Royal Defeat; Four Straight Goals Send Walleye To 7-3 Loss
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10/23/2009 - Despite being outshot 35-22, the Reading Royals pulled away from a 3-3 tie at first intermission and scored four unanswered goals to hand the Walleye their second loss of the season.
J.C. Sawyer’s slap shot from between the faceoff circles gave Toledo an early lead, but Reading tied it up just 34 seconds later. Each time the Walleye seemed to gain momentum, the Royals came back with a goal of their own. Mike Hedden scored his first career professional goal to tie it at two before Reading regained the lead with a goal of their own 31 seconds later.
With the Walleye down 3-2 in the first, Evan Rankin scored his first career professional goal and brought the Lucas County Arena crowd of 6,030 back to life. The two teams remained tied through the midway point of the second period until Danick Bouchard scored the eventual game-winner for Reading at the 11:32 mark. The Royals added a penalty shot goal in the second and scored twice in the third period for the 7-3 final score.
Notes: Jordan Pearce struggled in net for the Walleye, saving 15 of 22 Royals’ shots… the win was Reading’s first of the season… Toledo fell to 2-2 this season... there were two pairs of fighting majors in the third period… the Walleye power play, after converting 6 of 17 chances in its previous three games, was 0-for-4 tonight.
Reading 7, Toledo 3 -- Full Box Score
Photos: Walleye Photo Album;
Video highlights: Walleye TV
Saturday is Halloween Hockey Night at Lucas County Arena – don’t forget to wear your Halloween costume when you come down to the game! The puck drops at 7 pm. Great seats available...call 419-725-WALL or order online!
--Craig Vanderkam, Toledo Walleye - Photo Credit: Phil Levering
