Royals get 40 shots but denied in 6-2 loss

Royals record 40 shots, McAdam stops quality chances to defeat Reading, 6-2

Glens Falls, NY - Matt Salhany scored five minutes into the first period and the Adirondack Thunder never looked back in a 6-2 win over the Reading Royals Saturday at Cool Insuring Arena. Trevor Gooch and Garrett Mitchell scored for Reading in the third period, cutting the Thunder’s lead to four by game’s end. Eamon McAdam stopped the first 29 shots he faced and earned the win with 38 denials.Gooch scored the Royals’ first goal of the game midway through the final period. He travelled down the right wing and snapped the puck to the far upper corner of the cage to end McAdam’s shutout bid. Mitchell followed up with a redirect on a Garret Cockerill deep-slot wrister to put another goal on the scoresheet for Reading in the final five minutes of play.Salhany recorded five points (1g) while James Henry recorded four (2g), and the Thunder scored three man-up goals past Felix Sandström (6 GA, 14 Saves). Eamon McAdam (2 GA, 38 Saves) recorded his seventh win in his 21st game of the season. Kirill Ustimenko made four saves in relief of Sandström. Salhany opened the scoring on the man advantage. Jake Linhart slid the puck from the top of the right circle towards Salhany’s blade and the forward popped the puck off his backhand and past Sandstrom. Henry made it 2-0 five minutes later on another power play. Mike Szmatula passed the puck to Salhany who plopped himself in front of Sandström. Salhany one-timed a pass to Henry in the low slot, and he tapped it into the open cage.Midway through the second period, Henry added his second goal and the Thunder’s first even-strength tally. Salhany walked across the tightrope and backhanded a pass to Gabriel Verpaelst in the left circle. Verpaelst rocketed the puck across the rink to Henry, and Henry ripped it over Sandström’s shoulder.Henry and Salhany continued their game dominance by combining to feed the puck to Casey Pierro-Zabotel for the fourth goal and Szmatula for the fifth. Pierro-Zabotel received a pass in the mid-slot and wristed the disc past the Royals’ netminder to take a commanding 4-0 lead with under seven minutes remaining in the second before Szmatula made it 5-0 with two minutes left. Ludvig Larsson scored three minutes into the third period to make it 6-0 in his first ECHL game. Ara Nazarian assisted for his 16th point of the season.Box ScoreBig Scoreline not the NormThe Royals have given up six or more goals four times this season after the 6-2 loss to Adirondack. The Royals gave up seven goals in a 7-3 loss at Newfoundland Oct. 15 and in a 7-4 loss to Toledo Nov. 30. They lost 6-4 at Newfoundland Dec. 4.

The Royals have not been affected net-negatively or positively in games where one team records at least six goals this season, going 4-4-0 in eight high-scoring affairs. In games with at least four goals separating the Royals and their opponents, Reading is 2-2-0.

The Royals visit Brampton Sunday at 2:00 p.m. The next Royals home game is Tues., Dec. 31 at 4:00 p.m. vs. Maine and the Royals will give away a 2019 Jeep Compass Limited to one lucky fan, courtesy of Savage Auto Group, if a Royals player registers a hat trick.

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.