Royals Drop First Game in Canada in Overtime, 3-2

Teams     Per: 1          2          3          OT

REA:              0          1          1          0= 2 

BRM:             1          1          0          1= 3

Records

REA: 39-16-4-2=84 (2nd East Division)

BRM: 21-36-3-0=45 (7th Central Division)

Goaltenders

REA:  Knapp (OTL) 21-8-3-1 (20/23) (60:34)

BRM: DeMelo (win) 3-3-0-0 (29/31) (60:34)

Power Play:

REA: 0-4

BRM: 0-3

Brampton, ON – The Reading Royals (­­­­­­­­OTL, 39-16-4-2=84) 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 Brampton Beast (win, 21-36-3-0), 3-2 in overtime, at Powerade Centre in Brampton, Ontario.

In the Royals first trip in team history to Canada, the team got off to a sluggish start and fell behind the Beast 2-0 midway into the game. Reading progressively shook the team’s collective lethargy, but needed a late second period goal from Kevin Walrod and then the sixth goal in the last eight games from Sean Wiles with just 6:38 remaining in regulation to muster a tie. Early in overtime, it was an Royal nemesis from days gone by, Justin Donati, who got the last laugh, sneaking one between the legs of goaltender Connor Knapp on Brampton’s first rush up the ice in the extra session to take the two points.

First Period (1-0, Brampton)

6:19 (1-0, Brampton) Brampton Goal

Hughes (11); Wilmott and Pitton (snap shot from left circle)

Both teams got off to a somewhat lackluster start, but the Beast took the early lead when Bobby Hughes carried below the dot in the left circle and fired a snap shot across the body of goaltender Connor Knapp, who got a chunk of the puck with the cuff of his glove; but not enough to keep it out, as Hughes notched his eleventh of the year.

Second Period (2-1, Brampton)

13:15 (2-0, Brampton) Brampton Goal

1. Donati (12); Lyon and Ling (stuff in from left side of the crease)

Brampton turned a failed clear by the Royals in the latter stages of the second period into a 2-0 lead. It appeared that Reading had gained possession and was going to be able to work the puck out of the defensive zone up the right wing wall. However, Brampton’s David Ling pinched off the puck and forced it to Brett Lyon, who was planted low on the right side of the slot. Lyon wheeled toward the Reading net, spinning 180 degrees as he protected the puck and simultaneously slid it across the top of the crease to a waiting Justin Donati, who was able to out-wait Knapp, who committed down to the ice, as Donati took one stride to the middle and stuffed the puck around Knapp for his twelfth of the year.

19:32 (2-1) Reading Goal

Walrod (7); Reid and Hughesman (tap in of a loose puck lying on the goal line)

Reading finally broke through with 28.5 seconds left in the second period. With time ticking down in the second frame, Cam Reid tracked down a loose puck in the right wing corner of Brampton’s end. Reid found a wide open Adam Hughesman in the mid-slot. Hughesman snapped a low hard shot that pin-balled through the pads of goaltender Ryan DeMelo; but would have stayed above the goal line had Kevin Walrod not crashed in and poked the loose puck the last couple of inches across the goal line for his seventh of the year.

Third Period (2-2, Tie)

13:22 (2-2, Tie)

Wiles (23); Reid and Mullane (bar-down snap shot off the rush)

Reading tied the game with just 6:38 left in regulation, when defenseman Jordan Heywood fired a pass from the defensive zone to Pat Mullane deep on the offensive side of the neutral zone. Mullane angled the puck down the left wing side, where Reid skated onto in, and carried for a stride before slipping a cross-ice pass to Sean Wiles who came barreling down the slot, took the pass on the fly, blew by everyone, and then drilled a hot snap shot bar-down for his twenty-third of the year.

Overtime (3-2, Brampton)

0:34 (3-2, Brampton) Brampton Goal

1. Donati 2 (13); Line and McCready (five-hole snap shot from low slot)

Brampton won the game on their first rush in overtime. David Ling carried deep into the offensive zone. As Reading’s defensive pressure pulled off of him, Ling was allowed to skate directly by the right side of the Royals’ cage and slip a pass back up into the low slot, where Justin Donati was floating in for the quick one-time snap shot that snuck through Knapp’s pads for the OT GWG.

NOTES:

• The Royals scratches tonight were Ian Watters (f) and Zach Davies (d) (21-day injured reserve).

• Despite the overtime loss tonight, the Royals record remains at a season-best twenty-three games over .500 (39-16-4-2=84), and the team remains in second place in the East Division.

• Reading has compiled a record of 2-2-2-0 in the team’s last six games; 6-3-3-1 in the last thirteen; and 30-8-3-1 in the last forty-two.

• The OTL dropped Reading’s record against Brampton to 1-1-1-0 with two more games to be played between the two teams: (i) tomorrow (Friday, March 20 @ 7:30 pm); and (ii) Sunday (March 22 @ 2:00 pm).

• Tonight’s game marked the eleventh time that Reading has gone beyond regulation time this season; and the team is 5-6 in those games.

• The Royals are now 0-4 in games that have been resolved in overtime.

• Kevin Walrod (1g-0a), who also scored in last Sunday’s win over Kalamazoo (1g-1a), has three goals and five points in his last six games with Reading.

• Sean Wiles (1g-0a) is riding a four game point streak (3g-2a=5pts). Wiles has scored a goal in three of his last four games and has scored six goals in his last eight played (6g-3a=9pts). Wiles has seventeen goals in the thirty-three games since January 1, 2015.

• Cam Reid (0g-2a), who is riding a three-game point streak (1g-3a=4pts), registered his seventeenth multi-point performance of the season tonight, tying Pat Mullane for the team lead in that category. Reid has had at least one point in eleven of his last twelve games (7g-11a=18pts). Reid has thirty-two points (13g-19a) in his last twenty-three games.

• Adam Hughesman (0g-1a) is riding a three game assist streak. He has at least a point in nine of his last ten games (2g-11a=13pts). Hughesman has thirty-two points (10g-22a) in his last twenty-nine games.

• Despite the OTL, goaltender Connor Knapp is still unbeaten in his last seven games (4-0-2-1). He has compiled a record of 12-1-3-1 in his last seventeen games with Reading.

• Tonight’s game marked the twenty-ninth time this season that Reading’s power play has been held off the board (0-4). The team has compiled a record of 20-8-1-0 in those games.

• This marked the thirty-sixth time that Reading’s penalty killers have blanked the opposition’s power play (0-3). The Royals have gone 27-5-2-2 in those games.

NEXT UP FOR THE ROYALS

Reading Royals @ Brampton Beast

@ Powerade Centre – Brampton, ON Canada

Friday, March 20, 2015 (7:30 pm)

NEXT UP: The Royals and Beast go at again tomorrow night (Friday, March 20 @ 7:30 pm) at Powerade Centre in Brampton, Ontario. The game night broadcast for Friday’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 7:00 pm Eastern Time. As with all Royals’ road games, Friday’s game will be televised locally in Berks County, Pennsylvania on BCTV courtesy of Boscov’s Travel and Apple Vacations. 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 03-19