WORCESTER, MA – The Worcester Railers HC (25-22-5-4, 59 points) returned home from their season long seven game road trip to defeat the visiting Adirondack Thunder (31-20-5-2, 69 points) in front of 4,018 fans at the DCU Center on Sunday afternoon. With the win, the Railers are now five points behind the Maine Mariners (64 points) and the Manchester Monarchs (64 points) for the third and fourth spots in the North Division.
Bo Brauer (1-1-2), Tyler Barnes, Tommy Kelley (1-1-2), and Nick Sorkin scored for Worcester while Mitch Gillam made 27 saves as the Railers played their first home game since Feb 10. Peter MacArthur added two assists for the Thunder while goaltender Logan Thompson made 26 saves in net. It was the third straight win for Worcester over Adirondack as Yanick Turcotte picked up his team leading 12th fighting major and added an assist in the home win.
Worcester outshot Adirondack 11-4 in the first period but trailed 1-0 after 20 minutes of play. Dylan Walchuk (12th goal of season) slammed home a feed from behind the net after a Railers turnover at 5:04 of the first period for the only score.
The Railers grabbed a 2-1 lead in the second period as Brauer (6th) deflected a Turcotte shot from on top of the crease at 8:17 and Barnes (23rd) roofed a shot from on top of the crease on the backhand at 10:12. Adirondack tied the score 2-2 on their third power play as a James Henry shot broke off the blocker of Gillam and flipped behind him and was shuffled into the net by Colby Sissons (1st) at 19:41 to close out the period. Worcester held a 21-14 shot advantage through 40 minutes.
Kelley (2nd) netted the eventual game winner at 4:20 of the third period after his shot from the left slot broke through the Thunder rookie netminder to give Worcester the 3-2 lead. Turcotte (12th fighting major) dropped Andrew Tessier with a series of lefts and rights in a one-sided fight at 5:38 to give the DCU Center crowd a buzz. Gillam stopped Matt Salhany on a shorthanded breakaway with about five minutes left to keep the Railers ahead 3-2. Sorkin (12th) added an empty netter at 19:46 to put the game away and to give the Railers the 4-2 home victory.
The Railers and the Thunder battle again in Glens Falls, NY on Wednesday and Friday at 7 p.m.
Notes: Three Stars: 3rd star: Yanick Turcotte (assist, fight) 2nd star: Bo Brauer (1-1-2) 1st star: Tommy Kelley (GWG, Assist) … Final shots were 30-29 in favor of Worcester… Logan Thompson (1-1-0) made 26 saves on 29 shots for Adirondack…Mitch Gillam (16-13-4) made 27 saves on 29 shots for Worcester while Evan Buitenhuis served as the backup… Worcester went 0-for-3 on the power play while Adirondack went 1-for-3… Kyle McKenzie (injury), Matt Schmalz (injury), Tommy Panico (injury), Alex Vanier (injury), Connor Doherty (injury), Ross Olsson, and Ivan Kosorenkov did not dress for Worcester… Forward Ross Olsson was signed to an ATO on Friday from Endicott College… Jeff Kubiak is on recall with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers… Yanick Turcotte, Tommy Kelley, Ryan Hitchcock, Bo Brauer, Matty Gaudreau, and Josh Holmstom added assists for Worcester… The Railers are now 14-8-4-1 on home ice this season – it was their first home game since Feb 10… Ryan Hitchcock now has 24 points (10-14-24) in his last 19 games… Nick Sorkin (2-3-5) and Matty Gaudreau (2-4-6) all have four-game point streaks… The goal by Barnes was his team leading 23rd – a franchise record for the Railers… The Railers have 16 games remaining (9 home, 7 road)… Barry Almeida added five shots on goal and now has 215 shots on goal this season.
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