The Reading Royals (44-25-6) concluded the 2022-23 regular season on Saturday night at the Santander Arena on Friday night against the Newfoundland Growlers (48-22-2) in their tenth and final meeting of the season. Coming into this game, the Royals were 4-5 against Newfoundland this year.
A minute and forty-two seconds into the first period, Isaac Johnson (19) put the Growlers up 1-0 with an assist from Pavel Gogolev. A minute and three seconds later, Charlie Gerard (33) tied the game for the Royals 1-1 with assists from Solag Bakich and Ryan Cook.
Later in the period, Zayde Wisdom (1) put the Royals up 2-1 with assists from Evan Barratt and Jacob Gaucher. The Royals had 14 shots and led 2-1 after one period.
Seven minutes and forty-eight seconds into the second period, Devon Paliani (15) extend the Royals’ lead to 3-1. Alec Butcher and Ryan Cook assisted with his goal. Three minutes later, Shane Sellar (18) made it 4-1 Royals with an assist by Devon Paliani.
With five minutes left in the period, Tyler Heidt (4) scored and it was now 5-1 Royals. Brendan Hoffmann and Yvan Mongo assisted with his goal. The Royals had 18 shots and led 5-1 after two periods.
Six minutes and forty-five seconds into the third period, Nolan Walker (15) scored a shorthanded goal. It was now 5-2 Royals. Middle of the period, Evan Barratt (26) scored to make it 6-2 Royals with an assist from Zayde Wisdom. The Royals had five shots on goal and defeated the Growlers by the final score of 6-2. The two teams tie the season series at five apiece.
Reading finished the night with 37 shots, 0-5 on the power play, and Pat Nagle made 25 saves. On the other side, the Growlers had 27 shots, 0-5 on the power play, and Luke Cavallin and Dryden McKay combined for 31 saves.
The 2023 Kelly Cup playoffs begin on Monday, April 21st. Tickets for the playoffs are available on StubHub and Viagogo.
