NORFOLK, VA – Reading Royals goaltender Callum Booth saved 17 shots for his first Royals shutout and Reading dominated the Norfolk Admirals, 3-0, Wednesday at the Norfolk Scope Arena. He has played Norfolk twice this season and stopped all 30 shots faced. Reading has shut out Norfolk in back-to-back series matchups and earned 3-0 victories in both. The Royals are tied for third in the North Division with Manchester and Brampton.
Chris McCarthy (3 assists) Adam Schmidt (1 goal, 1 assist) notched multi-point games and factored in on the first two Royals goals. Schmidt scored his 14th of the season to open the scoring late in the first period.
The Royals led, 2-0, entering the third. Brayden Low scored for the second straight game and put in an empty-net strike with 2:10 to go.
Ty Reichenbach blocked 36 shots in defeat. Reading out shot Norfolk, 39-17.
Consecutive denials by Booth allowed Reading to steam ahead and score first with 2:39 left in the first. Booth kicked the puck away to the slot and DiChiara passed up the middle to Schmidt. Next, McCarthy drifted left, got the puck and found Schmidt cutting to the left post. Though the initial feed went behind cage, Schmidt scored by tucking it in at the left post while on his back side.
The Royals out shot the Admirals, 16-4, in the second period. McCarthy and Schmidt helped Steve Johnson score the next goal on the power play to give Reading a 2-0 lead with 7:52 remaining in the second. McCarthy stretched it to Schmidt at the Ads line. He carried in and directed it to Johnson at the slot. He gathered and unleashed it in for his fourth of the season.
Reading went 1-for-5 on the power play and the Royals have three man-up goals in the last two games (3-for-7). The Admirals failed to score on two power-play chances.
The Royals finish the back-to-back with the Admirals on Friday, February 8th at 7 p.m. Reading is home for Pink in the Rink Night on Saturday, February 9th at 7 p.m. versus Brampton. For every ticket sold, $5 will be given back to the Breast Cancer Support Services of Berks County or American Cancer Society.
Follow us on Twitter @prohockeynews
You must be logged in to post a comment.