Goaltender Keith Petruzzelli (11-11-3-0) suffered the loss in goal with four goals allowed on 16 shots through 27:45 before Ian Shane came in relief and stopped 14 of 16 shots through 32:15, while Gargoyles’ netminder Ruslan Khazheyev (6-12-3-0) earned the win in goal with an equal career-high 41 saves on 43 shots faced.
BOX SCORE
Greensboro built a two-goal lead in the first period on goals from Colton Leiter (2) and Tyler Weiss (12) at 5:26 and 10:48 respectively, 2-0. Alec Butcher (9) got one back for Reading 4:53 into the second period before the Gargoyles scored four consecutive goals before the break with two goals from Blake Biondi (2 & 3) on the power play, as well as Dalton Skelly (1) and Anthony Messuri (1).
The Royals scored the only goal of the third period on Nolan Burke’s (9) power play at 5:48 for the final goal of the three-game opener.
With the loss, the Royals snapped their four-game win streak and dropped their ten games over their last eleven road affairs (1-9-1-0).
The Royals continue a three-game road series against Greensboro on Friday, February 6, concluding on Saturday, February 7.
The Royals return home on Friday, February 27 after a seven-game road stretch to open a two-game home set against the Greenville Swamp Rabbits on Saturday, February. Both matches will be at 7pm with puck drops at the Santander Arena.
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