Johnstown, Pa. – Johnstown’s Mike Bartlett and Bryan Marshall scored two goals each Saturday to lead the Chiefs past the Reading Royals 6-3 at the Cambria County War Memorial.
Special teams play proved to be the difference as Johnstown finished the game 2-for-6 on the power play. It was the 10th consecutive game in which the Chiefs scored with the man-advantage. Johnstown was also perfect on the penalty kill, killing off six Reading power plays while also scoring short-handed.
Rookie Connor Shields put the Chiefs on top early, scoring at 4:32 of the first period. With both teams cluttering the crease in front of Reading’s net, Troy Schwab was able to poke the puck loose to Shields who then forced it behind Royals goaltender Matt Dalton for the 1-0 lead. It was Shields 10th goal of the season. Schwab earned the lone assist.
It was less than a minute later that Reading’s Ryan Cruthers scored for the Royals at 5:08 to tie the game at 1-1. Reading’s Ben Gordon was able to force the attack deep in the Johnstown zone and push the puck past Chiefs defenseman Russ Sinkewich to set up Cruthers who beat Johnstown goaltender Kris Mayotte for his fifth goal of the season.
Johnstown extended its power-play streak, taking advantage of a holding penalty to Gordon as Sean Berkstresser scored his third goal of the season. Berkstresser took a pass from Bryan Marshall on the boards and one-timed the puck past Dalton at 9:58. Marshall and Chris Zarb assisted as the Chiefs took the 2-1 lead.
Gordon took advantage of a little bad luck for Johnstown and made up for his penalty by scoring his 9th goal of the season at 14:56 to even the game at 2-2. Gordon took a pass from Danick Bouchard and snapped a quick shot that caught Mayotte on the elbow just above his blocker and careened off the goal post into the goal.
The Chiefs once again battled back with their second power-play goal of the night at 18:58 for the 3-2 advantage. With Reading’s Jimmy Fraser in the box for hooking, Johnstown defenseman Chris Zarb carried the puck down low from the point and centered it into the slot, where Bartlett was able to tip it behind Dalton for his first goal of the game and eighth of the season. Zarb and Mike Couch assisted as the Chiefs closed out the scoring for the period.
Penalty troubles to start the second put Johnstown short-handed throughout the early part of the period, but Mayotte was able to turn aside the Royals attack and give his team the chance to take a commanding lead.
Chiefs defenseman David Schulz was given a two-minute penalty for instigating a fight against the Royals Charlie Kronschnabel just :46 into the period, then Bartlett was issued a five-minute major for kneeing to give Reading a brief 5-on-3 opportunity. Mayotte made several spectacular saves to keep the Royals from scoring, and Bryan Marshall was able to capitalize on a short-handed goal to give the Chiefs a 4-2 lead at 5:40. The goal, assisted by Mayotte, was Marshall’s fourth of the season and the only one of the period.
Both teams battled hard in the third, trading goals before the Chiefs closed the door for the 6-3 final. Bartlett scored his second of the game and ninth of the season at 9:11 of the period, assisted by Marshall and R.J. Anderson. Kronschnabel answered less than a minute later for Reading, scoring his fifth of the season from Andrew Sarauer and Olivier Labelle at 10:05. With less than a minute remaining, the Royals pulled its goalie for an extra skater, allowing Marshall to score an empty-net goal at 19:11 for the final tally of the game. Anderson earned the lone assist.
The win was Mayotte’s fourth of the season and improved Johnstown to 6-9-3-0 overall. Mayotte’s record improves to 4-5-2-0. The Chiefs are 5-3-2-0 in the past 10 games after beginning the season winless in the first seven.
The two teams will meet again Sunday when Johnstown travels to Reading.
Scoring:
Team: 1st 2nd 3rd Total
Reading: 2 0 1 3
Johnstown: 3 1 2 6
Shots:
Team: 1st 2nd 3rd Total
Reading: 10 10 16 36
Johnstown: 16 11 9 36
Power Play:
Reading: 0-for-6
Johnstown: 2-for-6
Three Stars:
1. Johnstown – Mike Bartlett
2. Johnstown – Bryan Marshall
3. Johnstown – Sean Berkstresser
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