Royals look ahead to weekend in Brampton after falling, 4-2, at Newfoundland

St. John’s, NL – Reading Royals forwards Alex Roos and Adam Schmidt tallied the first two goals in the opening six minutes, but the Newfoundland Growlers raged back to flip Reading, 4-2, Wednesday at Mile One Centre. Reading fired 15 shots in the third and 28 in the game; Eamon McAdam was perfect over the final 54 minutes to silence the Royals with 26 saves.Newfoundland buried an empty-net goal with 1.1 seconds left from Giorgio Estephan.The Royals remain five points out of the fourth and final North Division playoff spot with 13 games to play.After Reading’s quick goals, back-to-back first-frame strikes from the Growlers evened the contest through 20 minutes. Newfoundland’s Zach O’Brien scored the game-winning goal and his third of the mid-week set to put the Royals behind by one in the second period.Branden Komm took the loss with 24 saves (3 GA). Reading completes a season-long six-game road trip at Brampton Sat., Mar. 9 – Sun., Mar. 10. Saturday’s game starts at 4:00 p.m. and can be seen live on BCTV (Channel 15 Comcast, Channel 19 Service Electric) and heard at Mixlr.com/readingroyals. Reading returns home Fri., Mar. 15 to face Indy on Mental Health Awareness Night.Box ScoreThe Royals got on the board first with a back-door left post tap home from Roos at 1:22 of the first. Garret Cockerill cranked a shot from the deep slot that batted off Josh MacDonald. Next, McAdam sprawled and Roos found it and nudged it in for his 13th of the season. The rookie leads all Royals in goals and points (27).A beautiful block by Schmidt led to his 19th of the season four minutes later. While in the defensive end, Schmidt blocked Garrett Johnston’s deep-slot shot and hunted him back into Newfoundland’s end. Johnston gave away the puck to Frank DiChiara, who fed left circle to Huntebrinker right circle. Huntebrinker quickly dished to Schmidt at the left slot and he scored. Schmidt has at least a point in seven of the last eight games (5g, 4a).Newfoundland rebounded for the next two and the game was tied, 2-2, after one. First, J.J. Piccinich shot it off a stick at the right circle and it bounded by Komm with 10:27 remaining in the first. Nine minutes later, Ryan Moore scooted across the left side of the Royals line and put a low shot rip in for his 11th of the season.O’Brien’s go-ahead goal with 3:30 left in the middle frame edged the Growlers ahead by one, 3-2, through 40. Marcus Power got the pass across the line to the left dot and found O’Brien all alone right slot. A quick wrister snuck through.Both teams were 0-for-3 on the man up.Next Home GamesFri., Mar. 15: Mental Health Awareness Night vs. Indy at 7:00 p.m.- 4-for-48 Family Four Pack: 4 tickets, 4 burgers and 4 sodas for $48 - Supporting mental health initiatives with the Royals - Enter for a chance to win a 2017 Toyota Camry, courtesy of AutoRide of Reading - Special Mental Health Awareness Jerseys- Meet Royals players after the game at DoubleTree's Cheers! Restaurant (701 Penn St.)Sat., Mar. 16: St. Hat Trick’s Day vs. Indy at 7:00 p.m.- Chance to win $10,000 if Royals player gets a hat trick- Free kids ticket game: Receive 1 free kids ticket (14 and under) for every adult ticket purchased- Ice Angels Dance Team poster giveaway and postgame autographs, pres. by Rieck's Printing- Enter for a chance to win a 2017 Toyota Camry, courtesy of AutoRide of Reading- Special St. Hat Trick's Day JerseysFri., Mar. 22: $1 Beer Night at 7:00 p.m. vs. Newfoundland- $1 Draft Beer- Enter for a chance to win a 2017 Toyota Camry, courtesy of AutoRide of ReadingGroup tickets start at $11 for all Royals home games.About the RoyalsThe Royals are in their 18th ECHL season and proudly affiliated with the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers and AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Reading plays in the Santander Arena, located in downtown Reading, PA at 700 Penn Street. The Royals won the Kelly Cup in 2013, have made the playoffs in nine straight seasons and are four-time division champions.Listen to all Royals broadcasts at Mixlr.com/ReadingRoyals or by downloading the Mixlr App from the App Store or Google Play.