WORCESTER, MA – The Worcester Railers HC (34-26-4-4, 76 points) scored two shorthanded goals and a power play tally to pick up their seventh straight win on home ice after a 4-1 victory over the visiting Brampton Beast (26-33-6-4, 62 points) in front of 5,829 fans at the DCU Center on a BIG GAME SATURDAY.
Dylan Willick, Matty Gaudreau, Barry Almeida, and Nick Saracino found the back of the net for Worcester while Mitch Gillam made 30 saves in his tenth straight start in net for his 21st win of the season as the Railers are now one point behind the Wheeling Nailers for the final playoff spot in the North Division. The Railers have two games in hand with four games left. Almeida also added two assists and Saracino added a helper to extend his point streak to three games.
The Railers came out buzzing in the first period and outshot the Beast 17-10 and grabbed a 1-0 lead as rookie Willick scored his first professional goal with a beautiful breakaway goal past netminder Chris Driedger at 11:20 assisted by Almeida. Gillam made 10 saves in the opening frame as the Railers had several great chances for additional goals.
Gaudreau (11th goal of season) finished off a series of perfect passes on the power play with a back door knock in assisted by Saracino and Almeida at 10:15 to give Worcester a 2-0 lead. Almeida (21st) struck at 12:21 with a shorthanded breakaway beauty with a top shelf shot to give the Railers a 3-0 advantage. Gillam was perfect through 40 minutes with 22 saves in net.
Saracino (12th) gave Worcester a 4-0 lead after he skated down the left wing and snapped a shot from 35 feet through the pads of the Beast netminder just 47 seconds into the third period. Brandon MacLean (18th) broke Gillam’s shutout at 3:27 with a rebound score to cut the Railers lead to 3-1. Gillam made 13 saves in the third period as the Railers cruised to a 4-1 home victory.
The Railers close out their four-game in five-day stretch on Sunday with a 5:05 p.m. start in Glens Falls, NY against the Adirondack Thunder.
Notes: Three Stars: 3rd star: Dylan Willick; 2nd star: Barry Almeida; 1st star: Matty Gaudreau…Final shots were 36-31 in favor of Brampton… Chris Driedger (7-6-1) made 27 saves on 31 shots for Brampton… Andrew D’Agostini was the backup for the Beast… Mitch Gillam (21-14-2) made 35 saves on 36 shots in his 19th start in the last 20 games for Worcester and his 11th straight start overall… Will King was the backup goaltender for the Railers… Worcester went 1-for-6 on the power play while Brampton went 0-for-5… Josh Monk (injury), Chris Langkow (injury), Tommy Kelley (injury) and Matt Lane 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 recalled by the Utica Comets (AHL)… Forward Maurizio Colella made his pro debut for the Railers… The Railers are now 15-2-1 in their last 18 games at the DCU Center… Worcester is now 21-12-2-0 on home ice this season… 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… With the two shorthanded goals, the Railers now have 13 this season… Barry Almeida (1-4-5) and Nick Saracino (2-2-4) now have three game point streaks… Rene Rancourt sang both anthems before the game as part of his farewell tour.
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