Royals Fall in Pitcher's Duel in Wheeling, 1-0

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Teams     Per: 1          2          3

REA:              0          0          0 =0

WHL:             0          1          0 =1

Records

REA: 8-7-0-0 = 16 (t-3rd East Division)

WHL: 10-6-1-0 = 21 (1st North Division)

Goaltenders

REA: Morrison (loss) 2-3-0-0 (24/25) (57:46)

WHL: Palazzese (win) 7-2-0-0 (28/28)

Power Play:

REA: 0-2

WHL: 0-3

Wheeling, WV – The Reading Royals (­­­­­­­­­loss, 8-7-0-0=16) of the ECHL, affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, were defeated by the Wheeling Nailers (win, 10-6-1-0=21), affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the NHL, 1-0, at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, West Virginia.

Reading’s losing streak was stretched to three after an offense, which entered the game the third most productive in the league, was blanked for the first time this year, as Wheeling’s Franky Palazzese stopped all twenty-eight shots he faced. At the other end of the ice, goaltender Adam Morrison, in his first appearance as a Royal, was equally good, allowing only one goal on twenty-five shots—and that came on an odd deflection off a Reading defender’s stick.

Tonight’s game marked the fifteenth regular season game in the fifteen year history of the Royals to end in a 1-0 score—and the first since a 1-0 shutout-shootout win for Brandon Anderson in Orlando on April 12, 2014. Reading has compiled a record of 5-10-0 in games decided by a 1-0 score.

The Royals had their chances in this one, including a two-on-none break in the first period and a couple of break-aways for Matt Hatch, one of which came short-handed in the third period and had Palazzese reaching behind himself to make the save; but Palazzese had all the answers in this one. The one riddle that wasn’t solved was a snap shot from the high slot by Zach Torquato 2:59 into the second frame that deflected off the stick of Jordan Heywood and bulleted over the right shoulder of a surprised Morrison for the only goal of the game.

Reading pressed particularly hard in the third, oushooting the Nailers 14-2 in the final frame; but came up empty-handed in hte final twenty, which included a stretch of 2:16 of sixth attacker hockey after pulling Morrison late. The loss extended Reading’s winless streak in Wheeling to nine straight games (0-8-1-0), dating to March 1, 2014.

The Royals have Thanksgiving Day off, but return to action on Friday (November 27 @ 7:00 pm) when the team will kick off a stretch of three home games in three days. On Friday, the team will take on the Greenville Swamp Rabbits in a “Flashback Friday” game in which the first 2000 fans eighteen years of age and older will get a lottery ticket from the Pennsylvania Lottery.

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 6:30 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. Season Tickets for the 2015-16 Reading Royals ECHL season are currently available. For more information about the Royals, call 610-898-7825 or log onto www.royalshockey.com.

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