The Railers have been on both sides of that equation this season. On Friday evening they were in the wrong position in a 2-0 defeat against the Trois-Rivieres Lions.
The teams will play again Saturday evening at 6:05 a.m. for the annual Pink in the Rink Game.
Both goalkeepers were excellent, with Parker Gahagen taking the defeat for Worcester and Hunter Jones taking the win. The Railers and Lions are next to each other in the North Division standings and are similar in how dependent they are on goaltending.
Gahagen has helped keep Worcester in the playoff race. Jones is just behind the AHL Laval Rockets. The Lions are 11-5-0 when Jones starts and he has recorded three shutouts. Trois-Rivieres is 8-15-4 when the rest of civilization starts in goal.
It remained a 0-0 match for about 38 minutes.
Cedric Desruisseaux broke the tie at 5:43 of the second period. Morgan Adams-Moisan had an empty netter with 57 seconds left in the third. Gahagen played another great game, stopping 32 of 33 shots.
Jones wasn’t too busy, making 22 saves. However, his timing was perfect.
Although the Lions had a 14-8 advantage in shots on goal in the first period, Worcester had more big chances. It was one of the most frustrating stretches of the season for the Railers.
A short list of their great prospects would include five Class A prospects. It would include Matt DeMelis’ breakaway at 8:30, a pad save on Ryan Miotto from close range at 11:30, Anthony Repaci’s wraparound attempt at 2:50, Cole Donhauser close set up by DeMelis at 5:16, and Gabe Blanchard’s blast from the left circle that missed the net at 7:50.
The second period had more missed opportunities early on. Lincoln Hatten couldn’t convert from close range at 10:00. Miotto rang the left post at 1:30 p.m
Gahagen held scoreless for most of the second period. That included a stop on a partial breakaway by Mark Estapa just after 2 p.m. Estapa came out of the penalty area and was hindered and stopped as he entered. If he had scored, would it have counted?
It looked like Estapa hadn’t completely cleared the box when he got the puck, not that that mattered the way things turned out.
Desruisseaux got what turned out to be the game winner on a pass from Adams-Moisan. He retrieved the puck from the left corner and fed Desruisseaux as he charged through the slot. He shot a distance of more than two meters past Gahagen.
Trois-Rivieres did an excellent job of securing the lead throughout the third period, outscoring Worcester 11-6.
The defeat ended Worcester’s seven-game losing streak. The Railers are 0-1-2 in their last three games.
MAKING TRACKS – Veremyev and Cam Berg were returned by Bridgeport while Hunter Hall was released. Both Veremeyev and Berg were in uniform. …Worcester had seven skaters not in the lineup. Among them were Anthony Hora, Michael Ferrandino, Ross Mitton, Khristian Acosta, Connor Federkow and MacAuley Carson. …The number of people present was 2,700. … The referee was Julien Lapoint playing his first ever Railers game. …The Worcester Youth Orchestra played one of the best Star Spangled Banners of the season. … The DCU Center hosted the Women in Sports event. It included an appearance by Natalie Noury, a frequent guest in town in her role as a sideline reporter on Worcester Red Sox broadcasts.
By Bill Ballou
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