A little more than a week ago, Graig Mischler wasn't sitting on the Reading Royals' bench; he was standing on it.

He wasn't dressed in Reading's dark jersey; he was in a snazzy dark suit.

He wasn't playing; he was praying.

Praying to get the go-ahead to play. Praying his injured shoulder was healthy enough to help out his tiring teammates.

After being shelved for six games, Mischler finally was able to assist the team Saturday in a win at Atlantic City. And Sunday at the Sovereign Center, the man who leads the team in assists notched three helpers and a goal as the Royals blew past the Toledo Storm 6-2.

“The thing that hurt the most about being out was that we were really short-handed,” said Mischler, who leads the Royals with 27 assists. “The guys were battling like crazy, and it was nice to get back in there to help them out.

“For a guy like me who was here last year, it just stinks when you are out because they are all working so hard and they are exhausted. They would never use that as an excuse for us ever losing, but you could see they were exhausted and still battling. Our guys have a lot of character.”

Reading's victory hardly was a surprise, but the lopsided score was a bit startling. Toledo entered 8-1-1 in its last 10 and had posted back-to-back shutouts. In fact, the Storm hadn't allowed a goal in the previous 148:04.

But the Storm was unbelievably careless with the puck, and Reading capitalized on its opportunities to turn it into a laugher after a period.

The onslaught began with the game's most horrific giveaway. Toledo defenseman Dan Eberly started to skate from behind his net and lost the puck to Reading's Larry Courville, who was standing by his lonesome and poked the puck through Logan Koopman's pads for a 1-0 lead 3:47 into the first period.

Mischler made a nice play to cause a Storm turnover and skated in alone before shifting to his backhand and scoring a pretty goal to give the Royals a 2-0 lead 6:10 later.

“I just anticipated their guy was going to go D to D (pass from one defenseman to the other) and I just put my stick in the passing lane,” said Mischler, who led the Royals in scoring and assists last season. “It hit my stick and I was able to go in on the goalie all alone.

“It was a mental error on their part. Sometimes you anticipate on the right side of things, sometimes on the wrong side. I was fortunate I was able to get the break.”

Toledo appeared to stop the bleeding with a power-play goal by Tyler Knight with 4:31 left in the first. But the goal provided no spark, and the Royals pretty much put it away before the period ended.

After a Toledo turnover in the neutral zone, Eric Fortier blasted a perfect slapper from the left circle off the far post to give Reading a 3-1 lead with 3:39 left.

Mischler then threaded a perfect pass to Preston Mizzi, who was a step behind the defense and beat Koopmans high to give the Royals a 4-1 lead with 46 seconds left.

Mischler also assisted on a goal by captain Cail MacLean 25 seconds into the third to put Reading up 6-1.

“No question it's nice to get some lucky bounces and we took advantage of a couple of their mistakes,” Royals coach Derek Clancey said. “They were a little flat, and fortunately we got some breaks and took them out of the game early.

“It's good Mischler had a good night. Hopefully after not playing for a few games it will spur him on and give him a good confidence boost.”

Sunday's game should assist in that.