WORCESTER LOSES 5-3 TO MAINE ON FRIDAY NIGHT

By Bill Ballou

PORTLAND, Maine – It was that avid hockey fan, Abraham Lincoln, who said that you can kill all of the penalties some of the time, and some of the penalties all of the time, but you can’t kill all of the penalties all of the time.

The Railers had their six-game string of not allowing a power play goal snapped Friday night in a 5-3 loss here to the Maine Mariners. Two of the Maine goals came on power plays.

The loss cost them the VIP Rivalry Cup which recognizes the winner of the Worcester-Maine season series.

While the Railers were losing up here, the Reading Royals were outlasting the Norfolk Admirals, 2-1, in a game that went 11 shootout rounds.

Thus, Worcester and Reading are tied for the fourth and final playoff spot in the North Division with 64 points. The Royals, however, have two games in hand.

Next up for the Railers are back to back home games against the first-place Trois-Rivieres Lions, the only North Division team to have clinched a playoff spot. The Lions pummeled Adirondack, 6-1, Friday night at Trois-Rivieres.

Eight different players scored in this game.

Jordan Kaplan, Tyler Kobryn and Mason Klee had the Worcester goals. Lynden McCallum, Wyllum Deveaux, Brooklyn Kalmikov, Jacob Hudson and Christian Sarlo scored for Maine.

Tristan Thompson had four assists for the Mariners and McCallum added a pair as well.

The Railers had a 2-1 lead halfway through the game before things got away from them.

Deveaux scored 70 seconds later to tie it, then Kalmikov put Maine ahead for good at 13:07.

That goal was the first of four straight by Maine. Klee cut the gap to 5-3 at 15:20 and the Railers were all over the Mariners in the closing minutes but could not connect.

Worcester played a quiet first period and trailed, 1-0, after 20 minutes. McCallum got the goal, his 23rd, via a wrist shot from about 25 feet away in the middle of the ice.

Kaplan tied it early in the second period, though, with his 18th of the season. The Railers converted a power play chance as Kaplan slid home the rebound of a shot by Matt DeMelis. They took the lead less than a minute later on Kobryn’s seventh goal in 16 games with Worcester.

He had two in 18 games for Florida this season before joining the Railers.

Anthony Repaci sent the puck past the Maine defense and into the offensive zone, sliding into never-never land halfway towards the net. Brad Arvanitis came out to get it; Kobryn hustled to get it first

Kobryn got a stick on it and poked it past the Mariners goaltender to give Worcester a 2-1 lead. The lead lasted a little more seven minutes and never returned.

MAKING TRACKS – Repaci had two assists and is 1-6-7 in four games since coming off the injured list. … Hugo Ollas stopped 20 of 25 Maine shots. … Alec Cicero, the former Holy Cross standout, made his pro debut … There was a swap, but not a trade. Riley Piercey was recalled by Bridgeport and Justin Gill came back to Worcester. … Of the 742 players who have worn a Worcester uniform through the years, AHL and ECHL, Kobryn is the only one to have played college hockey as Wesleyan. … Maine’s margin in the VIP Rivalry Cup was 6-5-0.

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