ECHL Reading Royals

Royals Unable to Hold off Power Play-Fueled Comeback

Published on March 7, 2015 under ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Reading, PA - The Reading Royals (loss, 37-15-2-278) 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 Toledo Walleye (win, 36-12-3-277), 5-3, at Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania.

In the first of what will be back-to-back games this weekend between the Royals and Walleye, the see-saw battle ended with Toledo bagging their second win in three tries against Reading. Toledo struck in the first 75 seconds to take an early lead, but the Royals bounced back to run off three straight, including a pair in the relatively early stages of the first period separated by only 1:34. However, the pendulum swung decidedly in the other direction starting with a late second period power play goal by the Walleye, who came into the game with the top ranked special teams in the league. Toledo then proceeded to ring off three more in the third with the game winner coming mid-way into the period, when Toledo was playing on the second of what were back-to-back double minors assessed against Reading-both for high sticking that drew blood. The Walleye tacked on a 190 foot empty netter to ice the game, which snapped the Royals' home unbeaten streak at nine.

First Period (2-1, Reading) 1:15 (1-0, Toledo) Toledo Goal Bonis (26); Frk and Hirschfeld (tap in from left side of the crease) The Walleye struck early after a neutral zone turnover resulted in an odd-man counter-punch push that ended with Martin Frk controlling below the hash-marks, feigning as if he intended to shoot, but instead slipping the puck to the left side of the net, where a wide open and waiting Kyle Bonis quickly chipped the puck over the extended right pad of goaltender Martin Ouellette for his twenty-seventh of the season.

5:24 (1-1, Tie) Reading Goal Hatch (8); Alderson and Lamarche (snap shot of the left circle) Reading rebounded quickly from the early goal against when Brandon Alderson sprang Matt Hatch through the neutral zone. Hatch turned on the jets, carried into the left circle and drilled a snap shot over the catching glove of goaltender Jeff Lerg for Hatch's eighth of the year.

6:58 (2-1, Reading) Reading Goal Alderson (4); Mullane and Marshall (back-hand from low on the right side) 1:34 later, Reading took a 2-1 lead after a strong fore-check forced a turnover in the offensive zone for the Royals. The puck slid to the low slot where Alderson was able to protect it long enough to slip a back hand on goal that trickled through Lerg for Alderson's fourth of the year.

Second Period (3-2, Reading) 1:10 (3-1, Reading) Reading Goal Reid (23); Labelle and Hughesman (snap shot from left circle) The Royals stretched the lead to two on the team's first shot of the second period. Olivier Labelle set Cam Reid for an attack down the left wing side into the offensive zone. Reid carried above the dot in the left circle and uncorked a low, hard bullet across the body of Lerg for his team-leading twenty-third of the year.

17:51 (3-2, Reading) Toledo Goal (Power Play) Jenks (5); Luciani and Bonis (snap shot from left circle) The Walleye kicked off their comeback seventeen seconds into their first power play chance of the night. A.J. Jenks found a soft spot in the left circle, took a pass off the left half wall from Anthony Luciani, and then turned, wheeled and fired a snapper that beat Ouellette, who had pulled off the left pipe, high to the short side for Jenks' fifth of the year.

Third Period (5-3, Toledo) 2:18 (3-3, Tie) Toledo Goal Barnes (20), Nedomiel and Lampl (high deflection of shot from left point) Toledo tied the game early in the third on a beautiful deflection by the leading rookie scorer in the ECHL, Tyler Barnes. Defenseman Richard Nedomiel fired a hard slap shot from the left point Barnes deftly nicked with the blade of his stick about two-and-a-half feet off the ice and eleven feet from the net. The puck flew up and over the right shoulder of Ouellette for Barnes' twentieth of the year.

10:47 (4-3, Toledo) Toledo Goal (Power Play) Bonis 2 (27); Luciani and Lampl (snap shot from right circle) 1:09 after killing off one four-minute double minor for high sticking (which was assessed against Olivier Labelle), the Royals were put behind the double-minor eight-ball on a second high sticking penalty that drew blood. (This one against defenseman Mike Marcou on a what appeared to be a follow through on a shot-which drew the ire of the Royals' coaching staff, who argued that there should not have been an infraction assessed on the play.) Either way, the Walleye capitalized on the front end of the penalty sequence when Kyle Bonis took a snap shot from the right circle which snuck through Ouellette, who was dealing with heavy traffic at the top of the Royals' crease. For Bonis, that proved to be his second of the night, twenty-seventh of the season, and fifth game winner of the year.

19:25 (5-3, Toledo) Toledo Goal (Empty Netter) Nedomiel (3); (190 foot shot from deep in the defensive zone) The Walleye iced the game with an empty netter from right along the goal line in the defensive zone right wing corner on a perfectly executed clearing shot by defenseman Richard Nedomiel, who landed the puck dead in the middle of the empty net for his third of the year.

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