ECHL Reading Royals

Bertuzzi Nets Two Goals in Debut, Royals Fall to Wings, 4-3

Published on December 1, 2023 under ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Reading, PA -The Reading Royals (4-10-1-1), proud ECHL affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers and Lehigh Valley Phantoms, fell to the Kalamazoo Wings (7-9-0-0), 4-3, on Thursday, November 30 at Santander Arena. Parker Gahagen (0-1-0-0) suffered the loss in his Royals debut with 24 saves on 28 shots faced. Jonathan Lemieux (5-6-0-0) earned the win in net for Kalamazoo with 30 saves on 33 shots faced.

The Royals struck first 10:26 into the opening period on Tag Bertuzzi's first of two goals in his Royals debut. The 22-year-old forward beat Lemieux on a loose puck around Kalamazoo's net for the game's opening goal. Koltrane Wilson and Matt Brown earned the helpers on the Royals seventh game opening goal of the season.

Kalamazoo responded with their first goal of the game 30 seconds later to even the score back up, 1-1. David Keefer lifted a wrist shot past Gahagen for his third goal of the season. Connor Walters and Collin Adams earned the assists. At 17:10, Brendan Hoffmann scored his first goal of the season with a one-timer past Lemieux on a cross-ice feed from Austin Master. Mike Chen earned the secondary helper for his second point of the season. Hoffmann's goal marked the 5,000th regular season goal in franchise history.

Josh Passolt put Kalamazoo in front with a pair of goals in the opening 12 minutes of the second period, 3-2. At 14:06, Bertuzzi answered for Reading with his second goal of the game. Brown and Joe Nardi captured the assists on Bertuzzi's first multi-goal game of the season.

A tie score, 3-3, entering the third period was quickly broken by the Wings 1:19 into the third period. Erik Bradford beat Gahagen on a backhand shot for his fifth goal of the season. Brad Morrison and Ty Glover earned the helpers on the game-winning goal. Kalamazoo held off a late two-man advantage attack by the Royals who had the extra skaters on with a cross-checking penalty assessed to Chaz Reddekop that gave Reading a power play, along with an extra attacker on the ice with their net empty. Ryan Chyzwoski had both of his shots blocked in the final seconds of regulation.

The Royals continue a two-game homestand and host the Kalamazoo Wings at 7:00 PM at Santander Arena on Saturday, December 2nd. The home game will be a Christmas in Margaritaville promotional game with music from Jimmy Buffet playing through the night! To order tickets to our Christmas in Margaritaville game, visit royalshockey.com/tickets.

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