Royals Come-Back Effort Comes Up Short in Cincy, 7-4

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Teams     Per: 1          2          3

REA:              0          3          1=4

CIN:               2          3          2=7

Records

REA: 6-3-0-1 = 13 (2, North Division)

CIN: 6-5-0-0 = 12 (3, South Division)

Goaltenders

REA: Ouellette (No Decision) (13/17) (27:25)

Dekanich (Loss, 3-2-0-1) (13/16) (30:47)

CIN:  Visentin (Win, 5-3-0-0) (25/29) (59:58)

Power Play:

REA: 1 – 2

CIN: 1 – 3

Cincinnati, OH – The Reading Royals (­­­­­­­­­loss, 6-3-0-1 = 13) of the ECHL, affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, were defeated by the Cincinnati Cyclones (win, 6-5-0-0 = 12), 7-4, at US Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Playing in the seventh game of a season-long eight game road trip, the Royals stumbled out of the gate and fell behind 4-0 before finding some semblance of the team’s game. Reading was able to draw within one mid-way into the third thanks to the second goal of the night by Chris McCarthy, but Cincinnati answered the bell with a less than stellar goal a bit later in the final frame which took the come-back-starch right out of the Royals.

The Cyclones scored first 3:37 into the game when a seemingly simple d-to-d pass went awry, bouncing off the kick plate and over the stick of the intended recipient—a Reading defender—and directly to former Royal Kenny Ryan who was all alone in the slot from where blew a hot snapper over the catching glove of goaltender Martin Ouellette for his first of the year.

Cincinnati stretched the lead to two with seventeen seconds remaining in their first power play chance of the night when Nick Huard drilled a perfect look-off snapper from deep on the right wing side bar-down on the short side  up and over Ouellette’s left shoulder 9:24 into the opening frame.

The Cyclones took a 3-0 lead early in the second when Peter LeBlanc, who was wide open in front of the Reading net, re-directed a shot by defenseman Jonathan Diaby from the left point. Ouellette made the stop on that shot, but as he was scrambling to corral the rebound, he became entangled with a teammate, which allowed Cincinnati’s Tommy Mele to gain possession just off the top of the crease and fire the puck into an essentially empty net 2:13 into the middle frame.

Cincinnati gained their first four goal advantage 7:25 into the second on a beautiful redirect by defenseman Jaynen Rissling, who came charging directly down the middle of the slot, to snipe a flat saucer landed by Jordan Sims from the right wing side four feet off the top of the crease. Ouellette got a chunk of the puck with his right arm but not enough to keep it out; and that would be it for him, as goaltender Mark Dekanich came on in substitution at that point.

Reading finally hit pay-dirt on the team’s first shot of the second period 11:08 into the frame, when Chris McCarthy got a good look out of the left circle and drilled a snap-shot off the catching glove of goaltender Mark Visentin and in for his fourth of the year.

But the Cyclones quickly regained the four-goal lead 1:07 later when the Royals coughed one up in the defensive zone, allowing Andrew Yogan a clean look from the mid-slot. Yogan’s shot was not a great one; but it hit the interior of the right pad of Dekanich and trickled across the goal line as Dekanich was falling to the ice to make it 5-1.

The Royals then rang off three in a row to draw within one at 5-4. The first came 16:15 into the first while the team was playing a man short when Mike Pereira took a Ryan Penny pass out in front with his back to the Cincinnati cage. Pereira quickly wheeled 270 degrees to fire a low shot that Visentin stopped with his right pad. However, the rebound was still loose and defenseman Nick Luukko stepped up to bang it home for his second goal in three games—and the team’s third SHG in the last three games.

1:15 after that, Reading made it 5-3 with a goal that came off the rush while playing on the team’s second power play of the night. Robbie Czarnik carried down the left wing wall and set one on a tee for the trailer—defenseman Florian Iberer—who uncorked a rocket from eight feet inside the offensive blue-line for his second of the season.

Reading drew within one at 5-4 10:23 into the third when Steven Swavely, who was positioned deep on the left side, slid a diagonal up pass to Mike Marcuo who was at the top of the right circle. Marcou in turn tapped a one-touch pass to the middle of the ice, where McCarthy stepped up and hammered another cannon shot that blew by Visentin for his second of the night fifth of the year.

But that would be it for the Royals, and Cincinnati would take the life out of the come-back effort with 5:10 remaining when Yogan slipped a sharp angle shot under and through Dekanich, who had actually made a couple of game-saving stops in the moments leading up to that less than stellar goal. Cincinnati tacked on an empty netter with 1:07 remaining but by then the damage had already been done, snapping the Royals three game win streak—and pushing the Cyclones to their fourth straight win.

NEXT UP FOR THE ROYALS

Reading Royals @ WHEELING NAILERS

WesBanco Arena – Wheeling, WV

Friday, November 11, 2016 (7:35 pm Eastern Time)

NEXT HOME GAMES

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12 (@ 7:00 PM) v MANCHESTER MONARCHS

VETERANS – ACTIVE DUTY MILITARY APPRECIATION NIGHT

Army – Navy Game @ 2:00 pm (One Ticket Gains Admission to Both Games)

Rally Towel Giveaway Courtesy of UGI

Team Wears Veteran-Themed Specialty Jerseys

Post-Game Auction to Benefit Local Veterans Causes

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 13 (@ 5:00 PM) v ATLANTA GLADIATORS

SONIC SUNDAY FAMILY FUN GAME

Four Tickets – Four Hats – Four Combo Meals – For Just $44.00!

ROYALS BROADCAST

AUDIO: iHeartRadio – Rumba 1340 in Reading

TELEVISION: Royals’ Road Games are televised locally in Berks County, Pennsylvania

on BCTV, which Can Found at Comcast Reading Cable Channel 15,

Service Electric Cable Channel 19, Comcast Southern Berks Channel 965

Courtesy of Boscov’s Travel and Apple Vacations

STREAMING VIDEO: ECHL.TV powered by NeuLion (Pay-Per-View)

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