ST. JOHN’S, NL – The Reading Royals, proud affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers, defeated the Newfoundland Growlers in overtime, 4-3 on Friday, February 4th at Mary Browns Centre. Royals goaltender Hayden Hawkey saved 26 of 29 shots, while Growlers goalie Evan Cormier saved 24 of 28 shots.
Reading got on the board first on a beautiful finish set up by an even prettier feed. Jacob Pritchard put a saucer pass directly onto the blade of Frank DiChiara’s stick for DiChiara to deflect the puck over Cormier’s pad and into the back of the net. Newfoundland responded halfway into the period with a backhand shot from Riley McCourt. McCourt’s shot sent the puck under Hawkey’s left pad and tied the game, 1-1, after the first period.
Jeremy McKenna scored 2:34 into the second period to give the Growlers the early period lead. Tic-tac-toe passing between Zach O’Brien, Matteo Pietroniro and McKenna pushed Hawkey out of position in his crease which provided a wide open right side of the Royals’ cage. McKenna cashed in on the open net for his third goal of the season. Jackson Cressey evened the game back up for the Royals on a one-timer right in front of Cormier’s crease to make it a 2-2 score after two periods.
Newfoundland struck first in the final period of regulation on the power play. Noel Hoffenmayer delivered a slap shot from the top of the zone to beat a sprawled out Hawkey laid out in his crease. Hawkey made two initial saves before the puck landed in the back of the net as the Growlers converted on their second power play of the game.
Just like the second period, Reading answered back and tied the game late in the period. Dominic Cormier scored his second consecutive goal on a puck that banked off the boards behind Newfoundland’s net and onto his stick to catch Evan Cormier off guard and tie the game, 3-3.
Both teams scored a single goal in each period of regulation. However, in sudden death overtime the trend could not keep up and Pritchard delivered the final goal of the game to seal the fourth straight win for Reading against the Growlers. After a block from Trevor Gooch on the defensive end, Dominic Cormier lifted the puck out towards center ice and chased it down, took it in on a breakaway and put a shot on Evan Cormier that he saved but couldn’t cover up. Pritchard picked up the rebound off of Cormier’s pad save and shifted around the sprawled out Newfoundland net minder to bury the puck in the back of the net for the overtime victory.
The Royals take on the Newfoundland Growlers Saturday, February 5th, at 5:30 p.m. at Mary Browns Centre.
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