RAILERS FALL SHORT 2-1 IN SEASON OPENER AGAINST READING

By Bill  Ballou

WORCESTER – Reading spoiled the Railers’ opening night with a 2-1 victory Saturday before 5,927 fans. It was Worcester’s first ever opening game defeat on home ice and improved the Royals to 2-0-0 this season.

Connor Welsh gave the Railers an early lead by scoring at 19:08 of the first period but Reading goaltender Keith Petruzzelli stopped everything the rest of the way. Logan Britt scored for the Royals to make it 1-1 at 8:23 of the second period then set up Tyler Gratton for the game winner at 12:59 of the third.

The Railers outshot the Reading, 26-16, but could get just the one shot past Petruzzelli. 

Worcester had early momentum and had the puck in the opposition zone much of the time but that did not matter.

“Territorial advantage is a false sense of security,” coach Bob Deraney said. “Just because you’re winning the territorial game does not mean you’re winning the game. We got a false sense of confidence that got us away from what was making us successful.”

The middle period was the killer for the Railers as they had a 15-5 edge in shots on goal but a 1-0 deficit on shots in goal. For the night, Worcester had a 26-16 shots advantage.

The bottom line was that the puck did not make it over the goal line often enough because Worcester didn’t shoot often enough.

“Never pass up a shot when you have the right conditions,” Deraney said, “and there were plenty of times when we had net presence and screens. Shoot it. Don’t make one more pass.”

Welsh gave his team the lead just after the Railers had killed a penalty.

Jordan Kaplan controlled the puck deep in the Worcester end and scaled the puck towards the neutral zone. Matt DeMelis corralled it and skated in on Petruzzelli with Welsh alongside. DeMelis dished a spinning backhand pass to Welsh and he scored on a short backhander under the goalie’s pads.

Britt tied it on a high 45-foot wrist shot from the left side. The puck went through traffic and into the far corner past Railers goaltender Michael Bullion. The winning goal came when Britt, a rookie defenseman, won a puck battle in the right corner and found Gratton alone in front. He scored on a 15-foot wrist shot.

For an opening night there were not a lot of firsts for Worcester.

DeMelis and Justin Gill played their first professional games. Bullion is the first native of Alaska to play for the Railers. He is the first right-handed glove to play goal for the Railers and just the fourth in Worcester hockey history. The others are Alex Westlund of the IceCats and Nolan Schaefer and J.P. Anderson of the Sharks.

MAKING TRACKS – Before the game the Railers remembered the late Matty Gaudreau, killed while bicycling in New Jersey in the summer. Video clips of Gaudreau scoring goals for Worcester were shown and adding to the melancholy was the play-by-play of the late Eric Lindquist. The crowd honored Gaudreau with a moment of silence before the opening faceoff. … Welsh was one of six Railers who were also in the opening night lineup last season. … Anthony Repaci is the first two-season captain in Railers history, the fifth in Worcester pro history. The others are Jason Widmer and Eddy Campbell of the IceCats, Ryan Vesce and Mike Moore of the Sharks. …It was a two-referee game including veteran Will Kelly and Chazz Knoche, doing his first Worcester match. … The Royals and Railers play again at 3:05 Sunday afternoon.

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