MANCHESTER, N.H. — The Railers and the ECHL may last even longer than the 20 seasons the American Hockey League was in Worcester, but no matter how long they are around, they may never break an unofficial record set at SNHU Arena Sunday night.
Most excruciating loss.
The Railers were beaten by the Manchester Monarchs, 4-2, on a goal by Matt Schmalz with 26 seconds left in the third period. That was the winner. An empty-netter followed shortly thereafter.
The devastating goal by Schmalz came about seven minutes after Worcester had fought back from a 2-1 deficit to tie it on a goal by Patrick McNally at 12:51 of the third period. McNally appeared on the scoresheet twice in the third period — the second time for a misconduct after the empty net goal.
He and the entire Railers bench — coach Jamie Russell nearly put his hand through the plexiglass behind him after the goal — because they thought the play that led to Schmalz goal was originally offside. At some point in the protest, a water bottle slid across the ice from the Worcester bench in the direction of the penalty box.
In any case, the puck wound up along the left boards and three Railers and two Monarchs were involved in a scrum to gain control. Schmalz came away with it and there was no one between him and Worcester goalie Mitch Gillam.
Gillam made a pad save on the original shot, but Schmalz tucked home the rebound. It was a shame, since Gillam turned in probably his best performance of the season over the course of the evening as he stopped 35 of 38 shots, many of them Grade A scoring chances.
Nick Saracino had the other Railers goal and Ashton Rome had a pair of assists. Michael Doherty had a pair for the Monarchs, including the empty-net goal, and Zac Lynch scored again against Worcester.
“I thought we came out sluggish in the first period,” Russell said. “It was a carryover from Saturday night, not moving our feet, playing too much of an east-west game. (Gillam) kept us in it, then we responded well in the second period.”
Saracino gave the Railers a 1-0 lead at 2:31 of the second period as he put the rebound of Kellen Jones’ shot past Charles Williams. Doherty tied it at 11:00, then Lynch converted a giveaway by Justin Hamonic at 13:23 to put the Monarchs ahead.
McNally’s goal came at 12:51 with the teams skating 4 on 4. He took a short pass from Ben Masella and fired a wrist shot past Williams from the bottom of the right circle.
Worcester shut down a pair of Manchester power plays and Jones nearly had a shorthanded goal in the third period.
“Our power play was absolutely fantastic,” said Russell, heavy on the irony since the Railers did not have one for the second time in two weeks. “Imagine that — a game in which there wasn’t a single foul. I don’t know what else to say.”
He could have added good riddance to a miserable December that ended with excruciatingly with three straight losses and a 4-6-2 record overall, the worst of those defeats happening Sunday night.
Rail life
The Railers added defenseman Sean Gammage from the Birmingham Bulls (Alabama) of the Southern Pro Hockey League. Gammage, 26, will make his ECHL debut when he plays his first game for Worcester. He was en route Sunday and not available for the game. There may be more movement in the near future as both Bridgeport and the Islanders are dealing with injuries. .… Worcester’s next game is at 7 p.m. Wednesday versus Reading at the DCU Center. The Railers play four of their next five games against the Royals. … The Railers’ crowd of 7,118 at home on Saturday night moved them up from 10th place in the ECHL to eighth. Worcester’s average of 4,770 is just behind Colorado and just ahead of Utah. … Josh Monk and Matty Gaudreau are injured. Barry Almeida was the Railers’ scratch. … The Monarchs wore special New Year’s Eve uniforms, or perhaps senior prom outfits, with a tuxedo motif. … Note for next season’s schedule — Worcester’s three pro teams are a combined 4-10-0 on New Year’s Eve including 3-7 on the road.
—Contact Bill Ballou at william.ballou@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillBallouTG.