Reading jumped out to an early lead on Gwinnett just 6:16 into the first period on a goal by Joel Champagne. Kirk MacDonald and Yannick Tifu collected the assists on the Reading marker.
After the Gladiators successfully killed off a Reading 5-on-3 power play chance, Christian Ouellet found a rebound in the slot and slipped the puck past Royals netminder Philipp Grubauer for his seventh goal of the season. Scott Arnold and Tyler Murovich collected the assists on the goal at 18:13 of the first period.
The Royals scored the first of their three straight second period goals on MacDonald's 5-on-3 power play marker 5:38 into the second period. Denny Urban and Champagne notched the assists on the goal.
David Marshall pushed the lead to 3-1 with the Royals second power play goal of the game at 14:39 of the middle stanza. MacDonald and Adam Comrie had the helpers on the goal.
Comrie then gave the Royals a three goal lead with just 1:28 left in the second period as he slipped the puck past Gwinnett netminder Louie Domingue for the marker. Ethan Cox and Ian O'Connor earned the assists.
The teams exchanged a pair of goals each in the third period. Gwinnett got on the board first in the third period as Tyler Murovich potted his 8th goal of the season just 22 seconds into the third to cut the lead in half. Cody Brookwell had a helper on the marker for Gwinnett.
Marshall had his second goal of the game to regain the three goal lead for Reading midway thought the third period. Cox then extended the Reading lead to 6-2 at the 14:44 mark of the stanza.
Scott Arnold earned his first goal of the season for the Gladiators as he took a rink wide pass in the slot and slipped then puck past Grubauer to cut the lead to 6-3. Murovich notched his second assist of the game on the goal for Gwinnett.
Domingue finished with 35 saves in the losing effort for Gwinnett as the Gladiators went 0-for-2 on the power play.
Gwinnett is back at home on Thursday, December 27th as they host the South Carolina Stingrays at 7:05 p.m. at the Arena at Gwinnett Center.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2012/12/256465