The Reading Royals hosted the Maine Mariners in game one of the Kelly Cup playoffs from the Santander Arena on Friday night. The Royals are aiming to make it further in this year’s playoffs after being eliminated in the second round last year by Newfoundland.
The Royals had 24 shots in the first two periods of the game. However, the game was scoreless through two periods.
Twenty-one seconds into the third period, the Royals took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Solag Bakich (1) with an assist from Charlie Gerard. Later in the period, the Mariners tied the game 1-1 on a goal by Curtis Hall (1) with assists from Fedor Gordeev and Reid Stefanson.
With 3:54 left, the Royals took a 2-1 lead by Charlie Gerard (1) with assists from Garrett McFadden and Solag Bakich. The Royals had 12 shots in the third period and held on to a 2-1 win over the Maine Mariners. The Royals lead the best-of-seven series.
The Royals finished the night with 33 shots, 0-4 on the power play, and Pat Nagle made 25 saves. On the other side, the Mariners had 26 shots, 0-3 on the power play, and Michael DiPietro made 31 saves.
Game two of the Kelly Cup playoffs is on Saturday at 7 pm from the Santander Arena. Tickets for the game are available on StubHub and Viagogo.
