The Reading Royals (16-17-3-1) returned to the Santander Arena on Wednesday night to begin a three-game homestand against the Wheeling Nailers (19-16-1-1).
At 8:47 of the first period, Reading’s Tag Bertuzzi put the Royals up 1-0 with assists by Adam Brubacher and Devon Paliani. Then at 17:44, Reading’s Mason Millman extended the Royals lead to 2-0 with assists by Shane Sellar and Adam Karashik. The Royals had six shots on goal and led 2-0 after one period of play.
At 4:42 of the second period, Wheeling’s Jordan Martel cut Reading’s lead down to 2-1. A minute later, Reading would get the goal back by Tag Bertuzzi which made it 3-1 with an assist by Nolan Maier.
For the rest of the second period, Wheeling came back to tie the game 3-3 on goals by Matt Koopman and Jordan Martel. The Royals had four shots on goal but the game remained tied 3-3 after two periods of play.
At 12:56 of the third period, Wheeling’s Lukas Svejkovsky put the Nailers up 4-3 with assists by David Drake and Louie Roehl. With less than a minute left of the game, Reading’s Ryan Chyzowski tied the game 4-4 with assists by Tag Bertuzzi and Adam Brubacher. The Royals had six shots on goal but the game remained tied 4-4 heading to overtime.
Fifty-three seconds into overtime, Wheeling’s Lukas Svejkovsky ended the game 5-4 with assists by Jordan Martel and Davis Bunz. The Royals did not get a shot on goal in overtime.
The Royals had 16 shots on goal, committed one penalty, went 2 for 4 on the power play, and Nolan Maier made 27 of 32 saves.
The two teams continue the three-game series on Friday at 7 pm on FloHockey. Purchase Reading Royals tickets today on StubHub and Viagogo.
