PORTLAND, ME – The Worcester Railers HC (4-10-1-0, 9 points) earned a point but dropped their sxith straight game in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Maine Mariners (8-7-0-1, 17 points) on Tuesday night in front of 1,495 fans at the Cross Arena.
Matt Schmalz (1 goal, 2 assists), Kyle Thomas (1 goal, 1 assist), Cody Payne, and Nic Pierog all scored goals while Jakub Skarek made 30 saves in net as the Railers trailed 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 but relinquished a 4-3 lead late in the third period before dropping the game in overtime. Alex Kile scored the game winner in overtime as Ryan Gropp scored twice while Tom McCollum made 30 saves in net as Maine improved to 6-3-0 on home ice this season.
The Worcester Railers tied their season high with 16 shots in the first period but it was Maine who got on the board first as Morgan Adams Moisan (2nd goal of season) tipped a puck in front past Jakub Skarek at 2:26. Connor Doherty would send a puck on net from the left point and on the door step to bang it home was Kyle Thomas (4th goal) at 5:38 tying the game at 1-1. Just 14 seconds Maine came down on a two on one which was finished off by Marc-Olivier Crevier-Morin (1st goal) on the far post. A two on one for the Railers would tie the game at 2-2 when Schmalz (4th goal) sent one off a Mariners defender’s stick into the back of the net past McCollum. Shots were in favor of Maine 17-16 through 20 minutes of play with the game dead locked at 2-2.
Maine started the scoring in the second period just 49 seconds in with the first of the season by Gropp, who was able to send one over the glove of Skarek making the Mariners lead 3-2. The middle stanza was not as action filled as the first but within the final two minutes Worcester would grab their firs lead of the night. Payne (5th goal) tied the game at 3-3 at 18:19 and then with just 57 seconds left Pierog snapped one over the glove of McCollum to give the Railers a 4-3 lead. Worcester took the lead into the locker room and an edge in shots 24-21.
The only goal of the final period would come from the home team when Gropp (2nd goal) threw one on net from the right circle which was deflected of a Railers stick and into the back of the net at 13:59 to tie it things up at 4-4.
The teams headed into overtime and with just 3:07 left Kile (3rd goal) followed up his own rebound from below the right circle and sent one past Skarek to give the home team a 5-4 overtime win.
Notes: Three Stars: 3rd star: Matt Schmalz (1 goal, 2 assists, 3 points); 2nd star: Ryan Gropp (2 goals, +2, 5 shots); 1st star: Alex Kile (1 goal, 1 assist, 2 points) … Final shots were 35-34 in favor of Maine… Tom McCollum (5-3-0) made 30 saves on 34 shots for Maine… Jakub Skarek (2-4-0) made 30 saves on 35 shots for Worcester while Evan Buitenhuis served as the backup … Worcester went 0-for-4 on the power play while Maine went 0-for-6… Kyle McKenzie (injury), Anthony Florentino (injury), Barry Almeida (injury), Tanner Pond (injury), Shane Walsh (injury), Ross Olsson, and Jack Stander did not dress for Worcester… Mike Cornell wore the C for Worcester while Kyle Thomas and Jordan Samuels-Thomas wore A’s… Barry Almeida’s iron man streak with the Railers ended at 86 games… Kyle Thomas scored his first goal since October 25th… Matt Schmalz tied a career high with three points… Linus Soderstrom is currently on recall with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers… Worcester is now 4-10-0-2 all-time vs. the Mariners and 1-3-1-3 at the Cross-Insurance Arena… The Railers will be back in action on Wednesday, November 26th hosting the Newfoundland Growlers at 7 p.m. on a 2-3-4 weekday.
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