S A T U R D A Y
The Growlers get their 41st win of the season in the 12th round of the shootout as Garrett Johnston scored the winner to give the Growlers the 3-2 win over the Reading Royals.
The Reading Royals opened the scoring for the second straight night as Matt Pohlkamp beat goalie Eamon McAdam on a rebound that eventually found its way under McAdam’s leg pad and into the net.
The second period contained the rest of the regulation scoring for the game as both teams traded goals. Marcus Power tied the game with a one-timer that easily beat Royals goalie Jamie Phillips but Kevin Goumas responded exactly 30 seconds later to give the Royals back the lead. Matt Bradley scored a shorthanded rush where he eventually put puck behind a sprawling Jamie Phillips to score the game-tying goal.
The game would remain tied after 65 minutes of play and in the shootout, neither team scored until the 9th round.
The Growlers would come out on top in the 12th round off the stick of Garrett Johnston.
F R I D A Y
Despite the loss to the Royals, a Maine win over the Worcester Railers has pushed the Growlers into the Kelly Cup Playoffs!
The Newfoundland Growlers stumbled out of the game and couldn’t recover as they would fall to the Royals 5-2 Friday night.
Reading scored three straight goals in the first period of play as Schmidt, Roos and MacDonald got their names on the score sheet. The Royals took a 3-0 lead into the locker room to finish the first period.
Newfoundland responded in the second period as Josh Kestner scored, extending his scoring point streak to eight games. His shot beat Royals goalie Jamie Philips over the blocker.
Adam Schmidt scored his second of the game 7 minutes after the Kestner goal but Garrett Johnston added a power play tally late in the second to close out the period as the Royals entered the dressing room still up by two goals, 4-2.
Newfoundland could not find the net in the third period but Brayden Low slipped the puck behind Growlers goalie Michael Gartieg for the final goal of the game to seal the deal 5-2 for the Royals.
