READING, PA – The Kalamazoo Wings got off to a 5-0 lead and never looked back as the they defeated the Reading Royals 8-3 in Game One of the ECHL Eastern Conference Semifinals. The Wings got goals from seven different scorers. Only Brandon Svendsen had more than one goal in the win. The Royals lost Game one of their previous series with the Cincinnati Cyclones, but Kalamazoo has shown they lead the league in goal scoring in the playoffs. Kalamazoo chased Matt Dalton from the net putting up four goals on 16 shots. Ben Scrivens came on in relief at the start of the second period and it seemed to have put a small spark in the Royals step, scoring two goals in the second period but Svendsen scored his second of the game by getting a lucky break as the puck hit the stick of a Royal defender and accidently slide past Scrivens to put the Wings up 6-2. 
Ryan Cruthers got his fourth of the playoffs to put Reading back to within three goals but the Wings put the game well out of reach with an empty net goal and a power play goal to end the game. The Royals were outshot 39-33. Scrivens made 19 saves on 22 shots while winning goaltender Ryan Nie made 30 saves. Both teams scored once on the power play. Games Two is Saturday night in Reading. Games 3-5 will be in Kalamazoo starting on Wednesday. Contact the author at Brian.Jennings@prohockeynews.com
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