice. Hitchcock was plus-3 as he also added an assist for a three-point night as nine different players picked up points as the Railers won for the sixth time in their last seven games.
The Railers scored four goals in the first nine minutes of the first period to grab a commanding 4-0 advantage. Kevin Hitchcock (4th goal) scored on the first shot of the game on a breakaway score on goaltender Evan Cormier just 44 seconds into the game before Turcotte (1st goal) snapped a quick shot from the right wall from 45 feet at 4:31 to give the Railers a 2-0 edge. Turcotte (6th fighting major) dropped the mitts on the ensuing faceoff against Alexandre Carrier (3rd fighting major) in a long fight at center ice as the action continued. Almeida (12th goal) struck again for Worcester at 5:07 before Hudson (5th goal) jammed home a center feed by Willick at 8:54 which would end the net for netminder Cormier. There would be no scoring the rest of the period as Worcester held an 11-8 shot advantage through 20 minutes of play.
Adirondack turned the pressure on in the second period and got on the board on the power play as John Edwardh (14th goal) snapped a quick shot through a screen from the left circle past Gillam at 8:59 to cut the Railers lead to 4-1. Each team had nine shots in the middle frame as Worcester took a 4-1 lead into the second intermission.
Hitchcock (5th goal) scored his second of the night to put the game away with a swing-a-rama-shot from behind the goal line at 11:25 of the third period to put Worcester ahead 5-1. Gillam made 10 more saves to keep the Thunder at bay as the Railers grabbed the impressive 5-1 home win.
The Railers wrap up a 3-in-3 weekend with a 3 p.m. start on Sunday in Manchester, NH versus the Monarchs.
Notes: Three Stars: 3rd star: Dylan Willick (0-2-2) 2nd star: Yanick Turcotte (Goal, Fight) 1st star: Ryan Hitchcock (2-1-3, +3) … Final shots were 31-28 in favor of Worcester… Evan Cormier (0-2-0) made 3 saves on 7 shots for Adirondack in just 8:54 before Alex Sakellaropoulos made 23 saves in relief… Mitch Gillam (12-10-1) made 27 saves on 28 shots for Worcester while Evan Buitenhuis served as the backup… Worcester went 0-for-1 on the power play while Adirondack went 1-for-2… Kyle McKenzie (injury), Tommy Kelly, Bo Brauer, Alex Vanier (injury), Tyler Mueller (injury), and Malcolm Gould (injury) did not dress for Worcester… Jeff Kubiak is on recall with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers… Matty Gaudreau returned to the lineup after he was loaned back from the Sound Tigers and was plus-1… Before the game the Railers signed defenseman Kevin Hart… The Railers are now 11-6-2-0 all-time vs the Thunder… Worcester is now 0-20 on the powerplay vs. the Thunder but 19-21 on the penalty kill… The Railers are now 12-7-3-1 on home ice this season…The Railers scored a record four goals in a span of 8:10 of the first period… Barry Almeida has a two game point streak (2-1-3)… Ivan Kosorenkov now has a three game point streak (1-2-3)… Mike Cornell added an assist and finished plus-3… The four goals in the first period were the most scored in any period this season… The five goals tied a season high… Turcotte fired a game high five shots on net… Connor Doherty finished plus-3.
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