CINCINNATI, Ohio – The Reading Royals (28-13-1-1) came up with five unanswered goals to defeat the Cincinnati Cyclones (19-18-0-4) by a 5-1 final score in front of 8,312 at U.S. Bank Arena on Saturday night.
After more than a half of a period of scoreless hockey, the Cyclones finally broke the deadlock when Frederick Gaudreau faked a slap shot and slid the puck through the legs of Martin Ouellette (W, 30 saves, 12-6-1-1) at 14:49 to make it 1-0. Cincinnati carried a 12-5 shot advantage and the one-goal cushion into the first intermission.
The Royals answered back with two quick strikes early into the middle frame to jump out in front; first, at 7:07, Sean Wiles potted a rebound through Sam Brittain (L, 23 saves, 11-10-0-1) during a power play. Then, just 1:28 later, Matt Hatch jammed a loose puck from the left circle into the net to give his team their first lead of the night at 2-1. The Royals outshot the Cyclones 15-8 in the period and would remain out in front by one through 40 minutes.
After the Royals prevented several Cincinnati attempts to knot the score early in the final period, Reading's David Marshall caught a long stretch pass from Pat Mullane, went in on a breakaway and sniped in his 12th goal of the season to extend the cushion to 3-1. Just a few minutes later, at the 13:47 mark, Zach Davies cranked a point shot past Brittain during another Royals power play to put the game out of reach out 4-1. But in the final minute, Reading added their final tally of the night when Ian Watters found the net with a long shot from just inside the blue line at 19:31 to seal a 5-1 victory.
The Cyclones will be back on the ice at U.S. Bank Arena this Wednesday, February 4 when they play host to the Kalamazoo Wings at 7:30pm! In addition to $1 beers for fans 21 and up, we'll celebrate one of cable's most revered shows - The Walking Dead! Call 513.421.PUCK to secure your seats and for more details. Fans can also get the latest team updates throughout the season on Facebook, Twitter (@CincyCyclones), and Instagram!
Click here for tonight's box score
Cyclones Fall to Royals, 5-1
