A look at five storylines from Friday night in the ECHL.
A Gordie Howe hat trick, a snapped win streak and a perfect relief appearance by a goalie were just a few of the exciting highlights from a full slate of ECHL action Friday.
Callin’s Howe Hatty
Anthony Callin and the Worcester Railers had quite a night at the DCU Center. Callin got the aptly named “Gordie Howe Hat Trick”, scored the game-winner with less than a second left in overtime, and the Railers prevailed 3-2 over the Atlanta Gladiators.
The Railers found themselves down 2-0 before mounting a comeback to send the game into the extra frame.
With less than a second left in overtime, Callin rocketed a 25-foot wrist shot for a thrilling Worcester home victory.
Callin also assisted on the Railers’ previous two goals, and even picked up his first fighting major after getting into a scrap with the Glads’ Michael Marchesan at 7:10 of the third period.
Worcester has now won four straight, their longest win streak of the season. Callin’s overtime winner was the latest winning goal scored in Railers history.
Michael Bullion picked up the win in net for the Railers and is 5-1-1 in his last seven games.
Wheeling Nails It Down In Indy
There are many ways to win a hockey game. Just ask the Wheeling Nailers.
The Nailers scored two shorthanded goals in less than 30 seconds in the second period, then lit the lamp twice in less than 20 seconds in the third for a 6-3 victory in Indy against the Fuel.
Matty De St. Phalle was the offensive hero, scoring two goals and an assist for Wheeling, who improves to 29-12-2. Indy falls to 18-18-5.
Despite outshooting the Fuel 12-4 in the opening period, Wheeling trailed 1-0 after Kyle Maksimovich scored just as the period ended.
The Nailers took control of the second period, however, with three goals in the first six minutes. They added two more early in the third to put the game out of reach, then another later in the frame.
A Grizzlies Team Effort
The Utah Grizzlies also found different ways to score goals. Five of them came in completely different situations: 5-on-5, shorthanded, 5-on-4, 4-on-4 and even 5-on-6.
Cole Fonstad tallied two goals and goalie Jake Barczewski stopped 45 of 47 shots to help the Utah Grizzlies triumph over the Tulsa Oilers 6-2 on the road.
Utah grabbed a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes on a Mick Messner backhander from the right wing at 11:22. Derek Daschke added a shorthanded goal later in the frame, the first time all season Tulsa has allowed a shorty.
Neither team scored in the middle frame, and Barczewski came up with several crucial stops.
Fonstad opened the scoring in the third period on a power play, then Reed Lebster made it 4-0 14 seconds later.
The Oilers’ Sean Olson notched a pair of power-play goals over four minutes apart to cut the Utah lead to 4-2.
Fonstad put the game on ice in a 4-on-4 situation at 13:11 for his second on the night, followed by an empty-netter by Adam Berg to cap off a 6-2 win.
The Grizzlies snapped Tulsa’s five-game win streak and moved their record to 15-24-5. Tulsa falls to 26-14-6.
Maier Shuts It Down For Maine
Nolan Maier is becoming quite the shutout artist. The Maine Mariners goaltender recorded his third of the season in a 3-0 win over the Norfolk Admirals.
Maier stopped 31 shots on the night and helped his club snap a five-game skid.
The Mariners are 12-3-2 when scoring first, and they did just that for the first time in six games. Matthew Philip notched his fifth of the season midway through the first period. Wyllum Deveaux made the score 2-0 early in the second period, and put the icing on the cake late in the third on Lynden McCallum’s power-play goal for the 3-0 final.
Maier now has five victories on the season for the Mariners, three of them shutouts.
Radomsky In Relief
Pitchers come out of the bullpen quite often to help their team pull out a win. Sometimes, hockey goalies do, too.
Matt Radomsky had to come off the bench for the Rapid City Rush after starting netminder Christian Propp was injured 38 seconds into the third period.
Radomsky made 15 saves and stopped three in a shootout to lead the Rush to a 3-2 win over the Idaho Steelheads. Before Friday, Radomsky had only seen game action once in the last 20 days.
Idaho tied the game early in the third period, the play in which Propp was injured. Radomsky didn’t allow a single shot past him, even in the skills competition.
Deni Goure won it for the Rush, his second shootout-winning goal of the season.
Goure is now 4-for-5 on shootout attempts, which leads the ECHL.