WHEELING, WV – The Reading Royals came into their playoff series against the Wheeling Nailers on a high after pulling off a major upset as an eighth seed against the Toledo Walleye in the first round. If Game One is any indication, they just might have to work just a little harder to accomplish the same feet this time around.
The Nailers defeated Reading 4-1 to open the series having outplayed the Royals from the beginning of the game to the end. Reading goaltender Martin Ouellette had a rough night fending off the Wheeling onslaught with 30 saves on 34 shots. Ouellette didn’t help his cause any either.
Up 1-0 Wheeling, defenseman Mathew Maione went to make a dump into the Reading zone from mid ice, but as Ouellette went to go behind his net the puck caromed off the boards and was redirected into the Reading net.
His teammates didn’t help his cause any with only 19 shots on the Nailer net. Only Jesper Pettersson would score for Reading on the power play with Wheeling goaltender Brian Foster falling back into his net only to Pettersson a wide open net to make the score 2-1 midway through the game.
Cody Wydo had two goals and Jordan Kwas would complete the scoring on the night for Wheeling.
Both teams will face each other again for game two in Wheeling Monday night before sending the series back to Reading for games 3-5 starting on Wednesday. Wheeling leads the Eastern Conference in scoring with 25 goals. Maione and teammate Riley Brice are tied for the league lead in scoring with 10 points each, along with Chad Costello of the Allen Americans.
Contact the writer: Brian.Jennings@prohockeynews.com
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