The Reading Royals scored seven goals and two Gordie Howe hat tricks in a Saturday victory over the Adirondack Thunder.
It’s one thing for a player to get a Gordie Howe hat trick during a game. The Reading Royals doubled that pleasure on Saturday.
Carson Golder and Alec Butcher each earned the hatty named after the legendary NHL-er, with each recording a goal, an assist and a fighting major.
To top that off, the Royals defeated the Adirondack Thunder 7-3 at Santander Arena on Saturday.
The Royals took a 3-1 lead after 20 minutes with goals from Cam Cook (2), Brandon Saigeon (5) and Butcher.
The Royals struck first 7:42 into the game after a defensive zone turnover. Jacob Frasca took a shot that was denied by Tyler Brennan, but Cam Cook kept digging and pushed the puck into the net for a 1-0 Reading lead on his second of the year.
Adirondack answered back with a power-play goal at 9:26 of the first, as Brennan sent a long pass from his crease to Brannon McManus at the far blue line. McManus skated in and fired a slap shot over the shoulder of Royals goaltender Yaniv Perets to tie the game 1-1. Brennan was awarded the assist on McManus’ sixth goal of the year.
Brandon Saigeon and Butcher scored back-to-back goals at 11:47 and 13:34 of the first period for a 3-1 Royals lead at the first intermission, with Reading holding a 15-7 shot advantage.
Both teams exchanged goals in the second period. Kyle Haskins collected a rebound in front of the net and slid the puck by Brennan for a 4-1 Royals lead. The goal was Haskins’ fourth of the year with assists from Jake Willets and Butcher at the 8:46 mark.
Late in the second, Jacob Graves sent a wrist shot through a screen and Brian Carrabes tracked down the rebound and buried his second goal of the season with 16.1 seconds left in the frame. The goal was Carrabes’ second of the year with assists from Graves and Pierson Brandon and Adirondack trailed 4-2 after two periods.
Reading then rattled off three goals to open the third period with Liam Devlin (1), Golder (6) and Butcher registering multi-point games, including a Gordie Howe Hat Trick (one goal, one assist and one fighting major) for Golder and Butcher.
Adirondack scored a late goal at 18:26 by Jimmy Dowd Jr. (3) that concluded the 10-goal game with Reading registering seven or more goals for the second time in eleven games this season (eight goals vs Greensboro on Oct. 25).
With the win, Reading improved to 2-1-0 at home and have earned a point in nine of their 11 games this season.