Royals lose

By Matt Malinowski Reading Eagle

A Trenton goal 5:53 into sudden death puts Reading in a 2-1 hole in the North Division finals. Sports, C1 TRENTON, N.J. – To say they were dominating overtime would be a terrible understatement, on par with saying their coach was a tad displeased with the officiating when it was over.

   The Reading Royals were swarming. Like bees to honey, ants to watermelon.

   Terrific shift after terrific shift, the Royals were cycling the puck, putting shots on net, keeping all the action in their offensive zone.

   But they didn’t score.

   And as happens so often in hockey, the team that doesn’t capitalize gets burned a short while later.

   Trenton’s Matt Zultek collected his own rebound and swooped around the net before tucking the puck into the open side 5:53 into overtime to give the Titans a 3-2 win at Sovereign Bank Arena.

   The Titans lead the best-offive ECHL North Division final series 2-1 and can move on to the conference finals with a win over the Royals Friday in Trenton.

   Royals coach Derek Clancey made it a point to say his team’s effort was admirable and deserving of victory. He made it more of a point to point the finger at referee Chris Ciamaga for what he perceived to be lousy calls.

   He was particularly peeved at a slashing penalty on defenseman Ian Turner that gave Trenton a two-man advantage in the third period. Turner’s slash broke the stick of Trenton’s Les Haggett.

   The Titans scored to make it 2-1 on Turner’s half of the penalty.

   "I feel bad for my players because they are working hard every shift and he (Ciamaga) decided to be a factor," Clancey said. "It’s a scramble for the puck at their blue line and their stick is broken and it puts us two men down.

   "We all know in playoff hockey that if you are going down to three men it better be murder. I can’t wait to see how it is explained to me."

   For the record, each team finished 2-of-6 on the power play and each had one two-man advantage.

   The way it ended, it was easy to forget how well Reading started.

   The Royals, who so often this postseason have gotten out of the gate slowly and who so often this postseason have been rescued by goalie Barry Brust early in games, got off to a terrific start Wednesday.

   True, they needed Brust to made a big save on a streaking Rick Kowalsky three minutes in. But for the majority of the first period the Royals were a step quicker and seemed to play with more passion and intensity.

   Reading outshot Trenton 13-4 and was rewarded for its diligence with a power-play goal by defenseman Tom Galvin with 3:48 left for a 1-0 lead.

   Trenton tied it with 12:47 left in the second period on a powerplay goal by Michael Schutte.

   The Royals, who were so good early on, made mistake after mistake in the closing minutes of the second period. Several costly turnovers turned into quality scoring chances for the Titans, who failed to convert.

   That is until Kowalsky scored with 10:08 left with Turner in the box.

   But the last power play belonged to the Royals, and they tied it on David Masse’s first goal of the playoffs with 3:39 left.

   Reading then controlled overtime. But Zultek’s goal gives Trenton control of the series.

   "That’s the unfortunate thing about overtime," Royals forward Graig Mischler said. "Unless you score the goal, it doesn’t really matter. We didn’t want to play tentative, but unfortunately they made a good play and were able to capitalize on their opportunity."
 

  Contact Matt Malinowski at 610-371-5064 or mmalinowski@readingeagle.com.