WORCESTER—The only obvious benefit to the final weekend of the Railers season is that it’ll be a warmer walk for fans from their cars to the Novalarm Pavilion in mid-April than it would have been when the games were originally supposed to be played at the end of December.
Worcester finishes the season with games at the DCU Center on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon versus their longtime rival, the Adirondack Thunder. The matches were moved back because of the brief players strike around Christmas.
On Saturday, the Railers celebrate Champions Night. Mementoes from the 2013 Red Sox World Series victory, some Patriots Super Bowl rings and the men’s Beanpot will be in the building. There will also be a jersey auction and team poster giveaway.
Sunday is Peanuts Day. Snoopy’s on hand and there’s a post-game foam puck give-away, which is a fine combo.
Worcester enters the weekend out of the Kelly Cup race but guaranteed of a second straight winning season thanks to one of the best road trips in team history. The Railers won all four of those away games, beating one of the ECHL’s worst teams and one of its best.
They took three out of three last weekend in Greensboro. Worcester beat Maine, 3-1, Wednesday night. It is the longest road winning streak in franchise history and featured multiple highlights.
In their 8-1 victory at Greensboro on April 12 the Railers set a team record by having eight different players score goals and building an 8-0 lead, the biggest lead they have ever had. The seven-goal margin of victory tied a team record.
The Gargoyles scored their only goal with 1:22 left in the game, costing Parker Gahagen a shutout. It was the latest an opponent has ever scored to avoid being shut out.
Two defensemen scored their first goals of the season on the trip —Adam Samuellson and Cam McDonald. Samuellson’s goal in Greensboro came in his 59th game of the season. McDonald hit an empty net in Maine for his first his pro goal ever in 112 games over two seasons, 96 with the Railers. It was on his 132nd career shot on goal.
There are several team and individual milestones looming in Worcester’s final two games of the regular season.
Gahagen has 19 wins. Only one other Railers goalie has posted a 20-win season, Mitch Gillam. He did it twice. Gillam won 23 games in 2017-18 and 21 the next year.
While Worcester has not scored many goals overall, it has a chance to finish the year with four 20-goal scorers. That would be a franchise record. Drew Callin already has 24 and Anthony Repaci 23. Matt DeMelis heads into the weekend with 19, Anthony Callin with 18.
The Railers need to draw 10,906 to their final two games to match last season’s attendance of 144,000. That produced an average of exactly 4,000 a game. They are assured of finishing over .500 for a second straight season. The only other time Worcester had consecutive winning seasons was 2017-2018.
If they take both games the Railers will finish with 77 points, second-most ever. They had 82 in 2017-18, their only playoff season. Worcester would finish with 35 victories, second-most after 2017-18.
The Railers hit the season’s final weekend as one of the ECHL’s hottest teams with six victories in their last seven games. If they had started the year the way they are finishing it, the next games would be post-season ones.
