Royals Come-Up with Come-Back Magic Again Against Wheeling, 4-2

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Teams     Per: 1          2          3

WHL:             1          1          0 =2

REA:              1          0          3 =4

Records

WHL: 9-6-2-0=20

REA: 10-8-1-1=22

Goaltenders

WHL: Anderson (Loss) (4-1-1-0) (27/31)

REA: Dekanich (Win) (6-6-1-1) (29/31)

Power Play:

WHL: 0-3

REA: 1-4

Reading, PA – The Reading Royals (­­­­­­­­­win, 10-8-1-1=22) of the ECHL, affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, defeated the Wheeling Nailers (loss, 9-6-2-0=20), 4-2, at Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania.

In the third matchup of the year between the Royals and Nailers, Reading struck on the team’s first shot of the game—on an early game power play—but fell behind relatively early in the second on a back-to-back goals by Wheeling’s Cody Wydo only to ring off three straight in the third to pull out the team’s sixth come-from-behind win of the season—and the second consecutive in which the team entered the third period trailing the opposition (3-7-0-1). The win pushed Reading’s current win streak to a season-long four games and unbeaten streak to five (4-0-1-0).

Ten seconds into the game, the Royals found themselves on a power play when Wheeling’s Andrew Ammon was assessed with a roughing minor right off the opening face-off. Reading didn’t waste that chance, breaking through 1:19 into the game when Kevin Sundher worked the puck off the right half-wall to the goal line, where Mike Pelech made a quick tap off to the slot where Olivier Labelle—who had been the target of Ammon’s penalty—popped into a soft seam and fired a quick snap shot across the body of goaltender J.P. Anderson for his team-leading tenth of the year—five of which have come on the power play.

Wheeling tied the game 17:24 into the first when Milos Bubela dug the puck off the right half wall and fired a perfect pass to the top of the crease where Cody Wydo had the inside track for a relatively easy re-direct behind goaltender Mark Dekanich and his fifth of the season.

6:27 into the second Wydo made it 2-1, Wheeling, when he fired a shot from wide out of the right circle that appeared to catch Dekanich a bit unaware, striking the top of his blocker and angling into the upper reaches of the net.

Wheeling would hold the one goal advantage throughout the remainder of the second although the momentum did seem to take a decided shift in Reading’s favor in a lopsided tilt favoring Reading’s Tyrell Goulbourne against the Nailers’ Ryan Segalla with 1:55 remaining in the second frame.

In the third, Reading tied the game at two 5:29 in when Chris McCarthy took a shot from deep on the left side that Anderson kicked into the right circle where defenseman Nick Luukko stepped up and drilled a one-timer for his sixth of the year, which is tied for second-most amongst defensemen in the league. This was Luukko’s third goal in his last four games—and the second consecutive game in which he scored a third-period game-tying goal.

The Royals got what proved to be the game winner off the stick of Luukko, again; but this time, his shot from deep at the left point 9:42 into the third was redirected by Ian Watters behind Anderson for his first of the year.

Reading tacked on a bit of insurance 12:37 into the final frame when Ryan Penny and Goulbourne conspired to force a turnover at the offensive blue line, which then turned into a wide-open opportunity for Matt Wilkins, who was cutting down the slot where he received the puck from Penny. Wilkins didn’t waste the gift, deftly sliding it five-hole on Anderson for his fourth of the year. From there, the Royals held on for the team’s third straight win on home ice (4-3-0-0).

NEXT UP FOR THE ROYALS

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2 (@ 7:30 PM)

v NORFOLK ADMIRALS

@ THE SCOPE ARENA – NORFOLK, VA

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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