Railers Lose First of Road Three-in-Three to Growlers

Worcester Railers HC vs. Newfoundland Growlers

April 1st, 2022

Mary Brown’s Centre

Meeting 7 of 9 vs. Newfoundland this season

Railers are 2-4-0-1 vs. the Growlers this season

Railers Lose First of Road Three-in-Three to Growlers

Brendan Less makes his professional debut for the Railers

St. John’s, NL– The Worcester Railers HC (29-27-4-2, 64pts) lost to the Newfoundland Growlers (37-16-6-2, 82pts) on Friday night by the final score of 4-0 at the Mary Brown’s Centre. The Railers are back in St. John’s Newfoundland at the Mary Browns Centre on Saturday, April 2nd to take on the Newfoundland Growlers at 5:30 p.m.

The Growlers took the early lead against Worcester on Friday night, and they never looked back. Zach O’Brien continued his success against the Railers for Newfoundland with two goals and an assist, as the Growlers came away with the 4-0 victory thanks in part to the shutout effort put forth by Angus Redmond for Newfoundland.

Zach O’Brien (24th) wasted no time getting things started in the first. He finished an up-ice rush alongside Tyler Boland with a backhander past Ellis to put the Growlers up 1-0 just 3:33 into the game’s opening frame. Newfoundland dominated the pace of play from there throughout the rest of the period, spending a majority of the stanza in the Railers zone. Neither team broke through for the remainder of the period, as the frame closed with the Growlers ahead 1-0. Shots in the first favored Newfoundland 20-6.

It was a similar story to start the second period. Zach O’Brien (25th) put some nifty moves on display as he deked Ellis out of his net, then dipped beneath the goal line and tucked the puck inside the near post and in. O’Brien’s second of the game would make it 2-0 Newfoundland just 1:50 into the second. The Growlers struck again in the frame with 4:23 to go, this time on the man-advantage. Jeremy McKenna (15th) received a centering feed from Gordie Green and then pulled the puck around an aggressive Colten Ellis and netted it to make it a 3-0 Newfoundland going into the locker rooms. The Growlers outshot the Railers 13-8 in the period, and outshot Worcester 33-14 through two periods.

Worcester got their first chance on the man-advantage just 3:25 into the third. The team struggled to generate good offensive chances, as the power-play came to an end with the Railers still trailing 3-0. The Growlers would tack on a fourth goal late in the final period of play. With 3:39 to go, Orrin Centazzo (25th) received a feed at the near side of Ellis from O’Brien out in front and finished past Ellis to give the game its final score of 4-0. The Growlers outshot Worcester 11-6 in the third, and 44-20 for the game.

Notes: Three Stars: 3rd Star: Ben Finkelstein (0-2-2, +2, 5 shots), 2nd Star: Angus Redmond (20 saves, 0 GA, 1.000 SV%), 1st Star: Zach O’Brien (2-1-3, +2, 4 shots)… Final shots were 44-20 in favor of Newfoundland… Angus Redmond (9-10-0) made 20 saves on 20 shots for Newfoundland… Colten Ellis (15-8-5) made 40 saves on 44 shots for Worcester, while Matt Jenkins served as the backup… Worcester went 0-for-2 on the power play while Newfoundland went 1-for-4… Liam Coughlin (IR), Blake Christensen (IR), Felix Bibeau (IR), Chris Ordoobadi (IR), Grant Jozefek (IR), Myles McGurty (INJ), Ryan Verrier (DNP), Reece Newkirk (DNP), and Ethan Price (DNP) did not dress for Worcester… Nolan Vesey and Brent Beaudoin each led the Railers in shots with 3… The Railers are now 6-16-1-1 all-time vs. the Growlers and 2-8-1-1 at Mary Brown’s Centre against Newfoundland.