Royals Fall 2-1 in OT (Again), Brampton Takes 3-2 Series Lead

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Teams     Per: 1          2          3          ot         2ot

REA:              0          0          1          0          0=1

BRM:             0          0          1          0          1=2

Records

REA: 2-1-2

BRM: 3-2-0

Goaltenders

REA: Dekanich (OTL, 2-1-2) (50/52) (95:34)

BRM: Fucale (win, 3-1-0) (43/44) (95:34)

Power Play:

REA: 0-5

BRM: 0-9

Brampton, ON – The Reading Royals (­­­­­­­­OTL, 2-1-2) of the ECHL, affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, were defeated by the Brampton Beast (Loss, 3-2-0), 2-1, in double-overtime Game Five of the Best-of-Seven North Division Semifinals at Powerade Centre in Brampton, Ontario. With the win, Brampton takes a three-games-to-two lead in first round series. Game Six is scheduled for Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania, on Monday, April 24 @ 7:05 pm.

For the fourth time in the five games played in this series, the game ended with a 2-1 score, but this one took double-overtime and 95:34 of hockey to get there. Nobody scored until the mid-point of the third period, when Brampton bagged the game’s first goal; but Reading tied it in relative short order—and from there the teams traded chances deep into the second overtime that included multiple power play chances for both teams (and 1:06 of five-on-three for Brampton in the second OT)—until Brandon MacLean ended things on a rebound chance from in tight with his second goal of the night.

The loss marked the second 2-1 OTL in this series for the Royals, who have now lost the last six playoff games that have gone beyond regulation for the organization, dating to an OT win in Game One of the 2013 Kelly Cup Finals against the Stockton Thunder.

Nobody broke through in the first two periods, which featured exceptional netminding by the two top goaltenders in ECHL playoffs—Mark Dekanich for Reading and Zach Fucale for Brampton. The Beast finally broke the ice 8:55 into the third, when a cross-ice pass from deep on the left side by David Ling found MacLean for a wide-open weak-side one-timer out of the right circle that slipped under and through Dekanich for MacLean’s second of the playoff season.

1:57 after that, Reading tied things up when Chris McCarthy won an offensive zone face-off to the left point, where Jesper Pettersson settled and fired the puck into the pile in the low slot. The loose puck fell to the skates of Olivier Labelle, who turned a wheeled a low hard shot from just below the hashmarks for his second of the playoff season—and his sixteenth career post-season goal as a Royal, which ties Yannick Tifu for the all-time lead in that category.

The teams then ventured to overtime for the second time in the series. Both clubs had any number of chances to end it with multiple power play chances and a lengthy five-on-three for Brampton in the second OT. But the goaltenders were solid at both ends, and it seemed that both teams misfired at critical moments with the game on the line.

Brampton ended things 15:34 into the second OT when :Lukas Venuto, playing in his first game of the series, dug the puck off the left wall and got it to Luc Olivier Blain for a good look out of the left circle. Dekanich rejected that bid with the right pad, but the rebound fell out of his reach and MacLean was able to step in and chip the puck up and over Dekanich to push Reading to the brink of elimination in the best of seven series.

NEXT UP FOR THE ROYALS

MONDAY, APRIL 24, 2017

v Brampton Beast

Game Six of the North Division Semi-Final Best-of-Seven

Brampton Leads Series Three-Games-to-Two

Santander Arena – Reading, PA

ROYALS BROADCAST

AUDIO: iHeartRadio – Rumba 1340 in Reading

Deibler Dental In Arena Broadcast: 99.3 fm Inside Santander Arena

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)

North Division Semifinal Best-of-Seven Series

Game One – Brampton @ Reading: Reading 2 – Brampton 1 (REA leads series 1-0)

Game Two – Brampton @ Reading: Brampton 2 – Reading 1 (OT) (Series Tied 1-1)

Game Three – Reading @ Brampton: Brampton 2- Reading 1 (BRM leads series 2-1)

Game Four – Reading @ Brampton: Reading 3 – Brampton 2 (Series Tied 2-2)

Game Five – Reading @ Brampton: Brampton 2 – Reading 1 (2 OT) (BRM leads Series 3-2)

Game Six – Brampton @ Reading, Monday, April 24 @ 7:00 pm et

Game Seven – Brampton @ Reading, Tuesday, April 25 @ 7:00 pm et, if necessary

End 17 04-22