WORCESTER – Was it Daniel Boone, Myles Standish or even Mary Queen of Scots who first said that when you walk five miles into the woods, you must walk five miles back.
Five miles is manageable, and with the season a third over, the Railers still have time to find the light of day. Things will have to start happening quickly, though.
Worcester lost again on Friday night, 5-3, to the Trois-Rivieres Lions. After a dismal effort against Reading on Wednesday night, the Railers showed much more intensity. They fell behind, 4-1, and almost came back. The last goal was an empty net.
The Railers were involved in two actual fights, not stoppage events, and one of them involved Jordan Kaplan. He also scored one goal and assisted on another. It was Gordie Howe’s first hat trick for the Railers since March 19, 2022, when Mitchell Balmas had one here against Newfoundland.
The other bout was probably the best at the DCU Center since the days of Yanick Turcotte. Kolby Johnson won it as he floored Mathieu Boislard with a right to the temple at 2:32 of the first period.
Cam McDonald and Anthony Repaci were the other scorers for Worcester. It was McDonald’s first professional goal. Repaci also had an assist. Connor Welch had two assists.
Alex Beaucage and Anthony Beauregard had two goals for the Lions. Beaucage has six goals in five games for Trois-Rivieres. Isaac Dufort had the other.
The porters were both busy. Hunter Jones stopped 25 of 28 shots. John Muse made 24-of-28 stops for Worcester.
Thanks to McDonald, the Railers had a 1-0 lead midway through the first period, then Beauregard tied it at 14:10 and Beaucage gave the Lions the lead for good at 19:38.
The game got away from the Railers less than a minute early in the second period. Beauregard scored on a 5-on-3 power play goal at 3:07, just after Matias Rajaniemi had joined William Provost in the box. Rajaniemi scored a minor double for a high hook and had to stay in the area after the goal.
He was still there when Dufort scored at 3:56.
Repaci made it 4-2 on the power play at 13:48 of the second period. Kaplan had his own rebound at 1:23 of the third period. Worcester had plenty of time to tie the game but Jones was very good when he had to be.
Beaucage hit an empty net with exactly one minute left in the game.
Friday night marked the debut of newly acquired Riley Ginnell and the return of forward Jack Randl, who had missed seven games with an injury.