GLENS FALLS, NY – The Reading Royals (23-14-1-2, 49 points) of the ECHL, affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, defeated the Adirondack Thunder (19-13-4-3, 45 points) 5-1 Friday night at the Glens Falls Civic Center in Glens Falls, New York.
In the third game against the Thunder in a span of the last four played for the Royals, Reading claimed the rubber game after the Royals won in overtime last Friday and lost in a shootout on Tuesday. In this one, Reading’s Johnny McInnis not only scored his first goal as a Royal, he scored three of them, including the first goal of the game, the game winner and a crucial bounce-back goal early in the third period. Goaltender Mark Dekanich made thirty-eight saves in his first full game for the Royals since December 21. The win served to push Reading’s record back to a season-high nine games over .500.
The Royals struck 5:41 into the first when Todd Perry carried down a seam from the right point into the mid-slot, where he dished to Steven Swavely, who found an open space in the low right circle. Swavely in turn slipped a perfect cross-crease pass to a waiting Johnny McInnis, who slammed it home for his first with the team in his eighth game as a Royal and his sixth overall this year.
McInnis made it 2-0 14:55 into the first when Swavely dug the puck off the end wall and slid it into the low slot where McInnis had the inside track on an Adirondack defender and was cutting towards the net. As McInnis was being hauled to the ice, he was able to chip the puck up and over the left shoulder of goaltender J.P. Anderson for his second of the game.
Reading stretched the lead to 3-0 late in the first on the Thunder’s first power play chance of the night. Adirondack got a good look out of the left circle, but Dekanich rejected that bid, and the puck rebounded directly to Perry who deftly sent Swavely on a short-handed two-on-one break. Swavely used Ryan Penny, who was charging down the middle of the ice, as a decoy as he cut off the right wing side, toe-dragged the puck to the mid-slot and ripped a bullet low blocker on Anderson for his ninth of the year and second short-handed goal of the year (and the team’s seventh short-handed goal of the season).
After a scoreless second, Adirondack made a charge early in the third, and cut the lead back to two at 3-1 4:22 into the final frame, when Gunnar Hughes snapped one off out of the right circle that buzzed across the body and over the blocker of Dekanich for his seventh of the year.
But 1:20 later, Reading regained the three goal advantage when McInnis completed the hat trick by battling for a loose puck on the end wall and banking it – from well below the goal line – off the back of Anderson’s leg from and into the net for eighth of the year.
The Royals added a late-game empty netter by Penny to ice things after Ian Watters battled his way into the offensive zone and found Penny cutting through the mid-slot for an easy slam dunk.
The victory served to push the Royals’ record to 5-1-0-1 against the Thunder with four more games to go between the two teams.
The Royals will be back on the ice Saturday night when the Fort Wayne Komets come to Santander Arena for a 7 p.m. puck drop.
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