Johnstown Chiefs Sneak by Reading Royals Taking a 4-3 Win - ECHL

MLN - THE RAW FEED - www.mlntherawfeed.com - Johnstown, PA – The Johnstown Chiefs beat the Reading Royals Sunday night 4-3 at the War Memorial Arena. Both teams played physical, but Johnstown scored two unanswered goals in the third period to earn an important victory late in the season.

The Royals took advantage scoring first on a power play at 12:17. Reading’s Patrick Jarrett scored in the right side of the net. Assisting in the score were Reading’s Scott Parse and Shawn Collymore. The Chiefs would respond at 14:14 when Greg Gallagher shot the puck past Royal’s goalie Terry Denike. Reading’s Ned Lukacevic went to grab his stick and left Gallagher open. After the Chief’s scored, Reading and Johnstown players went on a brawl. What ensued was Chief’s player Vincent Zaore and Royal’s player Steven Later receiving game misconducts. The scored stayed tie 1-1 after the first period, foreshadowing a physical game ahead. 

The Royals broke the 1-1 tie at 3:11 in the second period when Scott Parse was able to score on Nie. Reading’s Dave Pszenyczny assisted in the goal. This was the second power play goal for Reading. The Royals would strike again at 5:56 in the second when Mike Salekin scored on Nie. The Royals were now 3 for 3 on power play opportunities. The Chiefs took advantage of a 5 on 3 player advantage in the middle of the second period. At 10:50 Andrew Martens scored on Reading’s Denike. Assisting were Kenny Roche and Mike Knight. Johnstown was down 3-2 to Reading at the start of the third period.

The Chiefs would play a tough physical third period. Andrew Martens would score his second goal of the game at 6:10. Martens scored on a breakaway with a wrist shot in the top right hand corner of the net. The Chiefs would take a 4-3 lead when Knight scored on a power play. Assisting were Alexander Imbeault and Mark Tobin. The Chiefs were able to hold the Royals scoreless in the third period, despite Reading pulling their goalie late in the third period.

Ryan Nie earned the win playing an excellent game. Nie stopped 28 of 31 Reading shots. Nie only needs one more victory to be tied with Freddy Deschenes and Stan Reddick with 25 wins in a season for the Johnstown Chiefs’ team record.

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