The Reading Royals (0-1) opened the 2023-24 ECHL season at the Mary Brown’s Centre against the Newfoundland Growlers (1-0).
Four minutes and twenty-two seconds into the first period, Newfoundland took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Tyler Weiss with assists from Grant Cruikshank and Jackson Berezowski. Two minutes and fifty-eight seconds later, the Royals tied the game 1-1 on a goal by Ryan Chyzowski with an assist from Devon Paliani.
Two minutes and thirty-two seconds later, Tyler Weiss scored his second goal of the game to put Newfoundland back up 2-1 with assists from Jonny Tychonick and Jackson Berezowski. The Royals had ten shots on goal but trailed 2-1 after one period.
Thirty-four seconds into the second period, Adam Brubacher tied the game for the Royals 2-2 with assists from Darren Brady and Devon Paliani. Two minutes and twelve seconds later, the Growlers took a 3-2 lead on a goal by Grant Cruikshank with an assist from Cory Dennis.
Two minutes and fourteen seconds later, Reading’s Adam Brubacher tied the game again 3-3 with an assist by Darren Brady. Then, Newfoundland scored three straight goals by Todd Skirving, Jackson Berezowski, and Brock Caufield which made it 6-3 Growlers.
Late in the second period, Ryan Chyzowski scored his second goal of the night for Reading, cutting the Growlers lead to 6-4 with assists from Shane Sellar and Joseph Nardi. The Royals had 12 shots on goal but trailed 6-4 after two periods.
With less than two minutes left of the third period, Reading pulled goalie Nolan Maier. The Growlers put the game away when Serron Noel scored the empty-net goal. The Royals lost to the Growlers by the final score of 7-4. The Royals had 33 shots on goal, went 3 for 6 on the power play, and Nolan Maier made 14 saves on 20 shots.
The Royals and Growlers will go at it again on Saturday at 5:30 pm. Purchase Reading Royals tickets today on StubHub and Viagogo.
