Reading, PA – The Reading Royals (27-33-5-2), proud ECHL affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers and Lehigh Valley Phantoms, defeated the Adirondack Thunder (39-18-5-3), 5-2, on Saturday, March 30th at Cool Insuring Arena. Parker Gahagen (8-3-0-0) earned the win in net for the Royals with 39 saves on 41 shots faced. Goaltender Tyler Brennan (5-5-0-2) suffered the loss for Adirondack with 12 saves on 16 shots faced. 
The Royals opened up scoring in the opening frame at 4:05 when Tyson Fawcett snapped a wrist shot off of a centering feed from Tag Bertuzzi past Brennan. Yvan Mongo and Bertuzzi earned the helpers on Fawcett’s 10th goal of the season. Justin Michaelian followed 3:46 later with a shot from the bottom of the right face-off circle that squeaked through the pads of Brennan for an early two-goal Reading advantage, 2-0. The unassisted goal at 7:71 for Michaelian was his 5th goal of the season.
Devon Paliani capped off the flurry of goals for Reading with his 16th of the season on a deflection past Brennan to cap off a 2-on-1 rush with Mongo. Tristan Ashbrook answered the three-straight Royals’ goals with the first of the game for Adirondack at 14:10. Ashbrook forced a puck away from Reading on the Royals power play and scored on a shorthanded breakaway for his team-leading 27th goal of the season.
54 seconds into the middle frame, Jake Smith fired a wrist shot past Brennan to restore Reading’s three-goal lead, 4-1. Powell Connor and Joe Nardi earned the helpers on Smith’s 18th goal of the season, and first of two goals in the game. At 13:19, Matt Welsher beat Gahagen from the middle of the face-off circle with a wrist shot for his second goal of the season. Connor Blake and Brendan Less earned the assists on Blake’s goal that brought the score differential back to two, 4-2.
The final frame remained scoreless until 19:26 when Royal’s Smith scored on Adirodnack’s empty net for his second goal of the game. Reading concluded the season series with Adirodnack with a record of 4-6-1-1 through 12 meetings.
The Royals continue their season-long six-game road stretch in Norfolk for a three-game series opener against the Norfolk Admirals on Wednesday, April 3rd at 7:05 p.m.
The Royals return home for their final two games of the regular season on Friday, April 12th and Saturday, April 13th. Both games are 7:00 p.m. puck drops at Santander Arena.
The home games feature the Royals Youth Hockey Night on the 12th and Fandemonium Night on the 13th. Fans can enjoy a ‘Youth Hockey Jamboree’ and a pre-game Happy Hour from 6-7:00 p.m. on the 12th before we celebrate our amazing fans with giveaways and prizes at every stoppage for Fandemonium Night on the 13th!
To order tickets, visit royalshockey.com/tickets
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