WORCESTER – They have spent the season looking up at the rest of the North Division from the bottom of the standings, but for a change “looking up” has a different meaning.
Things are looking up overall for the Railers after their first regulation victory of the season, a 6-4 triumph over the defending Kelly Cup champion Trois-Rivières Lions Friday night.
The game provided a firehose of firsts for Worcester.
It was the Railers first DCU Center victory of the season and their first on home ice in 209 days, or since they beat Adirondack here on April 5. It was the first victory in almost two full years for goaltender Tristan Lennox, who missed most of that time injured. His last previous win had been at Adirondack on Nov. 25, 2023.
It was the first time Worcester had scored six goals in a game since last March 14 versus Norfolk, the first time this season it had the lead after one period, the first time it had a 3-0 lead in a game.
“We checked off a lot of boxes with this one,” coach Nick Tuzzolino said.
At one point the Railers had a 5-1 lead. In fact they had a 5-1 lead with about five minutes left in the third period. The Lions are capable of scoring early and often. Friday night, it was late and often but Worcester had constructed the necessary cushion.
After their loss to Maine here on Sunday, Tuzzolino thought his team was making progress and was headed for a breakout. He was right, as it turned out.
“We’ve been really aggressive in practice right now,” he said, “preaching the details of scoring goals and not losing confidence.” Which is what happened Friday night.
Worcester’s scorers were, in order: Cole Donhauser, Matt DeMelis, Drew Callin, Lincoln Hatten, Ross Mitton and Riley Ginnell into an empty net.
Cam McDonald, Anthony Hora and Ryan Miotto all had two assists while Ginnell had an assist for a two-point night.
Cedric Desruisseaux, Morgan Adams-Moisan and Mark Estapa had the Trois-Rivieres goals.
The Railers won the goaltending battle. Lennox made 30 saves and was very good as his team built a lead. Benjamin Gaudreau started for the Lions and was lifted in the second period.
Earlier in the week, Tuzzolino continued his roster revamp by acquiring defenseman Adam Samuelsson from Tahoe for future considerations. Samuelsson is big and experienced and to make room for him on the roster, Worcester released defensemen Kabore Dunn and Jason Horvath.
Previously, the Railers had traded defenseman Cole Fraser to Cincinnati, also for future considerations
Donhauser gave Worcester a 1-0 lead with his third goal of the season. He scored on a power play at 4:21. Donhauser was set up by defensemen McDonald and Matthew Stief, who passed the puck point to point; McDonald took a shot from the right side and the rebound came out to Donhauser between the circles.
The Railers made it 2-0 at 13:49 as they finally capitalized on a two-man advantage, this one a long one that one point saw three Lions in the penalty box due to a series of penalties.
DeMelis beat Gaudreau from the right dot with a one-timer. Ginnell made the pass. Callin scored on a rebound at 9:02 of the second period, getting his third of the year, then Desruisseaux got the visitors on the scoreboard at 11:10.
Undeterred, the Railers bounced back to extend their lead and make it 5-1 before the period was over. Hatten scored on a classic backhander at 13:29, a rebound off a shot by Miotto. Mitton followed at 18:50 with his first Railers goal, finishing a short breakaway.
The Lions had a 14-5 edge in shots in the third period and got to within two goals twice but could not get any closer.
MAKING TRACKS – The teams meet again at 6:05 Saturday night. … Samuelsson is the son of defenseman Ulf Samuelsson, who played 1,080 games in the NHL. Railers teams have had several sons of major leaguers on the roster. That includes Cole and Troy Crowder, Mason and Ken Klee, Christian and Todd Krygier, Jake and Michal Pivonka as well as JD Dudek and father Joe, who played in the NFL. Griffin Luce’s grandfather, Don, was a longtime NHL standout as well. … Attendance was 2,320.
By Bill Ballou
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