WORCESTER, MA – The Newfoundland Growlers earned their first back-to-back wins in franchise history Saturday night with a 5-3 decision over the Worcester Railers.
Stephan Leblanc opened the scoring with an absolute blast from the point while on the power-play, beating Railers goalie Evan Buitenhuis halfway through the first period.
It would be all Growlers for the next period and a half of hockey as they would bang in three more goals from the sticks of Brady Ferguson, Giorgio Estephan and Matt Bradley. Estephan is now tied for the league lead in goals with 8.
Worcester would finally get on board at the 15:59 marker of the third period as Ivan Kosorenkov jumped on a rebound to break Mario Culina’s bid to earn a shutout in his first ever pro game.
The Railers would respond about 30 seconds later with another goal, one that required a review, this time from the stick of Tyler Barns.
The Railers would run out of steam late in the third as Matt Bradley scored his second of the night into the open net to seal the 5-2 victory for the Newfoundland Squad.
Quick Hits: Goaltender Marcus Culina made his first appearance for the Growlers, his first professional start… Giorgio Estephan’s goal ties him for the league lead in goal scoring with 8… The three stars were 3 – M. Culina (NFL), 2 – S. LeBlanc (NFL) and 1 – G. Estephan (NFL).
The Newfoundland Growlers are back at Mile One Centre for a rematch with the Worcester Railers on both Tuesday and Wednesday night.
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