Royals Come Back from Four Goal Deficit to Earn a Point Against Greenville, 6-5

Teams     Per: 1          2          3          OT      SO

REA:              1          1          3          0          0=5

GRN:              4          1          0          0          1=6

Records

REA: 35-14-2-2=74 (1st East Division)

GRN:  29-22-1-2=61 (5th North Division)

Goaltenders

REA: Reiter (no decision) (12/8) (15:06)

            Knapp (sol) (24/25) (1/4) (49:18)

GRN: Missiaen (win) 11-10-0-2 (43/48)

Power Play:

REA: 1-2

GRN: 0-3

Reading, PA – The Reading Royals (­­­­­­­­­sol, 35-14-2-2=74) of the ECHL, affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the American Hockey League, were defeated by the Greenville Road Warriors (win, 29-22-1-2=62) in a shootout, 6-5, at Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania.

For the first time in five games, Reading struck first but the Road Warriors answered with four in a span of 5:51 in the first period of play and built their lead to 5-1 before the Royals bounced back with four straight—including three in the third period—to get to a shootout where Greenville took the two points. The Royals’ third period goals were all scored by defensemen, including a knuckler from Mike Marcou early in the final frame, a power play goal from Jordan Heywood mid-way into the period, and a coast-to-coast highlight reel exhibition from Maxim Lamarche with just 2:46 remaining to tie things up. Greenville went three for four in the shootout; but other than that, Royals’ goaltender Connor Knapp, who came on in substitution of starter Kenny Reiter late in the first, was pretty much brilliant for Reading, giving the team a chance to pull out an improbable point.

First Period (4-1, Greenville)

1:55 (1-0, Reading) Reading Goal

Labelle (20); Hughesman and Flemming (deflection of a shot from the left half wall)

Reading struck first when Adam Hughesman, who would end with three assists in tonight’s game, fired a shot from the left half wall that Olivier Labelle, who was planted in front of the Road Warriors’ net, redirected up and over Greenville goaltender Jason Missiaen for his twentieth of the season.

9:15 (1-1, Tie) Greenville Goal

Nicholls (18); unassisted (breakaway forehand-backhand)

Greenville tied the game—and started their scoring spree—on a play where Reading had clean offensive zone puck possession and was pressing to create a scoring chance. However, a pass from the right wing corner in the Royals’ offensive zone went by everyone and slid up into the neutral zone, where Josh Nicholls, who had just stepped off the Greenville bench, picked up the loose puck and was off to the races. Nicholls buried a beautiful forehand-backhand finish on goaltender Kenny Reiter to tie the game at one.

10:03 (2-1, Greenville) Greenville Goal

Cameron (2); Humprhies and Saponari (deflection of a shot from the high slot)

Forty-eight seconds later, the Road Warriors took a 2-1 lead when the back-checking Royals gained possession of the puck in the defensive zone, but quickly turned it over on an ill-conceived back-hand drop pass, which was intended to start a breakout. Defenseman Spencer Humphries took control in the high slot and fired a low shot that deflected off the leg of Bretton Cameron, who was driving to Reading’s net, and slipped through for Cameron’s second of the year.

13:10 (3-1, Greenville) Greenville Goal

Arnold (7); Rodrigues and Banwell (punch-in from low slot)

Greenville stretched the lead to two 3:07 later when a puck ricocheted off the end wall in Reading’s defensive end and slid to the low slot, where it appeared that a Royal forward was going to gain possession. However, the Road Warriors’ Scott Arnold, who was tight to the Reading player in front of the net, quickly chopped the stick of the Royals’ player forcing the puck back towards Reading’s goal—and into the net—for a goal that would be credited as Arnold’s seventh of the year.

15:06 (4-1, Greenville) Greenville Goal

McCarthy (13); Arnold (snap shot from left circle)

The Road Warriors scored their fourth goal in a span of 5:51 on another broken play in the defensive zone which left forward Chris McCarthy with the puck—and a lot of space—in the left circle. McCarthy ripped a bar-down bullet by goaltender Kenny Reiter, who was completely screened by a Reading defender in front of him. That goal would be it for Reiter, as the Royals’ brought on goaltender Connor Knapp to come on in substitution at that point.

Second Period (5-2, Greenville)

5:43 (5-1, Greenville) Greenville Goal

Saponari (15); McCarthy (short-side shot from sharp angle just below the bottom of the right angle)

Greenville stretched their lead to four relatively early in the second period, when Vinny Saponari was able to take control and spin off pressure below the right circle; and then sneak one through on the short-side from an extremely sharp angle on goaltender Connor Knapp for Saponari’s fifteenth of the year.

7:36 (5-2, Greenville) Reading Goal

Reid (21); Hughesman and Labelle (snap shot from low slot)

1:53 later, Reading began the come-back effort when Mike Marcou chipped a puck from deep in the defensive zone that Olivier Labelle angled into the offensive end. Labelle tracked the puck to the right corner, where he won a puck battle for possession and forced it into the left corner, where Adam Hughesman stepped in to take possession. Hughesman slipped the puck back up to the low slot, where Cam Reid found a completely wide open spot to receive the pass and rip the puck behind Missiaen for his team-leading twenty-first of the season.

Third Period (5-5, Tie)

2:36 (5-3, Greenville) Reading Goal

Marcou (5); Hughesman and Labelle (knuckling slap shot from mid-slot)

Reading started the third period push early on when defenseman Mike Marcou got a clean look for a one-timer from the mid-slot. Although Marcou somewhat misfired on the rolling puck, that appeared to help him as it knuckled off his stick and eluded Missiaen for his fifth of the year.

11:44 (5-4, Greenville) Reading Goal (Power Play)

Heywood (7); Reid and Lamarche (hot bullet from the top of the right circle)

Reading drew within one mid-way into the third on the team’s second power play of the night, when Cam Reid slipped a diagonal-up pass to the top of the right circle where a waiting Jordan Heywood settled and ripped a blast that blew across the body of Missiaen for Heywood’s seventh of the year.

17:14 (5-5, Tie) Reading Goal

Lamarche (7); unassisted (coast-to-coast single-handed carry and finish off the rebound)

The Royals earned the tie with just 2:46 left in regulation, when defenseman Maxim Lamarche made a highlight-reel end-to-end rush starting from behind his own net, during which he eluded several Road Warriors, carried to the top of the crease and had his initial bid rejected by Greenville goaltender Jason Missiaen. However, Lamarche refused to be denied, corralling his own rebound, toe-dragging the puck around Missiaen, and stuffing it into the net for his seventh of the season.

Overtime (5-5, Tie)

NO SCORING

Although neither team broke through in the overtime session it wasn’t for lack of chances, as both clubs traded multiple Grade-A bids; but Knapp for the Royals and Missiaen for Greenville had all the answers for the wild and crazy chances that each team created in the back-and-forth end-to-end chaos.

Shootout (6-5, Greenville)

(3-1 Greenville)

The Road Warriors took the two points by virtue of some pin-point shooting in the skills competition, as they were able to bag three of their four shootout attempts while Reading’s shooters could solve Missiaen only once.

First Shooter: REA: Hughesman (stopped); GRN: Nicholls (stopped)

Second Shooter: REA: Mullane (stopped); GRN: Jean (SCORED)

Third Shooter: REA: Reid (stopped); GRN: St. Croix (SCORED)

Fourth Shooter: REA: Marshall (stopped); GRN: McCarthy (SCORED)

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NEXT UP FOR THE ROYALS

Reading Royals v Elmira Jackals

@ Santander Arena – Reading, PA

Sunday, March 1, 2015 (5:05 pm Eastern Time)

NEXT UP: The Royals return to action on Sunday evening (March 1 @ 5:05 pm), when the Elmira Jackals visit Santander Arena in Reading. That night, the first 2000 fans fifteen and older will get the third in the ‘Ugly’ series of giveaways—the Ugly Scarf—courtesy of Reading Health System. The Zooperstars will also perform on this Super Savor Sunday, when we have FREE PARKING courtesy of the Reading Parking Authority and we’ll feature our Berks Packing Dollar specials ($1.00 hot dogs, soda, popcorn and nachos). The game night broadcast for Sunday’s matchup can be heard live on CBS SportsRadio 1240 am and 98.5 in Reading, Pennsylvania, starting with the pre-game warm-up show presented by Highmark Blue Shield at 4:35 pm Eastern Time. Streaming audio is available free of charge on the Royals’ website (follow the ‘headset’ icon); and streaming video is available on a pay-per-view basis through ECHL.TV.

For more information about the Royals, call 610-898-7825 or log onto www.royalshockey.com.

End 15 02-27