GLENS FALLS, NY – The Worcester Railers HC (35-26-4-4, 78 points) kicked off their three-game road trip with their fourth straight win with a 4-1 victory over the host Adirondack Thunder (39-24-3-4, 85 points) in front of 2,880 fans at the Cool Insuring Arena on Easter Sunday. With the win, the Railers jumped past the Wheeling Nailers for the fourth and final playoff spot in the North Division.
Franke DiChiara scored twice, TJ Syner and Mike Cornell also found the back of the net for Worcester while Mitch Gillam made 27 saves in his 12th straight start in net for his 22nd win of the season as the Railers are now one point ahead of the Wheeling Nailers for the final playoff spot in the North Division – the Railers have one game in hand with three games left. The Railers won all four games in their 4-in-5 week without trailing in any of the four games.
A feisty first period had playoff intensity and the Railers would score the only goal as DiChiara (8th goal of season) buried a hard shot from the right slot past the glove of netminder Mackenzie Blackwood at 10:55 assisted by Cornell and Barry Almeida. Shots were 10-5 in favor of the Railers through 20 minutes of play.
Adirondack tied the score on the power play with a wicked shot from the center point by Troy Bourke (10th) with traffic in front of Gillam at 6:17 of the second period. Matty Gaudreau was boarded from behind by Mathieu Brodeur in the Adirondack zone which resulted with no call so Ben Masella dropped the mitts and fed Brodeur with a series of uppercuts at 7:29. Syner (9th) gave the Railers a 2-1 advantage as he followed up his original shot and snapped a rebound into the net at 15:55 assisted by Nick Saracino and Gaudreau. Shots were 19-14 in favor of the Thunder through 40 minutes but Worcester held a 2-1 advantage into the second intermission.
DiChiara (9th) would add insurance after he crashed the net and buried a beautiful cross ice feed by Josh Holmstrom on the rush at 13:04 to give the Railers a 3-1 lead. Cornell (5th) would seal the deal with an unassisted empty netter at 19:50 to give Worcester the 4-1 win. Gillam made nine more saves in the final frame to keep the Thunder off the board.
Worcester heads to Reading, PA to battle the Royals on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Notes: Three Stars: 3rd star: Mitch Gillam; 2nd star: Troy Bourke; 1st star: Frankie DiChiara…Final shots were 28-25 in favor of Adirondack… MacKenzie Blackwood (1-1-1) made 21 saves on 24 shots for Adirondack… Olivier Mantha was the backup for the Thunder… Mitch Gillam (22-14-2) made 27 saves on 28 shots in his 20th start in the last 21 games for Worcester and his 12th straight start overall… Will King was the backup goaltender for the Railers… Worcester went 2-for-4 on the power play while Adirondack went 1-for-4… Josh Monk (injury), Chris Langkow (injury), Tommy Kelley (injury), Connor Doherty, Dwyer Tschantz, Josh McArdle, and Maurizio Colella did not dress for Worcester… Kellen Jones, Eamon McAdam, Yanick Turcotte, Jeff Kubiak and Kyle Schempp are currently on recall with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers… Before the game, Justin Hamonic and Dwyer Tschantz were loaned back to Worcester by the Utica Comets (AHL)… The Railers are in the middle of a stretch where they play four games in five days and seven games in 12 days to close out the season… Barry Almeida (1-5-6) and Nick Saracino (2-3-5) now have four game point streaks… Matty Gaudreau (1-2-3) now has a two-game point streak… This was the only game scheduled on Easter Sunday in the AHL and the ECHL… Worcester finished with a 5-1-1-0 record at the Cool Insuring Arena this season… The four game win streak ties a season high for Worcester as the Railers are now 9-1-1 in their last 11 games overall.
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