READING — The Johnstown Chiefs fell 3-2 to the Reading Royals at the Sovereign Center on Sunday afternoon.
Johnstown held a 6-to-3 shot advantage as late as midway through the first period, but Kevin Regan was tough to beat in the Reading net.
With Regan keeping the Chiefs off of the board, Danick Bouchard tallied the first goal of the game on the power play at 15:08.
Jim McKenzie was the catalyst for Johnstown's first goal of the game. After taking a pass on the left wing from Russ Sinkewich, McKenzie circled the Reading net and found Connor Shields with a timely pass. Shields ripped a one-timer past Regan with 59 seconds left in the first to tie it at one.
The second period pretty much followed the trend that the Chiefs and Royals set with Saturday afternoon's game with Reading scoring first and Johnstown answering.
After a holding minor to Eric Werner had expired, the Chiefs lost track of the Reading defenseman as he exited the penalty box. Sprung on a breakaway by Ben Gordon, Werner barely sneaked a shot past Shane Connelly on the glove side. Just as it was in the first period, Shields provided the Chiefs' answer.
This time, he got loose in the high slot and fired a hard wrist shot over Regan's blocker.
R.J. Anderson picked up his first pro point with an assist and Ryan Menei assisted as well.
Pucks continued to pepper the Reading net in the third period with Johnstown outshooting the Royals 13 to 10.
Olivier Labelle sneaked a wrist shot past Connelly at 10:04. Johnstown kept the pressure on throughout the second half of the third, but Regan made enough saves to allow the lead to hold up.
Matt Robinson was whistled for tripping with 2:03 left, and Reading was able to play keep away on the power play to kill off the rest of the clock.
Connelly finished the afternoon with 27 saves while the Chiefs went 0-for-4 on the power play and 3-for-4 on the penalty kill.
