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Royals Surrender Five-Goal Third Period to Drop Series Opener with Norfolk, 8-5

Wednesday, March 6th
Royals Surrender Five-Goal Third Period to Drop Series Opener with Norfolk, 8-5

Reading, PA - The Reading Royals (22-26-5-2), proud ECHL affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers and Lehigh Valley Phantoms, Reading Royals fell to the Norfolk Admirals (33-19-3-1), 8-5, on Wednesday, March 6th at Santander Arena. Anson Thornton (2-3-0-0) with 23 saves on 30 shots. Oskari Salminen (5-1-0-0) earned the win in net for Norfolk with 21 saves on 26 shots faced. 

BOX SCORE

At 6:32 of the opening frame, Gehrett Sargis put the Admirals on the board with a wrist shot past Thornton for a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes. Brandon Osmundson and Sean Montgomery earned the assists on Sargis’ first of two goals in the game.

In the middle frame, the Royals answered back at 1:09 when Joe Nardi fed Jake Smith a centering pass for Smith’s dangle around and under Salminen. At 7:23 into the frame, Kamerin Nault snapped a wrist shot over Thornton off of a pass from Darick Louis-Jean and Stepan Timofeyev. At 12:24, Tag Bertuzzi beat Salminen for his 12th goal of the season on a feed from Ryan Cox and Koletrane Wilson. At 15:45, Norfolk’s Brandon Osmundson tipped in the goal off of a backdoor pass from Andrew McLean to restore Norfolk’s one-goal lead at the end of 40 minutes, 3-2.

Within the first 1:04 of the final frame, Royals struck twice with Nardi and Devon Paliani scoring goals 13 seconds apart. Mason Millman and Jake Smith earned the assists on these goals. This assist earned Millman his 100th professional career point

 Norfolk scored five straight goals to take a commanding 8-4 lead. Denis Smirnov scored his 11th goal of the season at 4:02 before Danny Katic netted his 17th goal 4:19 later. Keaton Jameson scored back-to-back goals at 9:26 and 15:08 to put Norfolk in front, 7-4. With Reading’s net empty, Sargis scored his second goal in the game with 3:32 remaining in regulation. Jake Bricknell cut the deficit to three in the final 30 seconds of regulation with his 7th goal of the season assisted by Paliani and Millman. The assists set multipoint games for Millman and Paliani. 

The Royals conclude their five-game homestand on Friday, March 8th against Norfolk at 7:00 p.m. at Santander Arena. The home game is the Royals Wall of Honor Night with a pre-game ceremony featuring the induction of Royals franchise leading defenseman for game's played and former assistant coach Nick Luukko. Fans are encouraged to be in their seats my 6:50 PM for the start of the induction ceremony, presented by V&M Towing.

 

To order tickets, visit royalshockey.com/tickets

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2023-24 Season Memberships

Reading Royals Season Memberships, six-game plans, ten-game plans, and group tickets are available for the 2023-24 season now 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 22nd 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.