The Reading Royals returned to the Santander Arena on Sunday afternoon for game two of the second round against the Newfoundland Growlers in the Kelly Cup playoffs. Coming into this game, the Growlers led the series 1-0.
Four minutes and fourteen seconds into the first period, Mason Millman (1) put the Royals up 1-0 with assists from Evan Barratt and Devon Paliani. Eight minutes and thirty seconds later, Evan Barratt (3) scored a power play goal for a 2-0 lead. Garrett McFadden and Charlie Gerard assisted with Barratt’s goal.
However, Newfoundland scored two goals in the next two minutes by Pavel Gogolev (2) on the power play and Nolan Walker (3) with a minute and fifty seconds left. The game was now tied 2-2. The Royals had nine shots on goal but the game remained tied 2-2 after one period.
Fifteen minutes and three seconds into the second period, Newfoundland took a 3-2 lead on a goal by Mikko Kokkonen (2) with an assist from Nolan Walker. Fifteen seconds later, the Royals tied the game 3-3 on a goal by Evan Barratt (4) with an assist from Jacob Gaucher.
It was Barratt’s second goal of the afternoon. The Royals had eight shots on goal but the game remained tied 3-3 after two periods.
A minute and forty-seven seconds into the third period, Devon Paliani (2) put the Royals up 4-3 with an assist by Yvan Mongo. Six minutes and eight seconds later, Newfoundland’s Mikko Kokkonen (3) tied the game again 4-4 with an assist by Jack Badini. The Royals had nine shots on goal but the game headed to overtime tied 4-4.
Twelve minutes and twenty-five seconds into overtime, the Growlers ended the game on a power play goal by Zach Solow (3) with assists from Jonny Tychonick and Pavel Gogolev. The Royals lost game two by the final score of 4-3 in overtime and now trail the series 2-0.
Reading finished the afternoon with 35 shots, 1-5 on the power play, and Pat Nagle made 29 saves. On the other side, the Growlers had 24 shots, 2-5 on the power play, and Dryden McKay made 31 saves.
The Royals and Growlers play game three on Tuesday from the Santander Arena at 7 pm. Tickets for the game are available on StubHub and Viagogo.
