TROIS-RIVIERES, QC —The Worcester Railers hockey team (25-24-4-2, 56 pts) beat the Trois-Rivières Lions (22-26-3-3, 50 pts) on Friday night by the final score of 4-3 in front of a crowd of 1,838 at the Colisée Videotron.
The Railers play one more game at the Colisée Videotron this weekend against the Trois-Rivières Lions on Saturday at 3 p.m.
Worcester scored on a power play in the first on a goal from Jake Pivonka (1-0-1). The Lions tied things before the second with a goal from Brycen Martin (1-1-2). Trois-Rivières grabbed the lead early in the second on a shot from John Parker-Jones to make it 2-1.
The final four goals were scored in a span of 2:40 midway through the second, coming from Artyom Kulakov (1-0-1), Andrei Bakanov (1-0-1), Anthony Callin (1-1-2) for Worcester, and Nicolas Guay (1-0-1) for the Lions to make it 4-3. Worcester held onto the lead for the final 28:45 of the game to pick up the win.
Worcester tallied several chances in the first period, which would end up netting them the game’s first goal. Jake Pivonka (16th) was alone in the slot on the power play for Worcester and nailed a slapshot top shelf to beat Zachary Émond in the net for the Lions.
It took a video review to confirm that it found the back to the net to make it 1-0 Worcester. Just 1:44 later, Brycen Martin (4th) walked in from the right point off a pass from Tyler Hylland and sent the puck five-hole on John Muse in net for Worcester to tie the game 1-1 going into the second.
The Lions jumped ahead in the second as John Parker-Jones (6th) was sprung down the right wing on an odd-man break. He placed a perfect shot over the right shoulder of Muse and made it 2-1 Trois-Rivières. Worcester fought back with three goals in 1:55. Artyom Kulakov (4th) wristed a drop pass from Carson MacKinnon past Émond to tie the game 2-2.
Andrei Bakanov (9th) followed up with a gritty goal right along the goal mouth just 71 seconds later as he dragged the puck from beneath the goal line and tucked it in past Émond. Anthony Callin unleashed a shot from the slot off a nice feed from Ashton Calder and ended the day for Émond to put Worcester ahead 4-3 just 44 seconds after Bakanov’s goal.
As Joe Vrbetic entered the game, the Lions returned within a goal. Nicolas Guay (5th) scored on a karem off a Railers defenseman only 45 seconds following Callin’s goal to bring it back to a one-goal game. Worcester outshot the Lions 12-10 in the second as the game went into the third period, with Worcester ahead 4-3.
The Lions came out with energy in the third period, outshooting Worcester 13-3. John Muse turned aside all 13 shots, including a number of chances for Trois-Rivières on the power play late in the game, to help Worcester secure two points and a 4-3 win.
Notes:
Three Stars: 3rd Star: John Parker-Jones (1-1-1, +2, 1 shot) 2nd Star: Brycen Martin (1-1-2, +0, 2 shots), 1st Star: Anthony Callin (1-1-2, GWG, +1, 2 shots)…
Final shots 29-24 in favor of Trois-Rivières… Zachary Émond (5-6-0-0) made 11 saves on 15 shots, while Joe Vrbetic made 9 saves on 9 shots for Trois-Rivières… John Muse (13-7-1-0) made 26 saves on 29 shots for Worcester, while Cole Ceci served as the backup…
Worcester went 1-for-1 on the power play, while Trois-Rivières went 0-for-2… Riley Piercey (DNP), Todd Goehring (DNP), Anthony Repaci (IR), Ryan Verrier (IR), Tristan Lennox (IR), and John Copeland (IR) did not dress for Worcester… Joey Cipollone led the Railers in shots with seven.
