GLENS FALLS, NY – The Worcester Railers HC (10-17-1-0, 21 points) returned from the holiday break with an entertaining back-and-forth 5-4 overtimewin over the host Adirondack Thunder (11-14-3-5, 30 points) in front of 3,148 fans at the Cool Insuring Arena on Friday evening.
Shane Walsh and Dante Salituro each netted a pair of goals to lead the way offensively and Evan Buitenhuis made 31 saves on 35 shots in net for his sixth win of the season. Jack Stander also scored for Worcester as the Railers won back-to-back road games for the first time this season. Rookie Joe Murdaca made 27 saves in net for the Thunder as Adirondack dropped their season high 11th straight game and their 8th straight loss on home ice. Ross Olsson, Barry Almeida, and Nic Pierog all added two assists for Worcester as Salituro tied the score late in the third period with the extra attacker before winning the game at 1:53 of overtime. Justin Murray was spectacular on the blue line adding an assist and picked up his third fighting major in the win.
Shane Walsh netted a pair of goals in a feisty first period to kick things off. Walsh (8th goal of season) found the back of the net assisted by Almeida at 4:51 to give Worcester a 1-0 lead. Adirondack tied the score at 11:07 as Ara Nazarian (5th goal) fired home a rebound past Buitenhuis. The Railers struck on the power play and went ahead 2-1 after Walsh (9th goal) deflected a Jordan Samuels-Thomas centering feed past netminder Murdaca at 12:39. Jake Linhart (3rd goal) was the late man in on a rush and tied the score at 2-2 for the Thunder at 15:33. Justin Murray (3rd fighting major) went toe-to-toe with Alexandre Carrier at 12:32 and Gabriel Verpaelst left the bench to instigate a fight with Cody Payne (1st fighting major) at 16:40 in a physical first frame that saw Worcester outshot the Thunder 14-11 through 20 minutes of play.
Each team fired 11 shots in an evenly played second period but the only score came of the stick of Railers defenseman Jack Stander (2nd goal) as he scored his first goal of a Railer with a 30 foot blast from the center slot after a feed from behind the net by Olsson at 8:11 to give Worcester a 3-2 advantage. Shots were 25-23 in favor of the Railers through 40 minutes of play.
Adirondack scored twice in a 4:08 span in the third period to take a 4-3 lead as Alex Tonge (3rd goal) tied the score at 10:10 and Mike Szmatula (12th goal) gave the Thunder their first lead at 14:18 with a power play tally. With Buitenhuis on the bench for the extra attacker, Salituro (6th goal) sent a shot through a screen that snuck through the netminders pads at 18:09 to tie the score at 4-4.
In overtime, the Railers controlled the play before Salituro (7th goal) tapped home a wrap around pass through the crease by Almeida at 1:53 to give Worcester their first overtime win of the season.
The Railers are back in action on a BIG GAME Saturday on Home for the Holidays Night at the DCU Center with a 7 p.m. start against the Maine Mariners.
Notes: Three Stars: 3rd star: Dante Salituro (2 goals); 2nd star: Mike Szmatula (1 goal, 1 assist); 1st star: Shane Walsh (2 goals)… Final shots were 35-32 in favor of Adirondack… Joe Murdaca (0-0-3) made 27 saves on 32 shots Adirondack… Evan Buitenhuis (6-9-0) made 31 saves on 35 shots for Worcester while Ian Milosz served as the backup… Worcester went 1-for-5 on the power play while Adirondack went 1-for-4… Yanick Turcotte (suspended by ECHL) and Tanner Pond (Injured Reserve) did not dress for Worcester… Jordan Samuels-Thomas returned to the lineup after missing the last game due to injury and added an assist… Mike Cornell, David Quenneville, 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 Dec 26… Before the game, Anthony Florentino was suspended by the club in order for him to pursue other opportunities… Connor Doherty is the only Railers player to play in the first 28 games this season Shane Walsh (5-0-5), Barry Almeida (1-4-5), Nic Pierog (1-3-4), Jack Stander (1-1-2) and Dante Salituro (2-3-5) all have two game point streaks for Worcester… Worcester now has 13 fighting majors this season as Justin Murray (3rd) and Cody Payne (1st pro fight) dropped the mitts… The Railers are now 6-7-0-0 under coach Cunniff… Worcester is now 19-10-2-0 all-time vs. the Thunder and 12-5-1-0 at the Cool Insuring Arena… It was the first overtime win of the season for the Railers.
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