Royals Headed to Game Seven after 3-1 Loss to Walleye

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Teams     Per: 1          2          3

TOL:              1         1          1=3

REA:              0         1          0=1

Records

TOL: 3-3-0

REA: 3-3-0

Goaltenders

TOL: Lerg (Win) 1-2-0 (33/34)

REA: Ouellette (Loss) 3-1-0 (12/14) (1 eng)

Power Play:

TOL: 0-3

REA: 1-4

Reading, PA – The Reading Royals (­­­­­­­­­loss, 3-3-0) of the ECHL, affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, were defeated by the Toledo Walleye (win, 3-3-0) of the ECHL, affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League, 3-1, in Game Six of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal best-of-seven playoff series at Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania. The series is tied three games apiece and will be resolved in Game Seven at Huntington Center in Toledo on Tuesday.

The Walleye struck first to continue the series-long trend where the team that has bagged the game’s first goal has also ended up winning the game. The Royals continued a season-long trend of having significant difficulty coming from behind, principally in this one because of the spectacular play of Toledo goaltender Jeff Lerg, who made thirty-three saves—many in spectacular fashion, which included rejecting a first period penalty shot for Joe Rehkamp.

Toledo struck 9:19 into the first period when Dominic Zombo threw a seemingly-harmless wrister from the right point that deflected off forward Josh Shalla and fluttered under the extended blocker hand of goaltender Martin Ouellette.

The Walleye stretched the lead to two 16:14 into the second, seven seconds after the conclusion of Reading’s second power play chance on the night. Toledo was able to take off on a two-on-one break led by A. J. Jenks just as the power play was coming to a close. Jenks carried deep down the right wing side and, using Evan Rankin as a decoy, shot across the body of Ouellette, who got a piece of the puck with his right pad and/or blocker but not enough to keep it out of the net for what proved to be Jenks fourth of the playoff season—and second game winner.

Reading solved Lerg only once, and it came with time ticking down on the second period, while the Royals were on the team’s third power play of the night. Nikita Kashirsky led out Yannick Tifu, who found a seam charging across the blue line and  down the slot, where he got a shot that triggered a heavy scramble around the Toledo net. In the ensuing battle, the puck popped free to Cam Reid, who chipped it up and over Lerg for his third of the playoff season with less than 18 seconds left in the period.

Reading pushed hard in the third—outshooting the Walleye 13-2 and clanging at least one pipe dead-on. But the only goal went to the Walleye (and Jenks) who tacked on an empty netter with 1:22 left in regulation.

The Royals and Walleye will square off in Game Seven of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal battle on Tuesday (April 26 @ 7:35 pm) at Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio. The decisive matchup can be heard live on CBS SportsRadio 1240 AM and 98.5 FM in Reading, starting with the pre-game warm-up show presented by Highmark Blue Shield at 7:00 pm Eastern Time. The game will also be televised locally in Berks County, Pennsylvania, on BCTV courtesy of Boscov’s Travel and Apple Vacations. 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.

Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Best-of-Seven Series

Friday, April 15 (7:35 pm) – Huntington Center (Toledo, OH) Royals 4 – Walleye 3          Reading Leads Series 1-0

Saturday, April 16 (7:35 pm) – Huntington Center (Toledo, OH) Walleye 4 – Royals 3      Series Tied 1-1

Tuesday, April 19 (7:00 pm) – Santander Arena (Reading, PA) Royals 4 – Walleye 2         Reading Leads Series 2-1

Wed., April 20 (7:00 pm) – Santander Arena (Reading, PA)            Walleye 3 – Royals 1             Series Tied 2-2

Friday, April 22 (7:35 pm) – Huntington Center (Toledo, OH) Royals 5 – Walleye 3          Reading Leads Series 3-2

Sunday, April 24 (4:00 pm) – Santander Arena (Reading, PA) Walleye 3 – Royals 1          Series Tied 3-3

Tuesday, April 26 (7:35 pm) – Huntington Center (Toledo, OH)

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