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ECHL Reading Royals

Royals' Fourteen Game Unbeaten Streak Ends in Kalamazoo, 4-1

February 20, 2015 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Kalamazoo, MI - The Reading Royals (win, 34-14-2-171) of the ECHL, affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the American Hockey League, were defeated by the Kalamazoo Wings (win, 23-19-2-351), 4-1, at Wings Stadium in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

In the Royals' final trip of the regular season to Wings Stadium, the K-Wings struck first and never trailed as they snapped Reading's fourteen game unbeaten streak. Kalamazoo made the Royals pay on the Wings' first power play chance of the night and built a 2-0 lead early in the second. Reading responded with David Marshall's seventeenth of the season, but that would be it for the Royals, who pushed hard in the third but ran into a brick wall in the form of K-Wings' goaltender Joel Martin. Kalamazoo added a pair of empty netters down the stretch pull away and hand Reading the team's first regulation loss since January 16.

First Period (1-0, Kalamazoo) 16:32 (1-0, Kalamazoo) Kalamazoo Goal (Power Play) Blomstrand (15); Taylor and Ftorek (one-time slap shot from mid-slot) Kalamazoo struck on their first power play chance of the night. Justin Taylor gained possession deep in the left corner and carried up towards the left half-wall, tossing a back-hand saucer to the mid-slot, where Ludwig Blomstrand was set up for a fade-away one-time slap shot that beat Connor Knapp low stick side for his fifteenth of the year.

Second Period (2-1, Kalamazoo) 6:07 (2-0, Kalamazoo) Kalamazoo Goal Neal (10); Caria and Nagy (snap shot from left circle) Kalamazoo got what proved to be the game winner off the rush in the relative early stages of the second period. Matt Caria carried down the right side, backing down the Reading defenders, as he held the puck deep into the right circle. Caria then slid a cross-ice pass into the left circle where Michael Neal skated onto the pass, carried a stride deeper into the circle and ripped a bullet across the body and over the catching glove of Connor Knapp for his tenth of the year.

11:17 (2-1, Kalamazoo) Reading Goal Marshall (17); Watters and Molle (snap shot from mid-slot). Reading broke through with what would prove to be the team's only goal of the game on a play somewhat similar to the one on which Kalamazoo had scored their second period goal. On this one, it was David Marshall who carried down the left side and backed the Kalamazoo defenders down. Once Marshall was given that space, he cut from left to right into the mid-slot where he drilled a laser to the stick side on goaltender Joel Martin for his seventeenth of the year.

Third Period (4-1, Kalamazoo) 18:33 (3-1, Kalamazoo) Kalamazoo Goal (Short-Handed) (Empty-Net) Taylor (8); unassisted (walk in snap shot into empty net) Reading pulled out all the stops-and goaltender Connor Knapp-late in the team's second power play chance in the third period with time ticking down. Although the Royals had the puck in the offensive zone, that didn't last long, as Justin Taylor gained possession and forced it into the neutral zone behind the Reading defender holding down the right point. Taylor tracked the loose puck and blew into Reading's end for the short-handed empty netter that would essentially ice things with 1:27 left

18:59 (4-1, Kalamazoo) Kalamazoo Goal (Empty Netter) Chelios (1); Caria and Armstrong (shot from center red line into an empty net) With nothing to lose, Reading pulled the goaltender once again after play was re-started and that didn't pay off for anyone other than Jake Chelios, who scored his first ECHL goal from just inside the center red line into an empty net.

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