Anthony Repaci Scores OT Winner, as Railers Defeat Adirondack 3-2

Worcester Railers HC vs. Adirondack Thunder

March 26th, 2022

Cool Insuring Arena

Meeting 11 of 12 vs. Adirondack this season

Railers are 8-3-0-0 vs. the Thunder this season

Anthony Repaci Scores OT Winner, as Railers Defeat Adirondack 3-2

Bobby Butler scores in back-to-back nights for the Railers

Glens Falls, NY– The Worcester Railers HC (29-25-4-2, 64pts) beat the Adirondack Thunder (25-33-3-0, 53pts) on Saturday night by the final score of 3-2 in front of a crowd of 4, 104 at Cool Insuring Arena. The Railers are back in Reading, PA at Santander Arena on Sunday, March 27th to take on the Reading Royals at 7:00 p.m.

Worcester jumped out to an early 1-0 lead thanks to the keen eye of Max Newton (1-0-1) who scooped up a loose puck from behind Alex Sakellaropoulos and tapped it home. The Thunder blasted one past Ellis backdoor with just before the buzzer to tie the game heading into the second. Bobby Butler (1-0-1) struck again for the second straight night and put Worcester back ahead midway through the middle stanza. The Thunder struck first in the third, as Adirondack tied the game midway through the final period. Neither team scored through the rest of the third, as the game would head to overtime nodded at two. Anthony Repaci (1-0-1) wristed the puck from the right side past Sakellaropoulos for his second OT winner of the season, giving the Railers the 3-2 win.

The scoring opened up in the first period when Max Newton (2nd) tapped in a puck which just eked through Sakellaropoulos on a blast from Cole Coskey. Worcester would grab the lead just 5:13 into the first. After an extended look in the offensive zone for the Thunder, Jake Ryczek would find Sebastian Vidmar (21st) backdoor who slammed it past Colten Ellis in net with just 36 seconds left in the period. Neither team scored in the few seconds which remained, as the game stayed tied 1-1 going into the second period. Shots in the period were tied at 12 apiece.

For the second straight night, Marlborough’s own Bobby Butler (5th) would light the lamp. He stepped up on a puck that squeaked free from the far boards in the attacking end and blasted it past Sakellaropoulos to put the Railers back in front, 2-1 with 12:19 left in the frame. With 8:33 left in the period, Adirondack would get the game’s first power play on an interference call against Worcester’s Jacob Hayhurst. With 21 seconds remaining on Hayhurst’s penalty, Railers goalie Colten Ellis clearned the puck high above the glass and was assessed a delay of game penalty. The Railers were successful in limiting the number of quality chances that Adirondack got on the extended powerplay and killed off the penalties to maintain their one goal lead. Nolan Vesey was awarded a penalty shot for being hooked up while in alone on a breakaway, but Sakellaropoulos was able to make the save on both the initial shot, and the penalty shot to keep the Thunder within one going into the third period. Shots in the period favored Adirondack 12-11, as the Thunder outshot the Railers 24-23 through the first 40 minutes.

Worcester would be assessed their third penalty of the game on a delay-of-game call on Reece Newkirk just 3:25 into the third frame. Worcester continued their success on the penalty-kill, and preserved their one goal lead. Adirondack tied the game off of a deflection from Ryan Smith (10th) in front 8:03 into the third. 14 seconds later, Worcester would head on the power play as Blake Thompson was assessed a penalty for holding with 11:43 left in the game. Adirondack was able to kill their first penalty of the night to keep the game tied 2-2. Neither goalie would budge the rest of the frame, as the game would head into overtime deadlocked at 2-2. Shots in the third favored Adirondack 14-8, as they outshot the Railers 38-31 through three periods.

In overtime, it didn’t take long for Anthony Repaci (20th) to rip one past Sakellaropoulos from the right side thanks to a nice setup from Brent Beaudoin, as the Railers won the game 3-2 just 1:14 into overtime. Worcester had the only two shots of the period, as Adirondack still outshot the Railers 38-33 on the game.

Notes: Three Stars: 3rd Star: Jake Ryzcek (0-2-2, +2, 1 shot), 2nd Star: Ryan Smith (1-0-1, +1, 5 shots), 1st Star: Anthony Repaci (1-0-1, GWG, 6 shots)… Final shots were 38-33 in favor of Adirondack… Alex Sakellaropoulos (9-13-1) made 30 saves on 33 shots for Adirondack… Colten Ellis (15-7-5) made 36 saves on 38 shots for Worcester, while Ken Appleby served as the backup… Worcester went 0-for-1 on the power play while Adirondack went 0-for-3… Ryan Verrier (DNP), Blake Christensen (INJ), Jordan Lavallee-Smotherman (INJ), Felix Bibeau (IR), Chris Ordoobadi (IR), Ethan Price (DNP), and Grant Jozefek (IR)… Bobby Butler led the Railers in shots with 7… The Railers are now 29-15-2-0 all-time vs. the Thunder and 16-7-1-0 at Cool Insuring Arena against Adirondack.