Royals Unable to Complete Comeback Effort Against Adirondack, 3-2

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Teams     Per: 1          2          3

ADK:              2          0          1=3

REA:              0          0          2=2

Records

ADK: 19-8-1-1 = 40 (t-2nd East Division)

REA: 16-12-2-3 = 37 (4th East Division)

Goaltenders

ADK: Fielding (Win) 5-1-0-0 (32/34)

REA: Ouellette (Loss) 6-3-0-0 (19/22)

Power Play:

ADK: 1-2

REA: 0-4

Reading, PA – The Reading Royals (­­­­­­­­­Loss, 16-12-2-3=37) of the ECHL, affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, were defeated by the Adirondack Thunder (Win, 19-8-1-1=40), affiliate of the Calgary Flames of the NHL, 3-2, at Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania.

In the third game consecutive game between the Royals and Thunder, Adirondack struck on their first power play chance of the night and followed that up by scoring on Reading’s first power play goal, as well. From that point forward, the Thunder and goaltender Drew Fielding were able to keep the Royals pretty much at bay, despite the fact that Reading outshot Adirondack, 34-22. Reading cut the lead in half early in the third period (2-1), but just that quickly—within a minute—the Thunder charged down ice and regained the two-goal advantage. Reading did bag a late game sixth-attacker goal, but that proved too little, too late.

The loss for Reading snapped the team’s six-game unbeaten streak, and dropped Reading’s record back to four games over .500, after climbing to a season-best five games over with a recent holiday surge.

Adirondack struck on their first power play chance 7:46 into the game. Greg Wolfe fed the puck to the high slot where defenseman Ryan Constant took a shoulder-high shot that buzzed by everyone, including goaltender Martin Ouellette, as Wolfe buzzed across the top of the crease, creating a moving screen. For Constant, that proved to be his third of the year.

Seven minutes later, the Royals had their first power play chance of the night—and it didn’t go quite as hoped. On what appeared to be a simple PP breakout through the neutral zone, defenseman Adam Comrie attempted to drop the puck to a trailing forward, but the pass was off the mark; and Adirondack’s Mads Eller jumped around Comrie, picked off the loose puck, and charged off to the races. Eller cut across the top of the crease left to right and deftly slipped the puck between Ouellette’s legs for his second of the year.

Undaunted, the Royals kept their collective foot to the pedal, particularly in the second frame—outshooting the Thunder 23-14 through two periods, but had nothing to show for it. That changed for the better 6:06 into the third, when Yannick Tifu, who would end up with a Gordie Howe Hattrick (goal-assist-fight) on the night, fed the puck back to the left point where defenseman Derrick Johnson settled and fired a low slap shot towards the net. Scott Tanski, who was planted at the top of the crease, nicked the puck with the back of his stick blade, causing the shot, which appeared to be headed wide right, just to catch the net just inside the right pipe. For Tanski, that proved to be his fourth of the year.

Just as undaunted, the Thunder came right down and re-took the two goal advantage 51 seconds later—directly after the face-off to re-start play. A relentless fore-check precluded Reading from clearing the puck from the defensive zone, despite the fact that Reading had at least two clear chances to do so. James Henry settled the puck, circled from deep in the offensive zone, carrying it up to the high slot, where he turned and fired a shot towards the Reading goal. Ouellette rejected that bid and made a spectacular save on a rebound at the top of the crease for Greg Wolfe; but Ouellette couldn’t cover the puck at that point, and Wolfe was able to not only find the loose puck but also punch it over the goal line for his sixth of the year and what would prove to be the game winner.

Reading drew within one again with just 1:18 left in regulation with a sixth-attacker goal, which came when just about everyone on ice swarmed a loose puck at the right side of the crease, where Tifu would step in and punch it across the goal line for his seventh of the year. But that would be it for Reading, who dropped to 9-6-0-1 through sixteen games on home ice.

The Royals are off until Friday (January 8, 2016 @ 7:00 pm) when the team will face the Toledo Walleye for the first time this year at Santander Arena in Reading. On Friday, the Royals will celebrate “Teacher Appreciation Night” when the organization will honor local educators for their contribution to our community. That night, the team will also host a ‘Battle of the Schools’ in our “Color Wars” event. 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.

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

End 16 01-03