For the second year in a row, a singular P-Bruins player has been named to the AHL's All-Star Classic. Following in Jamie Arniel's footsteps from last year, leading scorer Carter Camper will represent Providence at the game in Atlantic City, New Jersey on January 29th, the same day as the NHL All Star Game.

Carter Camper skates against the Portland Pirates.

Camper leads the offensively-struggling P-Bruins with eight goals and 23 points in 34 games so far season. He has had seven multiple-point games, as well as a team-high 15 assists this year. The undrafted rookie signed with Boston after completing his senior season at Miami of Ohio last April 7, had his professional debut with Providence on April 8, and scored his first professional point on April 9. 

From the Providence Bruins' press release:

Camper is a four-year product of Miami University Ohio, where as co-captain in 2010-11 he set collegiate career-highs in assists (38) and points (57). His 38 assists ranked him third nationally among college hockey players. A Hobey Baker Award finalist in 2010-11, Camper was named CCHA Scholar-Athlete of the Year and helped guide Miami to a 23-10-6 record and an NCAA Tournament appearance.

In 156 career collegiate games, Camper had 69+114=183 totals. The 5’9”, 173-pound native of Rocky River, Ohio finished his career second on Miami’s all-time points list and assists list. In his four years at Miami, the RedHawks made four NCAA Tournament appearances, two trips to the Frozen Four (2009 and 2010) and lost to Boston University in the 2009 National Championship. Before Miami, he played for the Lincoln Stars of the USHL.

The AHL All Star Classic follows a similar format to the NHL's All Star Game, with a skills challenge on Saturday and the game on Sunday, and players divided into East and West Conference squads. Camper will be reunited on the All-Star East squad with former Miami of Ohio teammate Andy Miele, who is currently playing for the Coyotes' affiliated Portland Pirates.

Check out a complete list of AHL All-Star Classic players and photos of the All-Star jerseys here. 

A bad start combined with a major penalty late in the game was enough to cost the Reading Royals Friday night against the Trenton Titans as they fell 4-3. An amazing comeback fell short after a major penalty left the Royals in a hole once again that they couldn’t climb out of.

The poor first period could be blamed on a number of reasons: a top defenseman called up, a top scorer suspended, two new defensemen, plus a goaltender that hasn’t played since Dec. 18.

“They’re all excuses,” captain Ryan Cruthers said. “We have to win. We didn’t come ready to play. We didn’t play for 20 minutes and it cost us the game.”

Head coach Larry Courville echoed his sentiments.

“We didn’t move our feet,” he said.” We didn’t win battles. We weren’t hitting anybody. I kind of gave it to the guys after the first and we responded in the second period. You play a bad first period, you deserve to lose the game.”

It wasn’t the start the Royals were looking for against a team that has been struggling as of late. The team came out with little effort in the opening period. The passing was off, little defense was played, and Joe Palmer showed the rust of not playing in two weeks.

Adam Presizniuk’s laser opened the scoring 2:07 into the first and the Titans kept piling it on.

Mitch Versteeg made it 2-0 at 5:26. His shot from the blue line bounced on its way towards Palmer, who couldn’t make the save.

Less than five minutes later, the Titans extended the lead to 3-0. Peter Lenes was left untouched in front of the net and had an easy goal off a feed from Chase Langeraap.

The Titans had three goals on eight shots in the first 10:08 of the game. Not exactly comforting for the home crowd.

The game looked out of reach until Yannick Tifu and Cruthers decided to take things into their own hands in the second period.

Half of the period went by without many quality chances for the Royals until a hooking penalty to Dennis McCauley changed things. Tifu and Cruthers had two good scoring chances short-handed, but were denied by goaltender Dave Caruso. But the very next shift they took, they came streaking down the ice again. This time, Tifu slid a pass across the crease to Cruthers waiting at the far post for an easy tap in at the 10:25 mark.

Just 1:14 later, Rob Shearer was whistled for high-sticking, and the penalty killing duo of Cruthers and Tifu were at it again. Cruthers sprung Tifu on a short-handed breakaway. He pulled the puck to his forehand and deposited top shelf to pull the Royals within one.

In the 30 games prior, the Royals had only scored three short-handed goals. In Friday’s contest, they scored two short-handed goals just 1:43 apart.

The Royals headed into the third behind by only one goal.

Momentum had clearly shifted when 1:14 into the final period, Cruthers scored his second of the night to knot the game at 3.

Things took a turn for the worst with 8:52 left in the game. Denny Urban was given a major for boarding after a push to Trenton’s Steve Silva. This time around, the Titans were able to capitalize. Denny Kearney was credited with the goal that deflected off a skate in front to give the Titans a 4-3 lead at 13:59.

The Titans  held on despite some close chances from the Royals with time winding down, including a shot off the crossbar from Matt Schepke with the extra attacker.

Though the end result was a regulation loss, if the team had fallen behind 3-0 a mere month ago, it would have turned into a rout of the Royals. But lately, the team has been fighting for every point they can, and proved so tonight by tying the game in the third.

“We’re coming together as a team,” Cruthers said. “I think guys are starting to accept where their place is on this team and guys are just starting to play better overall. Our goal is to not lose two in a row for the rest of the year. We just did that, so we’ll start over again tomorrow and start that trend again.”

NOTES
Cruthers and Tifu both had a hand in all three goals by the Royals. Both finished with three points: Cruthers – 2G, 1A; Tifu – 1G, 2A.

CRUTHERS ADDING TO HIS RESUME
In Wednesday’s game, Cruthers assist made his the all-time leading scorer in Royals history, but he wasn’t done there.

Friday’s game saw Cruthers tally three points, including his 50th and 51st goals as a Royal. His assist on Tifu’s goal marked his 97th, making him the all-time leader in club history.

“Ryan’s been a leader in our locker room and has been here,” Courville said. “He’s been a loyal player to our organization. It’s a nice reward for him to finally be a leading scorer. It’s a great accomplishment for him.”

For Cruthers, the milestones and records show his commitment to the team he has been a part of for three years.

“It shows a commitment to playing for Reading and how I like playing for Reading,” Cruthers said. “I’ve had good linemates here. I think we help each other get to this point. It’s a nice accomplishment and I’m happy about it, but my goal here has always been to win a championship. My job is to put up points, so obviously that’s what I’m trying to do here.”

The four-game win streak for the Reading Royals was snapped Wednesday night by the Elmira Jackals as they ran into the unbeatable Brian Stewart in the shootout and lost 4-3.

Stewart, in his second season in the ECHL, is 6-0 in the shootout and has never allowed a goal, going a perfect 24-for-24.

For the Royals, it was a tough loss to swallow after heading into the third with the lead.

“We didn’t keep the pedal down,” defenseman Ray Macias said. “It’s really hard to take that one. Next time when we get a lead going into the third, we need to keep it.”

Though the team suffered the loss, they still gained a point. Since the nine-game slump, the Royals have secured at least one point in seven of the last eight games, going 5-1-1-1.

“Right now we’re fighting for our playoff lives,” head coach Larry Courville said. “Every game we lose and don’t get a point, we could be out of the playoffs. Every game means everything. Every point you give up means a lot.”

The Royals controlled a lot of the play in the first period, but a 5-on-3 against the Royals led to the game’s first goal. On the backend of the 5-on-3, Kyle Reeds deflected a shot from Mario Larocque past goaltender Mark Owuya for a 1-0 lead 10:18 in.

A huge goal from Todd Griffith came with 6.3 seconds left in the period. Matt Schepke fed a pass after regaining his own rebound and sent it to Griffith, who tucked it home for his fourth in only six games as a Royal and they headed into intermission tied at 1.

With time dwindling down on their third power play of the night in the second period, Rob Shearer sent a long pass up the ice to Yannick Riendeau waiting at the far blue line. Riendeau stick-handled his way through one defender and around the front of the net before depositing it above Stewart for a 2-1 lead two seconds after the power play expired. It was Riendeau’s first goal since Nov. 13.

The lead didn’t last as Jack Downing tied the game back up 1:35 later off a feed from behind the net from Artem Demkov.

It took four opportunities for the Royals to finally score on the power play. A 4-on-3 resulted after roughing minors to Rob Bellamy and Larocque and a fighting major to Olivier Labelle. Passes between Yannick Tifu and Ryan Cruthers set up a blast from Rob Kwiet at the right circle that beat Stewart high. It was Kwiet’s third power-play goal in two games and gave the Royals a 3-2 lead with 1:31 left in the second.

“It’s just important that I’m shooting the puck more,” Kwiet said. “I’m getting the lucky bounces.”

The Royals headed into the third period with the 3-2 lead, but one mistake led to the tying goal from the Jackals. Owuya made two saves, one on Dustin Gazley and the other on Mike Radja, but the second rebound landed at Louie Caporusso, who snuck it by Owuya’s right pad at 11:39.

The Royals find themselves in a tough situation when Riendeau was whistled for hooking with 1:01 left in the game, but a huge play from Macias helped push the game into overtime. The Jackals were crashing around Owuya, who dove out to make a save, but the puck squirted out of his reach and it was an open net for Elmira to pounce on. Gazley was ready to score what would be the game-winner, but Macias slid across the goal line and blocked the puck from going in.

The Royals were able to kill of the remainder of Riendeau’s penalty in overtime. Both sides had a few good scoring chances, but neither could cash in and the game progressed to a shootout.

Unfortunately for the Royals, Stewart kept up his perfect performance in the shootout and denied all three shooters from Reading, while on the other side of things, Owuya allowed goals on all three attempts from Gazley, Downing and Radja.

The Royals look to rebound from the loss with their next match Friday against another divisional opponent, the Trenton Titans.

“Putting a new attitude forward and focusing on how we’ve been playing lately is what we’re trying to do,” Kwiet said. “Keep a positive attitude after tonight’s unfortunate shootout loss and bring it into Friday’s game.”

NOTES
Cruthers’ assist on Kwiet’s goal marked his 145th point as a Royal, making him the all-time career scoring leader in team history.

According to The Providence Journal Bruins Blog, Providence Bruins captain Trent Whitfield is out indefinitely with an eye injury.

Whitfield sustained the injury during the third period of Sunday's 2-0 win over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. The forward was hit in the eye by the stick of Scott Howes late in the period and Whitfield fell to the ice. He had his gloves off holding his face and in obvious pain but play continued and there was no call on the play. After a few moments Whitfield skated off the ice and immediately headed to the dressing room.

The Providence captain had only returned to the line up less than two weeks earlier after missing the beginning of the season due to concussion.  

For the first time all season the Providence Bruins won all three of their weekend games and extended their winning streak to four games with a 2-0 blanking of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers Sunday afternoon. Craig Cunningham and Carter Camper both scored in what would be Anton Khudobin’s 100^th professional win.

no comments

It was the fourth time in a row the Reading Royals faced off with the Wheeling Nailers and like the previous night’s game, the Royals came away with a 6-3 win, taking 3-of-4 from the divisional opponent.

The back-to-back wins for the Royals were the first since Nov. 4-5. These two came against one of the top teams in the East and could prove to be a huge step forward for the team who went three weeks without a win.

“The good thing is that in the last two games, even if we had the lead and we kind of struggled a little bit with that lead and give them a chance to get back – those things we have to work, but it’s great as a team to find ways to win,” said forward Yannick Tifu. “Smiles are back in the room.”

The new players brought in my head coach Larry Courville to fill the depleted roster have stepped up in the last two days. Todd Griffith has three goals in three games and Andrew Favot has a goal and an assist in two with the Royals.

“It’s always nice to come back [to the ECHL] and contribute to my linemates who are getting me the puck and just need score the goals when the goalies aren’t looking,” Griffith said. “Reading’s treating me really good and I’m just happy to be here.”

Unlike the previous night, a goal was scored early into the opening stanza of the game. Dale Mitchell scored his seventh of the season 3:13 in and the teddy bears came pouring onto the ice from the crowd of 4,327.

The Royals couldn’t hold onto the lead this time around. With the penalty to Louis Liotti 30 seconds away from expiring, the Nailers tied the game off a goal from Paul Thompson. His shot rang off the crossbar and in behind goaltender Mark Owuya.

Just 18 seconds later, the Nailers jumped ahead with another shot high to Owuya, this time from Matt Lombardi on a 3-on-1.

With time winding down, the Royals were given a power play opportunity with Scooter Vaughan in the box for holding. Wheeling goaltender Patrick Killeen made the initial save, but Tifu whacked the loose puck in for his third goal in two games with 5:05 left in the first.

For the second night in a row, the Royals took control of the game in the middle period.

Griffith had another strong performance as he scored off a pass from Favot on the left side 3:10 in.

A beautiful tic-tac-toe passing play on a 2-on-1 between Mitchell and Yannick Riendeau led to Mitchell’s second of the night and a 4-2 lead at the 7:47 mark. He now has eight goals in 10 games with the Royals.

Tifu tallied his second of the night with almost a similar play to his penalty shot the night before. He once again drew out Killeen and scored easily. It was the fifth goal for the Royals on only 11 shots, but the Nailers could not pull Killeen since Peter Delmas was scratched.

A late power play for the Nailers gave them a little life back when Paul Crowder scored with 53.9 seconds left in the period to make it 5-3.

The Royals added one more for good measure in the third period. Favot scored his first as a Royal with his unassisted goal 8:09 in. The Royals would hold on to win 6-3.

It was only the third win at home for the Royals, but the two wins can be the turning point the team has been looking for.

“We’ve got stuff to work on,” said Tifu. “I know we’re kind of struggling, but we have some young players and we just have to get on board. It’s as a team and if everybody understands that at the end of the night, win 1-0 or 3-2, it’s the same result. You get the ‘W’ at the end.”

NOTES
The game marked the last of captain Ryan Cruthers' six-game suspension. He is eligible to return next game on Dec. 22 against the Greenville Road Warriors.

For the third consecutive game, the Reading Royals faced off with the Wheeling Nailers, this time in Johnstown’s Cambria County War Memorial Arena, home of the Johnstown Chiefs before they relocated down south. The Royals’ second period ignited the team to score four goals and defeat the Nailers by a score of 6-3.

Friday night’s game was one of the most complete games from the Royals with all facets of the team clicking, from the offensive to defense and down to goaltender Joe Palmer. It was also the closest the team has come this season to putting together a strong effort for the entirety of the game, though things became a little hairy in the third with numerous penalties.

“Tonight we made some strides of putting together a full 60 minutes,” defenseman Denny Urban said. “But we still have some work to do.”

Both teams had some great chances early, but both goaltenders were up to the challenge.

The Royals broke the scoreless game with 1:47 remaining in the first period. Justin Kemmerer, added to the team prior to the game, sent a pass from the left circle towards the net where Todd Griffith had an easy tap in past Wheeling goaltender Peter Delmas for his first goal of the season.

The second period was an offensive explosion from a team that has been struggling to put goals up on the board and it came in the period where the Royals have given up the most goals this season.

Griffith gave the Royals a 2-0 lead when he scored his second of the night 4:40 into the second period off a pass from newly acquired Andrew Favot.

It took only 17 more seconds for the Royals to build a 3-0 lead with Louis Liotti’s shot from the point beat Delmas. After allowing three goals on 11 shots, Wheeling coach Clark Donatelli pulled him in favor of Patrick Killeen.

It didn’t make much of a difference for the Royals as they continued to build on their lead. While killing a penalty to Dave Cowan, Yannick Tifu skated in on a short-handed breakaway, but was pulled down from behind and was awarded a penalty shot. Tifu’s dekes drew Killeen out of the net and onto his stomach for an easy shot and goal for a 4-0 lead.

The Royals still were not finished in the period as they struck again. Olivier Labelle deflected Urban’s shot from the point for a power-play goal at 10:12 of the second. It was his first goal since Nov. 19.

Despite the strong play of the defense and Palmer, the Royals bid for their first shutout of the season ended just shy of three minutes later. Paul Crowder banked a shot towards the net and the puck bounced of a Royal’s skate in front and behind Palmer.

The Nailers made things quite interesting in the third and a string of penalties late could have cost the Royals.

Denver Manderson’s shot from the point beat Palmer to pull the Nailers to within three only 1:48 into the period.

The Royals faced a 5-on-3 at the 8:24 mark, but Wheeling turned it into a 4-on-3 a little less than a minute later, saving what could have been a turning point for the home team.

Unfortunately for Reading, they gave the Nailers another opportunity with a 5-on-3 with roughly four minutes remaining in the game. This time, Wheeling took advantage. Crowder scored his second of the night at 16:53 to draw within two.

With 2:50 remaining, Donatelli pulled Killeen for the extra attacker. After a couple close calls, the Royals were finally able to hit the empty net. Tifu got his second of the night with 32 seconds to spare for a 6-3 win.

The Royals secured their seventh win on the road and have an overall record of 9-12-3-2.

Urban can’t explain the team’s success away from the Sovereign Center this season.

“I don’t really know why,” he said. “We just seem to be more focused when we are on the road.”

The Royals will look to take 3-of-4 from the Nailers Saturday night as they return home for their annual Teddy Bear Toss game. Unlike last weekend, the Royals look to build momentum from the win.

“We just have to play strong in the defensive zone tomorrow like we did tonight and the goals will come,” Urban said.

A late goal from rookie Kyle MacKinnon gave the Providence Bruins the push they needed to defeat the Springfield Falcons Friday night at the Dunkin Donuts Center. Anton Khudobin stopped 34 of the 35 shots he faced including a spinorama shot from Alexandre Giroux in the first period.

Prior to the weekend it had been eight games since the Providence Bruins had been in the win column and this weekend they found it twice with wins over the Manchester Monarchs and Connecticut Whale.

The successful weekend started Friday night with a 2-1 shootout defeat of the Manchester Monarchs that gave goaltender Michael Hutchinson his first win of the season. Trent Whitfield scored the lone regulation goal and had the shootout winner in the victory.

“Scoring one goal in a game you’re not going to win too many,” first star of the game Whitfield said following the game, “Tonight it was enough and we got it in the shootout and we’ll take that.”

“He’s been great at sending the message that coaches have been trying to send,” Coach Cassidy said of the veteran player, “For me it’s a positive because were a young team, it’s a young league but we cant be all young, its just too hard every night we need some voices to balance.”

“Nice to see him get one on the board,” Cassidy said of Hutchinson’s first win of the season, “He had a good year last year for a first year guy number wise, was not bad.”

The first period went by quickly with no penalties being called. Michael Hutchinson notably made two great stops on Brandon Kozun first when he was in alone and then when he tried to knock in a rebound. Kozun finally beat Hutchinson with only 5 seconds remaining in the period when he got a puck past him glove side to make it 1-0.

Despite coming out hard in the middle frame outshooting their opponents 14-3 overall, Providence could not find the back of the net. The squad had plenty of opportunity on the power play with three separate chances but they failed to convert on any of the chances. The score remained the same going into the final period.

During the period, Ryan Button got hit in the head by a shot from Justin Azevedo. He skated off the ice on his own and headed to the dressing room. He did not return to the game.

Whitfield got his first of the season and the game tying goal at the 2:56 mark with assists to Kirk MacDonald and Lane MacDermid. MacDermid took the puck from a Manchester defensemen in the slot and sent a pass to Whitfield who got it past Martin Jones (30 saves) for the goal.

“He brings a lot of energy and he holds guys accountable,” Cassidy said of Whitfield who is only back in the lineup for a second weekend. “Missing that much time did not help. He didn’t play a lot of exhibition games and then to get hurt right away is just another tough break for him and us as a group.”

Thought Whitfield may have gotten the goal, Cassidy believes he will make the plays around him better and might even “gravitate upward” and play with different players.

It is not just Whitfield’s on ice performance that is important for the team to have back but his veteran leadership as well.

“It’s fun to be out there and contributing finally,” he said. “I’ve got a voice in the room through out the game now. Before I wasn’t in there, I wasn’t on the bench,” also adding that he has to show his veteran leadership on and off the ice.

A scary moment almost overshadowed Whitfield’s goal in the third when, with five minutes to play, center Maxime Sauvé took a blindside hit from Cam Paddock at the blue line. Sauvé laid on the ice for a few minutes being helped by trainers before he was helped off the ice. According to Coach Cassidy, both Sauvé and Button sustained upper body injuries but he would not specify the severity.

Providence would go on the power play for the remainder of regulation but would not light the lamp again.

“I was a little disappointed the power play didn’t come through for us but we’ll keep working at it,” Cassidy said following the game, “They’ve been much better lately its just tonight they couldn’t get one to go when it mattered. A five minute major is a great opportunity, I don’t think you can get a better opportunity, but we’ll move past that and enjoy the win. That was a little disappointing we didn’t generate more.”

With a point in the bank, the Bruins headed to overtime which ended up scoreless. Hutchinson made 26 saves in the game and was nearly flawless in the shootout when he stopped four of the five shooters he faced. Jamie Arniel shot made it past Jones and then Whitfield’s wrist shot proved to be all the team needed for the win.

Contributing so much in the first win in eight game, Whitfield says that turning it around and making it a winning streak for that many games is the plan.

“We need a full team effort every night,” he said, “One guy doesn’t change the season around for any team. We got guys that are starting to figure it out and now we’ve got to start putting the puck in the net with a little more frequency and give ourselves a little more of a chance to win games.”

Cassidy, who was giving Hutchinson his first Friday night start of the season, was happy to see the goaltender get the win, saying that it was probably eating him up inside.

“A goaltender is like a coach, you’re judged a lot on your wins and losses. A player goes out and scores a goal and feels good about his game even though they lose but with a goaltender it’s a win or it’s a loss,” Cassidy said.

Saturday was the only loss Providence took this weekend when they were blanked 3-0 by the Northeast Division leading Connecticut Whale. New to the lineup in the game was defenseman Jordan Southorn who signed a Professional Try Out Contract earlier in the day. Southorn began this season with the Trenton Titans of the ECHL where he has recorded 3+7=10 totals and 11 penalty minutes through 19 games.

Both teams faced off again Sunday when Providence defeated them in the rematch 3-2. Kyle MacKinnon returned from his assignment to the Reading Royals where he has been since December 2^nd and had an immediate impact with the team’s first goal.

MacKinnon opened the scoring at 3:49 when he buried Craig Cunningham’s rebound shot on Cameron Talbot (10 saves). Calle Ridderwall got the secondary helper. MacDermid dropped the gloves with Aaron Voros just a few minutes later that would set off a period that tallied 72 penalty minutes including a game misconduct to Kris Newbury of the Whale.

With all the penalty minutes being racked up, the Bruins were bound to go on the power play and score a goal. Carter Camper made it 2-0 on the power play at 11:59 when he found the back of the net thanks to Jamie Tardif and Josh Hennessy.

Providence extended their lead to three goals at 2:49 of the second period when Cunningham beat Talbot from the top of the circle. Following the goal, which was the 13^th shot he faced, Talbot was relieved and replaced by Chad Johnson. Johnson would be perfect in his relief, saving all 15 shots that he faced and preventing the Bruins from scoring again.

Connecticut was not done fighting quite yet at they put up a goal past the midway point in the second and got another just over a minute into the final period. That would be it for scoring however. Providence would go 1-for-7 on the power play but were alsoan impressive 7-for-7 on the penalty kill. Anton Khudobin made 29 saves in the victory.

The Providence Bruins host the Springfield Falcons this Friday and Bridgeport Sound Tigers Sunday with a visit to the Connecticut Whale sandwiched in between on Saturday.

It was a new, more confident team that appeared in the beginning of Sunday night’s Reading Royals game against the Wheeling Nailers. The confidence was back, the passes were crisper, and the team battled hard.

Unfortunately for the Royals, it didn’t last long as they reverted back to the team that had lost nine straight and the Nailers took advantage as they skated away with a 4-2 win.

“I just think we got away from what we do well as a team,” forward Dale Mitchell said. “We have a fast group of forwards up front, so when we get pucks deep and we work their defensemen, we’re tough to stop. I thought we got away from that after the first period.”

Goaltender Mark Owuya received his third consecutive start in net and made 35 saves en route to his second regulation loss with Reading.

The Royals came out flying to begin the game. The comeback win Friday against the Wheelers gave them the confidence they had been lacking to make players and complete passes and just be aggressive overall against a top team in the division and conference.

The Royals struck first, and struck early. Exactly one minute into the game, Denny Urban fired a shot from the point that was deflected in by Dennis McCauley for his third in three games.

The lead was short-lived as the Nailers tied things up on their first shot 3:33 later. Chris Barton passed the puck from the left circle to Kyle Bushee high in the slot, who scored five-hole on Owuya.

A beautiful play from the Royals started by McCauley set up another goal and lead. McCauley stripped a Nailer of the puck in the neutral zone and fed a pass to Everett Sheen, who followed up with a feed over to Mitchell. He skated to the right hashmark and sniped a high shot past goaltender Patrick Killeen with 2:29 left in the period for a 2-1 lead heading into intermission.

Unfortunately for Reading, the momentum slipped away and the Nailers took control of the game. With the Royals on the power play, the puck was turned over and Olivier Dame-Malka scored short-handed to tie the game 3:21 in.

The Nailers received their first lead of the game 11:46 into the second. In what seemed to be an odd play, Owuya remained standing after a shot from Barton. The puck landed in the crease where Paul Crowder knocked it in to make it 3-2.

The Royal finished the second down a goal and were limited to just two shots compared to Wheeling’s 16.

The Royals came out better in the third, but it wasn’t enough to battle back.

The Nailers added to their lead 8:50 in the final frame with an easy goal. Owuya attempting to make several saves had him down and out of the crease, leaving a wide open net for Ben Farrer to take a 4-2 lead.

It seemed as though the Royals scored with 57.5 seconds left with the extra attacker. Rob Shearer deflected a pass from Olivier Labelle. The puck slid under Killeen’s body as he dove behind him. The puck looked to have crossed the goal line, but with Killeen blocking it, the referee signaled no goal. After reviewing it with the linesmen and goal judge, the call stood and the Royals fell to the Nailers for the second time this season.

Reading owns a league worst 2-8-1-1 record on home ice and will face the Nailers again over the next two games.

“When we give a team like that an opportunity for 20 minutes to capitalize, they’re going to do it,” Mitchell said. “You don’t want to be battling behind in the third period.”

NOTES
The Royals signed Chase Watson and Todd Griffith prior to the game. Neither registered a point.

INJURY UPDATE
Casey Haines has been cleared to begin skating, according to Jason Guarente of the Reading Eagle.

John Scrymgeour was placed on three-day injured reserve after leaving Friday night’s game early with an injury.

PLENTY OF GOALS FOR MITCHELL AFTER RETURNING FROM INJURY
In April 2011 while the Royals were battling the Cincinnati Cyclones in the first round of the playoffs, Mitchell suffered an ACL tear in his right knee, knocking him out for the remainder of the postseason.

After rehabbing over the summer and into the start of the 2011-12 season, Mitchell finally returned to the ice with the Royals Nov. 19 in a game against the Toledo Walleye where he scored a short-handed goal.

“They’ve got a good staff [in Toronto] and they’ve really helped me out through my rehab and getting me back to 100-percent and giving me the opportunity to play again,” Mitchell said. “I have some good days and bad days. It’s tough to say, but overall it’s getting better.”

He played in one more game before missing the next two when the injury flared up, but once he came back in the lineup Nov. 30, he has netted five goals in six games, including four in the last three.

“Getting some goals early this year, especially coming off this injury, it’s been a big confidence booster for me,” he said. “Just trying to get better every day is the main goal.”

It has been tough to break in with the Toronto Marlies as the roster has become crowded. If it means Mitchell will remain with the Royals for the season, he is okay with the decision.

“I’ll help the team out and hopefully go for a good playoff run,” Mitchell said. “[I’ll] just play my game and try to get better every day and if it doesn’t work out with me in Toronto, it can always work out somewhere else. I’m just happy to play the game of hockey. I’m pretty privileged to play this game.”