Royals remain in 1st place, drop at Wheeling, 4-1

Wheeling, WV – The Wheeling Nailers snapped the Reading Royals’ four-game winning streak, defeating Reading, 4-1, Friday at Wesbanco Arena. Hayden Hodgson scored Reading’s lone goal at 2:56 of the first to tie the game, 1-1, but Wheeling snuck two by Kirill Ustimenko (25 svs., 3 GA) in the second period. The Royals are 6-4-1-0 (13 pts.) and in sole possession of first place in the North Division.Kirill Ustimenko had a three-game winning streak snapped despite 25 saves (3 GA).Alex D’Orio moved to 2-0-0-0 in the season series with 21 saves (1 GA).The Royals return home for “Harry Potter” night $1 domestic drafts and $1 butterbeer on Sat., Nov. 9 at 7:00 p.m.  The 2019-20 season is presented by Tower Health UPMC Health Plan.

Box ScoreFirst frame strongThe Royals have tallied in the first period in ten of 11 games this season; at 2:56 of the first, Hayden Hodgson tallied his second of the season to even the score at one. Hodgson found a puck dumped to the Wheeling right corner. It struck a divot in the boards and bounced to Hodgson at the goal line. He scooped, drove to the low slot and backhanded it through D’Orio.Hodgson scored twice for Wichita last season before completing his season overseas in Slovakia.2 in the middle frameThe Royals attempted two shots in the second, their fewest in a period this season, allowing the Nailers to take advantage and buzz a pair in. Christopher Brown scored his second goal of the season series on the power play at 2:05 of the second to provide Wheeling a 2-1 edge; Myles Powell hummed a cross-ice pass to Brown inside the right circle. Renars Krastenbergs scored next for Wheeling. Jan Drozg swiveled across Reading’s line to the right goal line and shoved it to the sprawling Krastenbergs at net front halfway through the middle period.All-timeThe Royals remain with 100 wins in the all-time series vs. Wheeling at 100-65-17. The teams match for the 183rd time Saturday at Santander Arena. Wheeling and Reading are the most-common foes in each side’s history.Single-game tickets and mini-plans are on sale by visiting royalshockey.com/promotions, calling 610-898-7825 and visiting Santander Arena and The Weidenhammer Box Office at 700 Penn Street, Reading, PA.About the RoyalsThe Royals are in their 19th ECHL season and are proudly affiliated with the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers and AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The Royals won the Kelly Cup in 2013, have made the playoffs 14 times, and are four-time division champions. The Berks County Convention Center Authority (BCCCA), founded in 1996, owns the Royals and oversees operations at Santander Arena and the Santander Arena Performing Arts Center.Listen to all Royals broadcasts at Mixlr.com/ReadingRoyals or by downloading the Mixlr App from the App Store or Google Play. All Royals away games are broadcasted on BCTV (Ch. 15 Comcast, Ch. 19 Service Electric) and Mixlr.