The St. John’s Maple Leafs have a one-game winning streak.
The Newfoundland Growlers have won five in row.
Both were accomplished Saturday night as the home side came away with a 3-2 win over the Worcester Railers in ECHL play at Mile One Centre. That’s because the Growlers were wearing throwback jerseys highlighting the AHL Leafs, the province’s first professional hockey team.
All three goals by the Growlers/Maple Leafs came on the power play, including two by Marcus Power, while goalie Parker Gahagen made 29 saves in his first start for Newfoundland.
The win was the eighth straight at home for the Growlers, who are 11-2 at Mile One this season.
That’s part of an 17-8-0 overall record that has Newfoundland at the top of the North Division, four points up on the Reading Royals, who lost 5-3 to the Brampton Beast Saturday.
After giving up six third-period goals in a 7-5 loss to the Growlers Friday, Worcester (6-14-1) came into the rematch with extra incentive to end Newfoundland’s win streaks. Nevertheless, it was the home side that came out strongest; it was only the play of Railers’ netminder Evan Buitenhuis that kept the game scoreless through an opening period, where the Growlers outshot the visitors 16-9.
Worcester opened the scoring early in the second as Kyle Thomas beat Gahagen through the five-hole. But the Railers’ Yannick Turcotte was penalized seconds after the ensuing faceoff, leading to Power’s first goal of the game. Then it was turnaround, as the Growlers’ Joseph Duszak was sent to the box for hooking just 18 seconds after the Newfoundland goal and Worcester’s Jordan Samuels-Thomas scored on the resulting power play, restoring the visitors’ lead.
The Growlers drew even again later in the middle period as Trey Bradley scored, then got the game-winner from Power early in the third. It was Power’s fifth goal in as many games, with assists from Riley Woods, his second of the night, and Giorgio Estephan, who extended his points streak to 15 contests.
The winning goal came just after a big shorthanded save by Garhagen, who looked more confident as the game went on. The 26-year-old West Point product was brought in by Newfoundland from Evansville of the Southern Professional Hockey League after Angus Redmond was injured earlier in the four-game homestand that concluded Saturday.
On Monday, the Growlers fly west to Salt Lake City for three games against the Utah Grizzlies, beginning Wednesday.
Dog Bites
Attendance was 4,053 … Duszak drew an assist on Bradley’s goal, giving him 23 points on the season and making him both the highest-scoring defenceman and highest-scoring rookie in the ECHL … The three stars were 1. Power 2, Woods 3, Buitenhuis … Todd Skirving was the choice as the hardest-working player for the home side
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