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Reading Royals

Royals Dropped By Cincy in OT, 3-2

February 4, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Cincinnati, OH - The Reading Royals (14-28-3= 31; 7th North Division) of the ECHL scored with five minutes left to re-gain a tie with the Cincinnati Cyclones, but lost on a power play goal forty-nine seconds into overtime, 3-2, at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio. Reading scored first and held a 1-0 lead into the third period, but back-to-back goals by the Cyclones put to the Royals on their heels in the late going-until Dinos Stamoulis bagged a blast from the high slot to tie the game with 5:07 remaining. James Reimer (OTL, 34/37) was solid in net for Reading; while Ryan Nie (win; 23/25) remained perfect for the Cyclones in seven starts (7-0-0). The Royals power play was unable to break through in five chances with the man advantage-including 1:56 of five-on-three that was split between the end of the second and start of the third. The Cyclones' last two goals-including the OT GWG-were scored on the power play (2-7).

Reading struck 9:17 into the game on a highlight reel play by Brock Hooton, who found himself one-on-one with a Cincinnati defender deep in the offensive zone. Hooton went inside-out on the Cyclone defender and stepped to the top of the crease, where he went top shelf with a brilliant back-hander for his fourteenth goal of the year. After a scoreless second in which the Cyclones clanged a couple of cross-bars, Cincinnati finally broke through at the 8:21 mark of the third, when Reading failed to clear the defensive zone and former Royal Dustin Sproat gained possession below the goal line on the right wing side. Sproat carried towards the net and dished to the slot, where Ian McKenzie stepped up and ripped a blast from below the hash-marks that beat Reimer to tie the game at one.

2:09 later, the Cyclones took their first lead of the game while playing with the man advantage. Jimmy Kilpatrick took control at the left side of the net. He settled and looked towards the slot, as if he intended to bump a pass towards the center of the ice. Instead, he wheeled and fired a low shot that slid by Reimer to the far side for his twenty-second goal of the year. Reading re-tied the game with 5:07 remaining after gaining an offensive zone face-off due to an icing infraction on the Cyclones. David Nimmo won the face-off to right point, where Tim Branham settled and slipped to Dinos Stamoulis in the high slot. Stamoulis uncorked a blast that rocketed by Nie for his second of the year.

In overtime, Reading's Rob LaLonde picked up a holding minor thirty-two seconds into the extra frame, and the Cyclones made the Royals pay. They worked the puck to the high slot where Mike Salekin intended to fire a one-timer; instead, he misfired off the heel of the stick inadvertently sliding the puck into the right circle, where Ben Gordon was waiting for the quick one-timer into an essentially empty net to give the Royals their first OTL of the season.

The Royals go at it again tomorrow night (Wednesday, February 4 @ 7:30 pm et) when the team travels to the E.J. Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio to take on the Bombers.. Wednesday's game will be broadcast live on the Royals Radio Network Presented by Transmissions by Arbogast (True Oldies WRAW 1340 am in Reading; and The Ticket WLAN 1390 am in Lancaster), as well as on the internet via webcast hosted by Sportsjuice.com, which can be accessed through the Royals website. To become a part of Royals hockey, call 610-898-PUCK or log onto www.royalshockey.com.

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