Royals Unable to Hold Off Power Play Fueled Comeback by Toledo, 5-3

Teams     Per: 1          2          3

TOL:              1          1          3=5

REA:              2          1          0=3

Records

TOL:  36-12-3-2=77 (2nd North Division)

REA: 37-15-2-2=78 (T-1st East Division)

Goaltenders

TOL: Lerg (win) 24-6-1-1 (25/28)

REA: Ouellette (loss) 14-7-1-1 (24/28) (1 eng)

Power Play:

TOL: 2-5

REA: 0-0

Reading, PA – The Reading Royals (­­­­­­­­­loss, 37-15-2-2=78) 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 Toledo Walleye (win, 36-12-3-2=77), 5-3, at Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania.

In the first of what will be back-to-back games this weekend between the Royals and Walleye, the see-saw battle ended with Toledo bagging their second win in three tries against Reading. Toledo struck in the first 75 seconds to take an early lead, but the Royals bounced back to run off three straight, including a pair in the relatively early stages of the first period separated by only 1:34. However, the pendulum swung decidedly in the other direction starting with a late second period power play goal by the Walleye, who came into the game with the top ranked special teams in the league. Toledo then proceeded to ring off three more in the third with the game winner coming mid-way into the period, when Toledo was playing on the second of what were back-to-back double minors assessed against Reading—both for high sticking that drew blood. The Walleye tacked on a 190 foot empty netter to ice the game, which snapped the Royals’ home unbeaten streak at nine.

First Period (2-1, Reading)

1:15 (1-0, Toledo) Toledo Goal

Bonis (26); Frk and Hirschfeld (tap in from left side of the crease)

The Walleye struck early after a neutral zone turnover resulted in an odd-man counter-punch push that ended with Martin Frk controlling below the hash-marks, feigning as if he intended to shoot, but instead slipping the puck to the left side of the net, where a wide open and waiting Kyle Bonis quickly chipped the puck over the extended right pad of goaltender Martin Ouellette for his twenty-seventh of the season.

5:24 (1-1, Tie) Reading Goal

Hatch (8); Alderson and Lamarche (snap shot of the left circle)

Reading rebounded quickly from the early goal against when Brandon Alderson sprang Matt Hatch through the neutral zone. Hatch turned on the jets, carried into the left circle and drilled a snap shot over the catching glove of goaltender Jeff Lerg for Hatch’s eighth of the year.

6:58 (2-1, Reading) Reading Goal

Alderson (4); Mullane and Marshall (back-hand from low on the right side)

1:34 later, Reading took a 2-1 lead after a strong fore-check forced a turnover in the offensive zone for the Royals. The puck slid to the low slot where Alderson was able to protect it long enough to slip a back hand on goal that trickled through Lerg for Alderson’s fourth of the year.

Second Period (3-2, Reading)

1:10 (3-1, Reading) Reading Goal

Reid (23); Labelle and Hughesman (snap shot from left circle)

The Royals stretched the lead to two on the team’s first shot of the second period. Olivier Labelle set Cam Reid for an attack down the left wing side into the offensive zone. Reid carried above the dot in the left circle and uncorked a low, hard bullet across the body of Lerg for his team-leading twenty-third of the year.

17:51 (3-2, Reading) Toledo Goal (Power Play)

Jenks (5); Luciani and Bonis (snap shot from left circle)

The Walleye kicked off their comeback seventeen seconds into their first power play chance of the night. A.J. Jenks found a soft spot in the left circle, took a pass off the left half wall from Anthony Luciani, and then turned, wheeled and fired a snapper that beat Ouellette, who had pulled off the left pipe, high to the short side for Jenks’ fifth of the year.

Third Period (5-3, Toledo)

2:18 (3-3, Tie) Toledo Goal

Barnes (20), Nedomiel and Lampl (high deflection of shot from left point)

Toledo tied the game early in the third on a beautiful deflection by the leading rookie scorer in the ECHL, Tyler Barnes. Defenseman Richard Nedomiel fired a hard slap shot from the left point Barnes deftly nicked with the blade of his stick about two-and-a-half feet off the ice and eleven feet from the net. The puck flew up and over the right shoulder of Ouellette for Barnes’ twentieth of the year.

10:47 (4-3, Toledo) Toledo Goal (Power Play)

Bonis 2 (27); Luciani and Lampl (snap shot from right circle)

1:09 after killing off one four-minute double minor for high sticking (which was assessed against Olivier Labelle), the Royals were put behind the double-minor eight-ball on a second high sticking penalty that drew blood. (This one against defenseman Mike Marcou on a what appeared to be a follow through on a shot—which drew the ire of the Royals’ coaching staff, who argued that there should not have been an infraction assessed on the play.) Either way, the Walleye capitalized on the front end of the penalty sequence when Kyle Bonis took a snap shot from the right circle which snuck through Ouellette, who was dealing with heavy traffic at the top of the Royals’ crease. For Bonis, that proved to be his second of the night, twenty-seventh of the season, and fifth game winner of the year.

19:25 (5-3, Toledo) Toledo Goal (Empty Netter)

Nedomiel (3); (190 foot shot from deep in the defensive zone)

The Walleye iced the game with an empty netter from right along the goal line in the defensive zone right wing corner on a perfectly executed clearing shot by defenseman Richard Nedomiel, who landed the puck dead in the middle of the empty net for his third of the year.

NOTES:

• The Royals scratches tonight included: Andrew Johnston (f) (ECHL Reserve), Kevin Sullivan (f), Kevin Walrod (f), Zach Davies (d) (21-Day Injured Reserve), and Kenny Reiter (g) (ECHL Reserve).

• Tonight’s loss, when coupled with a win by the Florida Everblades, put the Royals in a tie for first place in the East Division, marking the first time since February 8 that Reading is not in sole possession of first in the East.

• The loss to the Walleye snapped Reading’s home unbeaten streak at nine games (8-0-0-1).

• The Royals record against Toledo now stands at 1-2-0-0 with one more regular season game to be played between the two teams. The Walleye and the Fort Wayne Komets (0-2-0-0) are the only teams that Reading has played this season against whom the Royals have a losing record.

• Seven of Matt Hatch’s eight goals this year have come during his last seventeen games played.

• Brandon Alderson’s goal tonight snapped his thirteen game goal scoring drought. Alderson (1g-1a) recorded his third multi-point performance of the season this evening.

• Cam Reid (1g-0a) extended his point streak to seven games (5g-7a=12pts) with his team leading twenty-third goal of the year tonight. Reid has scored a goal in five of his last six games.

• Olivier Labelle (0g-1a) stretched his personal point streak to five games (3g-6q=9pts).

• Adam Hughesman is also riding a five game point streak (2g-7a=9pts).

• Reading’s penalty kill (2 PPGAs) has given up at least one power play goal against in seven of the last ten games. The Royals’ PK is killing at a 79.1% clip during that span (9 PPGA in 43 chances for the opposition with the man advantage).

• Tonight’s game marked the first time this season that Reading was not awarded an opportunity to play with the man advantage.

• Tonight’s loss snapped a four game win streak for goaltender Martin Ouellette.

NEXT UP FOR THE ROYALS

Reading Royals v Toledo Walleye

@ Santander Arena – Reading, PA

Sunday, March 8, 2015 (5:05 pm Eastern Time)

NEXT UP: The Royals face the Walleye again tomorrow (Sunday, March 8) @ 5:05 pm at Santander Arena in Reading. Prior to the Royals’ game against the Walleye, Reading’s Fire and Police Department hockey teams will face off in the tenth annual Battle of the Badges, beginning at 1:30 pm. One ticket gets you into both games. The first 5000 fans will receive a set of Royals’ player trading cards courtesy of Rieck’s Printing. Tomorrow’s game is a Super Saver Sunday with FREE PARKING at all RPA garages. Fans can also take advantage of the Berks Packing Dollar Day with $1.00 popcorn, nachos, hot dogs, and soda. Please note that there will also be a post-game skate with the players presented by the Body Zone Sports and Wellness Complex. (Fans must bring their own skates to participate in the post-game skate with the players.) The game night broadcast for Saturday’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 3:35 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 03-07