READING, PA – The Reading Royals (14-8-1-1, 28 points) of the ECHL, affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, defeated the Indy Fuel (8-12-1-1, 18 points), 3-1, at Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania on Saturday night.
In the second game of a two-game weekend set, the Fuel struck first – again – but (also again) the Royals were able to come-back to pull out the two points, even if it was in a bit less explosive manner than last night’s 8-2 win. The victory tonight pushed the Royals winning streak to eight and unbeaten streak to nine (8-0-1-0). This game marked the third time in the last four played that Reading has held the opposition to just one goal, as the Royals’ team goals against average dropped to 1.63 during the eight game streak.
Indy struck 6:26 into the game, when Tyler Currier threw one from deep on the right wing side into a pile of players crashing the Royals’ crease. Although goaltender Mark Dekanich made the original stop, the puck sat free in the blue paint as Dekanich fell backwards until Raphael Corriveau, despite being well tied up on the back-check, forced the puck across the goal line.
Reading tied the game—and made the stuffed animals rain in this Teddy Bear Toss game—10:36 into the first when Chris McCarthy corralled a loose puck in the right circle and swiped a back-hander up and over the left shoulder of goaltender Keegan Asmundsun for his eleventh of the year, which also served to extend his personal point streak to seven games (4g-6a).
Reading got what proved to be the tie breaking game winner 11:44 into the second period off the rush. Justin Crandall carried down the right wing side, surveyed the situation and hit the trailer, defenseman Michael Boivin, with a deft cross-ice saucer. Boivin stepped into a bullet that buzzed under and through Asmundson for his second of the year. In doing so, he became the eighth different player to score a game winner during the current eight game win streak.
In the third, Indy pushed hard, but the Royals and Dekanich held strong and ultimate iced things with an empty netter by Steven Swavely with just 34.1 seconds left to win for the team’s fifth consecutive time on home ice.
The Royals are off until Thursday when they travel to Greenville, South Carolina to take on the Swamp Rabbits. Game time from the Bon Secours Wellness Arena is set for 7 p.m.
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