WORCESTER—There is a fine line between optimistic and delusional and Railers coach Nick Tuzzolino was walking it early in the evening of Nov. 9.
His team had just lost a 4-2 decision to the Maine Mariners. It was Worcester’s fourth straight defeat during which it had been outscored by 21-4. The Railers’ season record was 1-7-1.
“I know what’s in that room,” he said, “and I know that this team is going to go on a tear at some point. We’re just making sure we stay on that right mindset until it happens.
“Right now, with the shakedown of some of our New York guys, some of the guys coming in, some of the new pieces, we’re just taking longer to get to our game. When you buy a bouquet of flowers you’re looking for the buds, not the ones that have already popped. Right now we’re a bud and we haven’t popped.”
Tuzzolino was an optimist, as it turned out. Worcester won five of its next six games to establish itself as a playoff contender. Those six games were all at the DCU Center. Now the Railers are headed out on their longest road trip of the season, seven games.
They will play three at Adirondack this weekend to start it off. All told Worcester plays four versus the Thunder, two at Reading and closes the journey with a game at Maine on Dec. 13. The Railers’ next home game is Dec. 17 versus Norfolk.
The surge was fueled by defense and goaltending. Henrik Tikkanen posted consecutive shutouts and set a new team record for longest shutout streak at 1:58:19. He was named the ECHL’s Goaltender of the Week, the sixth Railers goalie to be so honored.
Mitch Gillam won the award twice. Evan Buitenhuis, Ken Appleby and John Muse were also recognized.
Tikkanen went 3-0-0 with one shutout, a 0.97 goals-against average and a save percentage of .965 in three appearances last week. He was rewarded with a recall to Bridgeport. Meanwhile, the Hartford Wolf Pack brought Hugo Ollas, who spent the last half of last season here on loan from Hartford, back from Bloomington where he was seeing little ice time. There may be a goaltending surplus around right now but goaltending is like pitchig in baseball — you can never have too much.
Some things to watch while the Railers are on the road:
Anthony Repaci is one point away from tying Terry Virtue for the mot points in Worcester pro hockey history. Virtue, a defenseman, had 210 for the IceCats. Repaci has 209. Repaci has also moved into 10th place on the city’s all-time list for games played with 234.
The Railers’ all-time record stands at exactly .500. They are 228-228-51.
Tikkanen’s shutout streak is a Railers record, but not a city record. Reinhard Divis put together a similar streak of 2:03:21 for the IceCats in December, 2003. Coincidentally, both goalies went on their streaks after pulled from a game.
Worcester is a remarkable 12-3 in its last 15 overtime games, but it is still mostly a 50-50 proposition when things are tied after three periods. The Railers are 36-32 overall in OT games through the years, but 16-19 in shootouts. That adds up to 52-51.
Having a player score more than one goal remains the best way to ensure the Railers win. So far this year, only Lincoln Hatten has done it. Worcester’s all-time record in such games is 94-20-10.
Kolby Johnson is gone after a colorful stay with the Railers. He was traded to Jacksonville for rookie forward MacAuley Carson. Johnson played in just four games this season and had one goal. His final Worcester line was 3-2-5 and 119 PIM in 38 games.
Bill Ballou covered the Red Sox for the Worcester Telegram from 1997 through 2018. He has covered pro hockey in Worcester since 1994 and currently does a weekly column for the Worcester Red Sox. Ballou can be reached at vetgoalie@aol.com
