Royals hop over Blades for division lead
READING, Pa. – The Reading Royals scored two goals in a 12-second span in the final minute of the second period en route to a 5-3 victory over the Florida Everblades Saturday night.
The Royals (31-15) now take a one-point lead over the Everblades (29-14) for first place in the ECHL’s East Division standings.
Both teams kept things tight in the first period until the 18:49 mark, when Sean Wiles took off on a shorthanded breakaway down the ice. Wiles took a shot that was stopped by Daniel Altshuller, but the rebound was batted into the net by Matt Hatch for a 1-0 lead after the one period.
The Everblades tied the game with a shorthanded goal of their own at 1:19 of the second. Rob Florentino carried the puck to the slot, and curled a shot past the blocker of goaltender Connor Knapp for the tying goal.
Reading responded a minute later on the same power play chance. The Everblades attempted to clear the zone but sent the puck right to Jordan Haywood at the blue line. Haywood took two steps before blistering the puck past Altshuller for the go-ahead goal.
Florida tied the game at two halfway through the second period on Matt Marquardt’s goal off the rebound of a Cameron Burt shot.
Just 41 seconds later, the ‘Blades grabbed the lead, when Gleason Fournier batted in a rebound to the right of Knapp for the goal. Fournier’s first as an Everblade gave Florida a 3-2 advantage. The lead was short lived, as nearly a minute later, Andrew Johnston delivered a pass across the crease to David Marshall who buried the puck into the back of the net for the tying tally.
Reading assumed control of the game in the final minute of the second period, scoring two goals in a 12-second span.
Olivier Labelle scored on the power play at 19:07 of the period to give the Royals the lead, while Wiles scored off the rebound at 19:19 to extend the lead to 5-3 at the end of two.
Florida outshot the Royals 11-5 in the third, but hardly tested Knapp who secured the win.
Knapp records the win stopping 27 of 30 shots, while Altshuller takes the loss, allowing five goals on 26 shots.
The teams will meet again at 5:05 p.m. Sunday.