Royals Fall In Game Two Overtime Thriller, Trail Series 0-2

Reading, PA - The Reading Royals, proud affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers and Lehigh Valley Phantoms, fell to the Newfoundland Growlers in overtime, 5-4, on Sunday, May 7 at Santander Arena. The Royals dropped to a 0-2 series deficit in the best-of-seven North Division Final series and suffered their 11th-straight ECHL postseason overtime loss. Pat Nagle (25-8-2, 4-1-2) suffered his second overtime loss of the postseason for Reading with 29 saves on 34 shots faced. Dryden McKay (25-10-1, 6-0) earned his sixth consecutive win in net for Newfoundland with 31 saves on 35 shots faced.

BOX SCORE 

The Royals and Growlers exchanged a pair of goals in the first period for a tie score after 20 minutes, 2-2. Yvan Mongo redirected a wrist shot from Mason Millman past McKay for his first goal of his Kelly Cup Playoff career 4:14 into regulation. Evan Barratt scored the fifth power play goal for the Royals in the postseason to improve Reading’s lead to two at the 12:44 mark of the first period.

Newfoundland answered with two goals in a span of 1:32 to even the score late in the first period. Pavel Gogolev scored four seconds into Newfoundland’s first power play of the game for his team-leading 17th power play goal on the season. Nolan Walker scored his third goal of the postseason with a wrist shot snapped over Nagle’s right shoulder to tie the score after the first period, 2-2.

The Growlers took their first lead of Game Two 15:03 into the second period on Mikko Kokkonen’s first of two goals in the game. Barratt deflected in a centering pass from Jacob Gaucher 15 seconds later to tie the score, 3-3. Barratt’s second goal of the game and fourth goal of the playoffs set a single-game playoff career-high of three points (2g-1a) for the Bristol, Pennsylvania native.

After Devon Paliani put Reading back in front 1:47 into the third period, Kokkonen scored the equalizer to earn his first multi-goal game of the playoffs with 12:05 remaining in regulation, 4-4.

Despite controlling possession for the majority of the overtime period and outshooting the Growlers 9-5, Reading fell in the extra frame following a holding penalty assessed to Colin Felix 12:19 into overtime. On the ensuing face-off in Reading’s zone, Gogolev won the face-off draw back to Jonny Tychonick who fed a pass to Zach Solow positioned in the slot to deliver the overtime game-winning goal. Solow’s shot beat Nagle through the five-hole for his third goal of the playoffs.

The Royals outshot the Growlers 35-34 and scored on one of their five power play opportunities in the game. Reading fell to 5-4-3 on the season against Newfoundland and 23-18-10 against the Growlers all-time. The Royals have now dropped the opening two games of a playoff series four times in franchise history. The Royals failed to advance to the next round of the postseason in all three of the previous occasions.

The Royals continue their North Division Final series in Game Three against the Growlers on Tuesday, May 9 at 7:00 p.m. at Santander Arena. Tickets to Game Three are available at ~ royalshockey.com ~ now! -

2022-23 & 2023-24 Season Memberships

Reading Royals season tickets, flex memberships and group tickets are available for the 2022-23 & now 2023-24 season by visiting the Royals’ box office at Santander Arena or by calling 610-898-7825. 

About the Royals

The Reading Royals, proud affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers and Lehigh Valley Phantoms, are in their 21st season in the ECHL. They won their first Kelly Cup championship in 2013 and have clinched playoff berths in 12 of the previous 13 seasons. They are five-time division champions and were the 2021-22 Eastern Conference champion. The Berks County Convention Center Authority (BCCCA), founded in 1996, owns the Royals and oversees operations at Santander Arena.