WORCESTER FALLS 8-1 TO STINGRAYS ON FRIDAY NIGHT

By Bill  Ballou

WORCESTER – The Railers headed for Trois-Rivieres Friday night after an 8-1 loss to the South Carolina Stingrays at the DCU Center. It has been an upside-down season so far for Worcester. Most hockey teams are better at home than on the road, but not the Railers, not yet.

The Railers are 2-4-0 at the DCU Center and have been outscored, 20-13. Worcester is 3-2-0 on the road and has a 17-15 edge in goals.

South Carolina led this one 3-1 after one period, 5-1 after 40 minutes. The Stingrays got two goals from Kyer Kupka. South Carolina got single goals from Alexander Suzdalev, Micah Miller, Connor Moore, Kyer Kupka, Grant Cruikshank, Jamie Engelbert and Justin Nachbaur.

Visiting goalie Seth Eisele improved to 4-0-1 for the season. He had an easy night as Worcester only mustered 17 shots on goal

Jordan Kaplan had the lone Worcester goal. It came at 17:21 of the second period and cut the South Carolina lead to 2-1. It was Kaplan’s first goal in his second go-round with the Railers. The first came in his first game in a Worcester uniform on Jan. 13, 2023.

It was 681 days between goals.

Michael Bullion started in the Worcester net and was bombarded. South Carolina had 19 shots in the first period, the most allowed in a period by the Railers this season. After the Stingrays scored 13 seconds into the second period, Henrik Tikkanen came on in relief.

He surrendered four goals on 21 shots.

The power plays were seven for the visitors, one for Worcester. South Carolina scored four times on the power play as Worcester tied a team record for most power play goals allowed in a game.

The loss dropped the Railers’ all-time record versus the Stingrays to 2-9-1. That includes a 1-8-0 mark at the DCU Center.

MAKING TRACKS – The Railers play at Trois-Rivieres on Saturday and Sunday, then at Maine next Wednesday. Worcester is home again on Nov. 23 and 24, playing Trois-Rivieres. .. Cam McDonald was recalled to the AHL. Three Railers who were in the Railers’ opening night lineup are with Bridgeport. Christian Krygier and Justin Gill are the others. … Worcester has 10 rookies on the roster. … Some Railers player is getting shortchanged on a “plus.” Jack Randl scored shorthanded at Norfolk on November 3 but the official game sheet has only three Worcester skaters on the ice, not four. … Catching up from Wednesday — the teams combined for 72 PIM. That is fifth-most in team history. The Railers are 1-4-0 in those five games. … With Tikkanen back, John Muse did not dress for the game. Other Worcester players in that category were Matias Rajaniemi, J.D. Dudek, Lincoln Hatten and Cole Crowder. … The game had a slightly delayed start due to a computer glitch. … Attendance was 3,050.

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