Reading Kicks Off 2016 with a Bang in 5-0 Win Over Adirondack

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Teams     Per: 1          2          3

ADK:              0          0          0=0

REA:              0          3          2=5

Records

ADK: 18-8-1-1 = 38 (3rd East Division)

REA: 16-11-2-3 = 37 (4th East Division)

Goaltenders

ADK: Appleby (Loss) 11-7-1-1 (26/31)

REA: Ouellette (Win) 6-2-0-0 (22/22)

Power Play:

ADK: 0-4

REA: 0-2

Reading, PA – The Reading Royals (­­­­­­­­­Win, 16-11-2-3=37) of the ECHL, affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, defeated the Adirondack Thunder (Loss, 18-8-1-1=38), affiliate of the Calgary Flames of the NHL, 5-0, at Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania.

In the first game of 2016—and the first time that the Thunder have ever played in Reading—the Royals used a three-goal second period attack and a stingy team-oriented defensive structure to beat Adirondack for the first in team history. The Royals supplemented the offense in the middle frame with a pair of goals in the third, while goaltender Martin Ouellette held down the fort on the back-end to register his second shutout of the year. Tonight’s game marked the sixth shutout of the season for Reading, who pushed the team’s unbeaten streak to six (4-0-1-1), while extending the team’s overall record to five games over .500 for the first time this year.

For the eighth time in a span of nine games, Reading struck first—this time on a somewhat unusual goal. After an extended sequence of offensive zone pressure, the puck slid to the high slot where Pavel Padakin took a snap shot that struck a member of the Thunder and fluttered high in the air. As the puck fell back to earth, Scott Tanski, who was just above the top of the crease, took a swipe at it, but missed; but so did goaltender Ken Appleby, who reached up to catch the puck as it was tumbling back to earth. The puck bounced off the top of Appleby’s glove, fell back-ward onto his back, and bounced across the goal line and into the net for Padakin’s fifth of the year—and what would prove to be his first pro game winner.

Reading took a 2-0 lead 1:08 later, when defenseman Sam Windle started a rush with a perfect 60 foot strike from behind the defensive blue line to Cam Reid who was cutting across the offensive blue line. Reid dropped the puck to Mike Pereira, who in turn set one on a tee in the left circle for Derik Johnson, who in his turn, stepped up and uncorked a bullet over the right shoulder of Appleby for his first as a pro.

With just 29 seconds left in the second frame, Reading pushed the lead to 3-0 when another aggressive fore-check forced a turnover deep in Adirondack’s end. Justin Crandall freed the puck below the goal line for Pereira, who slipped it towards the left pipe, where Cam Reid kept digging at it until he forced it across the goal line for his eighth of the year.

3:34 into the final frame, Reading stretched the lead to four with Reid’s second of the night. While considerable attention was drawn to the Royals’ defensive zone where Adirondack’s Mads Eller was wildly running around, the Royals capitalized on the misguided focus at the other end of the ice. The end result was that Reid got a clean look in the right circle, and he didn’t waste the chance, ripping a rocket that streaked over Appleby’s left shoulder for his ninth of the year.

Reading added a bit of insult to injury, when Yannick Tifu, who was behind the Adirondack net, ducked out of hard snap shot off the stick of teammate Padakin that buzzed right by Tifu’s head. Tifu then tracked the loose puck and took a quick snap shot from an extremely sharp angle right along the goal line that bounced off the back of Appleby and ended up in the net for Tifu’s sixth of the year.

From that point forward, the Royals seemed intent on protecting the shutout for Ouellette, which included killing off a pair of late game power plays for the Thunder, who pressed hard to the bitter end, but were unable to break through.

The Royals and Thunder go at it for the third straight game tomorrow (Sunday, January 3, 2016 @ 4:00 pm) at Santander Arena in Reading. The Royals will host an interactive BINGO game with plenty of prizes to go around for fans in attendance. 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 3:30 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.

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

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