By Bill Ballou

WORCESTER – The Railers lost to the Trois-Rivieres Lions Saturday night by a 3-2 final in overtime.

Worcester lost a goal to a review that was a questionable call, then shortly thereafter surrendered a goal that cut their lead to 2-1 on a terrible turnover.

Still, the Railers had that 2-1 lead with less than two minutes to go in the third period. The Lions tied it with their goalie pulled then won it in overtime for Worcester’s third OT loss in the last four games.

The night turned on the overturned goal, which happened at 16:50 of the second period.

The puck went in the Trois-Rivieres net off Matt DeMelis, who had scored an unchallenged goal earlier in the period to make it 2-0. He was adjacent to the left post and a pass deflected off his skate and into his mid-section, then into the net.

It was immediately called a goal, then referees Sam Heidemann and Julien Lapointe headed over to the scorers table to look at it. The Supreme Court does not take as long to make decisions. This review took at least five minutes, so long that both teams left their benches to loosen up. It took so long that it seemed impossible that the tape was conclusive enough to overturn it.

Finally, the call came — no goal.

“It hit me in the chest and I’m not sure what happened after that,” DeMelis said, “so it was kind of hard for me to tell.”

In order for the goal to be disallowed, DeMelis would have had to intentionally direct it. He may have moved as part of the process, but a Lions defenseman may have been the cause of that.

“I didn’t think I did (direct it),” he said, “but they must have seen something. I didn’t get to see the replay, so it’s hard to tell, but I didn’t think I did.”

So, it was 2-0, not 3-0, and a 3-0 deficit is tough to overcome in 20 minutes. Except that it became a one-goal deficit when Jake Gravelle put a rebound home at 19:06.

Worcester had taken the lead via goals from Cam Berg at 14:18 of the first period and DeMelis at 9:39 of the second. Berg scored on the power play as he deflected a shot by Michael Suda.

DeMelis scored from in close when a shot by Gabe Blanchard landed at his feet and he slid a backhand shot home.

Worcester was outshot, 12-6, in the third period and Riley Kidney tied it at 18:20. Mathias Laferriere got the winner at 5:24 of overtime.

Both teams took 27 shots. Tristan Lennox stopped 24 of them for Worcester. Hunter Jones stopped 25.

The Railers have not won in four straight games but the three overtime losses have earned them three points. That keeps them in the playoff mix although it has not been pretty. They are not scoring enough to win consistently.

MAKING TRACKS – Trois-Rivieres has roster issues and used just 16 skaters, two short of the limit. … These video reviews are game-killers. Berg’s goal also had to be looked at as a possible high stick. Just because the technology is there doesn’t mean it has to be used. Your car may be able to do 120 on the interstate, but that’s not such a good idea. Attendance for Pink in the Rink Night was 5,374. … The teams finish the weekend series with a game here at 3:05 Sunday afternoon. It will be WooSox Day including appearances by that team’s mascots. One of the Boston Red Sox’ World Series trophies will be on display as well. … Friday night’s game total of four PIM is tied for the fewest in Railers home ice history. It has happened four other times. The Railers have been involved in three games with just two total PIM, all on the road.

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