ST. JOHN’S, NL – The Worcester Railers HC (10-19-2-0, 21 points) closed out 2019 falling 4-3 in overtime to the Newfoundland Growlers (22-10-0-0, 42 points) in front of 3,665 fans at Mile One Centre on Tuesday.
Drew Callin (2-0-2) and Dante Salituro all scored goals for Worcester while Bo Brauer (0-2-2) added two assists. Evan Buitenhuis made 32 saves in net for the loss. Newfoundland made it their 12th straight win on home ice and trailed 3-1 heading into the third period but received goals from Justin Brazeau and Colt Conrad to force overtime. Zach O’Brien finished off the game with a breakaway goal in overtime while Angus Redmond made 25 saves in net for the win.
Worcester took two penalties in the first period and the Growlers would capitalize on the second one when Marcus Power (15th goal of season) tapped home a rebound after Buitenhuis at 14:02 to give Newfoundland a 1-0 lead which they took to the locker room after 20 minutes of play. The Growlers outshot the Railers 14-5 in the first frame.
The Railers came alive in the second period when Jordan Samuels-Thomas led a two on one rush and slid a pass to his right to Salituro (8th goal) who roofed one over the glove of Angus Redmond at 5:30 tie the game at 1-1 in the second period. Just 15 seconds later, Callin fired a laser from the top of the right circle was too hot to handle as it went blazing by the right shoulder of Redmond giving Worcester a 2-1 advantage. The Railers led 2-1 after 40 minutes of play and outshot Newfoundland 12-11 in the second frame.
Newfoundland was able to score two goals in the third frame one at 6:24 from Brazeau (12th goal) and then at 14:09 from Conrad (4th goal) to tie the game at 3-3 and the two teams headed to overtime.
O’Brien (8th goal) proved to be the hero scoring just 24 seconds into overtime on a breakaway beating Buitenhuis through the five-hole to give Newfoundland a 4-3 win for their 12th straight win on home ice.
The Railers travel back to Worcester on Wednesday and then will take on the Reading Royals in Reading on Friday and Saturday.
Notes: Three Stars: 3rd star: Evan Buitenhuis (32 saves); 2nd star: Aaron Luchuk (1 assist, 7 shots); 1st star: Zach O’Brien (game winning goal) … Final shots were 36-28 in favor of Newfoundland… Angus Redmond (6-0-0) made 25 saves on 28 shots Newfoundland… Evan Buitenhuis (6-10-1) made 32 saves on 36 shots for Worcester while Ian Milosz served as the backup… Worcester went 0-for-2 on the power play while Newfoundland went 2-for-4… Kyle McKenzie (injury), JD Dudek (injury) and Tanner Pond (Injured Reserve), did not dress for Worcester… Mike Cornell, David Quenneville, Linus Soderstrom, and Jakub Skarek are all currently on recall with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers… Kyle Thomas signed a PTO with the San Diego Gulls (AHL) on December 26th… Connor Doherty is the only Railers player to play in the first 31 games this season… Drew Callin (0-2-2) recorded his second multi-goal performance of his career and now has five goals in his last eight games… Dante Salituro (1-0-1) had a team high five shots… The Railers finished 2019 with a record of 29-34-6-2…Worcester scored two goals within 15 seconds which is a Railers record… The Railers are now 6-10-0-0 under coach Cunniff… Worcester is now 4-11-0-0 versus the Growlers all time and 1-7-0-0 at the Mile One Centre.
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