READING, PA – The Worcester Railers HC (16-23-2-0, 34 points) headed into the ECHL All-Star break with a come from behind 3-2 overtime win over the host Reading Royals (22-13-5-0, 49 points) in front of 3,253 fans at the Santander Arena on Monday afternoon.
Shane Walsh, Drew Callin (1 goal,1 assist), and Jack Stander all scored for the Railers while netminder Evan Buitenhuis was excellent making 42 saves on 44 shots for his 10th win of the season. Corey Mackin and Garrett Cockerill scored for the Royals while Kirill Ustimenko made 28 saves in net for the overtime loss. Barry Almeida added two assists for Worcester which included the primary helper on Stander’s overtime game winner at 4:55 of the extra frame. The Railers are now 1-3-0-0 on their five-game road trip and improve to 2-2 in overtime this season.
Despite taking a pair of high sticking penalties, the Railers looked strong in the opening frame and grabbed a 1-0 lead at 10:06 as Walsh (12th goal of season) finished off a nice 2-on-1 chance with Cody Payne. Buitenhuis was strong between the pipes with 16 saves as Worcester took a one goal lead into the first intermission.
Reading would score twice on 15 shots in the middle period to take a 2-1 lead through 40 minutes. Mackin (15th goal) tied the score at 1-1 after Garrett Mitchell sent a no look backhand pass from behind the net to Mackin who was stationed at the side of the net at 3:36. Defenseman Cockerill (5th goal) gave the Royals a 2-1 advantage at 17:12 after a nice feed from Frankie DiChiara. Shots were 31-19 in favor of the Royals through 40 minutes of play.
Callin (9th goal) tied the score at 2-2 with a terrific shot on the power play at 11:55 of the third period assisted by Kyle Thomas and Ryan MacKinnon. Neither team would find the net the rest of the frame with Reading outshooting Worcester 11-9 in the third period as the two clubs headed to overtime tied 2-2.
Stander put the puck in the net twice in the overtime session, the first was ruled that it was kicked in, but the second on the backhand at 4:55 assisted by Almeida and Callin gave the Railers the 3-2 road victory.
After enjoying a three-day ECHL All-Star break, the Railers return to action on Friday, January 24th with a 7:15 p.m. start in Maine against the Mariners.
Notes: Three Stars: 3rd star: Evan Buitenhuis (42 saves, Win); 2nd star: Garrett Mitchell (2 assists); 1st star: Jack Stander (OTG)… Final shots were 44-31 in favor of Reading… Kirill Ustimenko (15-4-5) made 28 saves on 31 shots for Reading… Evan Buitenhuis (10-13-1) made 42 saves on 44 shots for Worcester while Ian Milosz served as the backup… Worcester went 1-for-4 on the power play while Reading went 0-for-4… Worcester has been shorthanded an ECHL high 39 more times than their opponents this season… Dante Salituro, Jordan Samuels-Thomas, Kyle McKenzie, Ivan Chukarov (injury), JD Dudek (Injured Reserve), and Tanner Pond (Injured Reserve) did not dress for Worcester… Eric Cairns, Chris Terreri, and Bob Deraney were behind the bench for the Railers as coach Cunniff served game two of his two game ECHL suspension… Bo Brauer skated on the blue line for Worcester… Mike Cornell, David Quenneville, Linus Soderstrom, and Jakub Skarek are all with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers… Drew Callin and Ben Thomson led Worcester skaters with four shots… Mackinnon, Payne, Almeida (2), Thomas, and Callin all recorded assists for the Railers… The Railers are now 12-13-1-0 under GM/coach Cunniff… Worcester is now 8-12-2-0 on the road this season… The Railers are now 16-10-1-0 all-time vs. the Royals and 7-8-0-0 at the Santander Arena… The Railers enter the All-Star break eight points behind the Maine Mariners for the fourth and final playoff spot in the North Division with 31 games left.
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