Royals Fall in Sunday Stumble in Adirondack, 3-1

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Teams     Per: 1          2          3

REA:              0          0          1=1

ADK:              2          0          1=3

Records

REA: 27-21-5-3 = 62 (3rd Place East Division)

ADK: 31-17-2-4 = 68 (2nd Place East Division)

Goaltenders

REA: Knapp (loss) 10-9-0-1 (25/28)

ADK: Fielding (win) 8-3-1-3 (24/25)

Power Play:

REA: 0-4

ADK: 0-3

Glens Falls, NY – The Reading Royals (loss, 27-21-5-3=62) of the ECHL, affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, were defeated by the Adirondack Thunder (win, 31-17-2-4=68) of the ECHL, affiliate of the Calgary Flames, 3-1, at Glens Falls Civic Center.

In a Sunday afternoon three-in-three for the Royals, the team dug an early two-goal hole and weren’t able muster the energy necessary to mount a successful comeback. Reading did climb back to within one in the early stages of the third; but the Thunder quashed that fire pretty quickly with a bounce-back goal mid-way into the final frame and, from that point forward, held the Royals at bay. The loss, in the final game of the regular season for the Royals at the Glens Falls Civic Center, snapped a three-game overall win streak—and five game road win streak—and pushed the team’s record back to six games over .500.

Adirondack struck 2:58 into the first period when Michael Kirkpatrick slid a perfect diagonal-down pass from the top of the left circle to the right side of the crease, where defenseman Mathieu Brodeur stepped deep into the zone for a re-direct behind goaltender Connor Knapp and his fifth of the year.

The Thunder bagged what proved to be the game winner 8:47 into the first when Jeff Silengo carried off the rush just inside offensive blue line and fired a hard snap shot through a Reading defender that beat Knapp high to the stick side for his eleventh of the year.

In the second, the Royals had a couple of golden chances, including a snapper out of the right circle by Yannick Tifu—playing in his 700th game as a pro—that clanked off the left pipe and a clean breakaway for Brandon Alderson while the two teams were playing four aside. But both of those fell for naught, and Reading entered the third trailing the Thunder by two.

Reading cut the deficit in half 2:06 into the third when Pavel Padakin picked off a breakout attempt by the Thunder and fed the puck to the mid-slot where Ian Watters stepped up and fired a shot that goaltender Drew Fielding rejected. The rebound, however, fell to the top of the crease, where Joey Sides punched it back home for his eighth of the year—six of which have been scored in twenty-two games with the Royals since being picked up on waivers from the Wichita Thunder.

Reading used the goal by Sides to spark an energetic push, but all of that was doused when Greg Wolfe threw a knuckler from the high slot that eluded Knapp over the blocker to rebuild the two-goal advantage. For Wolfe, a former Royal who factored in all three Adirondack goals (1g-2a), that was his tenth of the year.

From that point forward, it was pretty much academic as the Thunder pushed their record to 26-0-2-0 when leading after two periods, while Reading fell to 1-19-2-1 when trailing after two.

Reading returns home for a three-in-three set at Santander Arena in Reading, beginning with a critical battle against the Wheeling Nailers on Friday (March 4 @ 7:00 pm). Reading will celebrate Social Media Night on Friday with plenty of related activities and giveaways. Friday’s game day broadcast on CBS Sports Radio 1240 am and 98.5 fm will kick off at 7:00 pm with the pre-game warm-up show presented by Highmark Blue Shield available on the Deibler Dental In-Arena Broadcast (99.3 fm inside Santander Arena). Streaming audio is available free of charge on the Royals’ website; 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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