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 Reading Royals

Reading Royals Weekly

February 16, 2011 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


We've referenced the rising trajectory of Royals forward John Scrym- geour on more than one occasion during the season. But for the uninitiated, the song remains the same: young unsung kid out col- lege, gets a tryout with a ECHL team and promptly makes it impossi- ble for the coach to cut him; then he proceeds to make it impossi- ble not to like him-not only because of his work ethic and genu- ine personality, but also because the kid can flat play. And then a strange thing happens, after making the team and proving he belongs, he takes his game to yet another level that makes you wonder about the possibilities. And it's not just the three game goal streak that John finds himself riding at this moment-we've made it abundantly clear how we feel about painting by the num- bers alone. But in the same breath, it's nice to see John rewarded for his effort-and for the team to benefit from the quality of his play in the only numbers that really matter: points in the stand- ings. And of course, proper or not, that's exactly how the coaching staff will ultimately be measured-very simply: the ratio of "Ws" to "Ls"; but there still has to be something particularly rewarding for the guys in charge to work on (and watch) the emerging trajec- tory of John Scrymgeour.

TOP NOTES OF THE WEEK

1. Reading went 2-1-0-0 last week, elevating the team's record to 18 games over .500 for the first time this season. The Royals are the top team in the ECHL with respect to points in the standings (67) and win percentage (.684). Reading leads the league with thirty-one wins and has fewest regulation losses in the league (13).

2. Last Friday's win over the Wheeling Nailers at Cambria County War Memorial Arena in Johnstown was Reading's seventeen road win of the season, which leads the Eastern Conference and is the second most in the league. (Utah has eighteen.)

3. The Royals scored the game's first goal in both wins registered last week. The Royals are 19-2-2-1 when they score the game's first goal, which is a league leading .854 win percentage in such games.

4. Reading trailed at some point in both games that the team won last week. The Royals now have sixteen come-from-behind wins this season, which is the second most in team history. (The 2007-08 Royals had seventeen regular season come-from-behind wins and five in the playoffs.)

5. Sunday's win marked the 11th time this season that the Royals have gone into the 3rd period tied with the opposition. The Royals are 8-1-1-1 record in those games.

6. In the two wins this past week, the Royals held the opposition to two goals. Reading is 19-0-0-1 in games where they've held the opposition to two goals or less. The Royals have allowed a total of 148 goals against this season, which translates into a 3.02 team goals against (9th in the league). Reading has scored 169 goals this year, which is a 3.45 goals per game average (fourth best in the league).

7. Ryan Cruthers scored the game's first goal forty-two seconds into the 4-2 win over Wheeling on Friday. Cruthers also scored the game-tying goal for the Royals in the second period of Sunday's 5-2 win over Trenton. Cruthers, who was loaned to the Hershey Bears on Monday, is currently riding a six game point streak for the Royals (6g- 4a=10pts). In 92 games with the Royals over the past two seasons, Cruthers has 106 points (39g-67a), passing Brock Hooton (105) for fifth all-time.

8. Eric Castonguay scored the game winning goal while the team was playing short-handed in Friday's 4-2 win over Wheeling. That was the third short-handed game winner of the year for Reading. (Matt Caruana had an overtime SH-GWG on November 21, 2010 against Cincinnati; and Andrew Sarauer had a SH-GWG against Wheeling on December 19, 2010.) The Royals have won all nine games in which they have scored a short-handed goal this year.

9. The Royals 4-2 loss to the Trenton Devils at the Sovereign Center last Saturday night snapped a ten game home unbeaten streak (7-0-1-2).

10. Andrew Sarauer scored his second game winning goal of the year thirty-seven seconds into the third period in Sunday's 5-2 win over Trenton. Sarauer is currently riding a six game point streak for the Royals (1g-5a).

11. John Scrymgeour scored a goal in each of the three games played by the Royals this past week. His goal on Sunday was a short-handed insurance goal, giving the Royals a 4-2 lead at the 8:07 mark of the third period. That was his first short-handed goal as a pro.

12. Rob Kwiet scored the Royals' third period game tying goal (at two) on Saturday night while the Royals were on the power play. Kwiet, who also assisted on Olivier Labelle's first period power play goal on Sunday, leads the Royals with thirteen power play points (3g-10a).

CLOSING NOTES

1. Reading has scored a power play goal in twelve of the team's last fourteen games. Over the last 18 games, Reading is 19-87 on the power play (21.8% scoring ratio). Overall this year, the Royals PP has gone 37 - 215 (17.2%, 12th).

2. The Royals PK has blanked the opposition's PP in the first two games this week and twenty-three times over the season. Reading has allowed 40 PPGA in 245 chances for the opposition, which is an 830% kill ratio (8th best in the league).

3. Ben Gordon scored his team leading twenty-first goal of the year in Sunday's 5-2 win over Trenton. Gordon, who leads the Royals with 47 points (21g-26a) in 43 games. He is currently riding a three game point streak (2g-3a) and has had at least a point in fourteen of the last sixteen games he's played for the Royals (12g-11a). In 111 career games for Reading, Gordon has racked up 134 points (51g-83a) which is 5 points short of the team's all-time scoring leader, Brad Rooney.

4. Goaltender Michael Hutchinson has played 17 of the last 20 games for the Roy- als. He has faced 40 or more shots in five of his last seven starts. Hutchinson also picked up his first point as a pro when he assisted on the team's ENG on Sunday.

5. Jared Ross, who is the leading scoring defenseman for the Royals with 22 points (5g-17a), assisted on two of the Royals' goals on Sunday, which was his fourth multi-point performance of the season.

6. Ryan Donald is currently tied for second amongst defenseman in the league in plus-minus, playing to a plus-19 (+19) through 39 games with the Royals. Donald has played to even or better in 35 of those games. Donald registered an assist on John Scrymgeour's short-handed goal on Sunday. He now has three short-handed points, which is tied for the league lead amongst defensemen.

7. Tyler Murovich picked up an assist on Andrew Sarauer's game winning goal on Sunday. He also scored a third-period insurance goal for the Royals in Friday's 4-2 win over Wheeling. Murovich has registered at least a point in ten of the fourteen games he's played with the Royals

8. Reading plays a pair of games against the Wheeling Nailers this week. The Royals have a 6-1-0-0 record against the Nailers so far. The Royals are 12-2-1-0 against teams from the North Division this season.


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