The second game between the Lions and Railers in Worcester in less than 24 hours held plenty of promise after the Railers thrilling comeback win on Saturday night. Worcester was looking to collect the maximum number of points over the weekend to help towards their push to qualify for the playoffs, while the Lions were out to solidify their first-place position in the North Division as well as to contend for top spot in the ECHL’s overall standings.
The first period didn’t go as the Lions would have hoped, with the Railers opening the scoring at the 7:52 mark courtesy of their captain Anthony Repaci. Both teams’ goalkeepers made eight saves apiece in the period.
The Railers were on fire to start the second period. Worcester’s Anthony Callin doubled his team's lead just 11 seconds in, and then Lincoln Hatten scored at 4:12 to make it 3-0. The Railers weren’t finished, either, as Connor Welsh scored at 5:13 to make it 4-0. Lions head coach Ron Choules had seen enough, sending goalkeeper Luke Cavallin to the bench to be replaced by Hunter Jones. That move might have given the Lions a spark, as Logan Nijhoff scored at 6:28 to narrow the gap to 4-1, and then Tyler Hylland scored at 14:00 to get the Lions to within two goals entering the third period.
The action in the third period was concentrated within the final four minutes of regulation time. Worcester’s Cole Donhausser took advantage of the Lions having pulled their goaltender to score an empty net goal at 16:29, making the score 5-2. But the Lions’ Nijhoff – as tireless as ever – scored at 18:31 and then at 19:59 to give him a hat trick on the afternoon. But it was too little too late and the Lions ended up losing to the Railers 5-4.
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