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Reading Royals

Royals Hold Off Chiefs For Halloween Day Win, 4-3

October 31, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Reading, PA - The Reading Royals of the ECHL (3-2-1-1=8, 2nd East Division), affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League and the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League, held off the hard-charging Johnstown Chiefs for a 4-3 win in a Halloween matinee game at the Sovereign Center in Reading, Pennsylvania. The Royals held three separate two-goal leads, but the resilient and relentless Chiefs kept bouncing back to make a tense game of it. Goaltender Beau Erickson (2-0-0-0; 26/29) won for the second time in two starts; Johnstown's Shane Connelly (0-2-1; 26/30) made a number of difficult stops but ended up picking up the loss. The Royals picked up a pair of goals-including the game winner-while playing on the man advantage (2-7); Johnstown scored once in five chances on the power play.

The Royals struck 9:03 into the game when Connelly rejected a low shot from Ben McLeod, but the rebound slid to the low left slot where Giliati ripped a quick snap shot into the upper right corner of the net. Giliati's goal-his sixth of the season-extended his goal scoring streak to league-high six games. Fourteen seconds later, Reading took the team's first two goal lead, when Andrew Sarauer fed the puck from behind the Johnstown net to the low slot where a hard, charging Scott Langdon was breaking down the slot. Connelly stopped Langdon's bid, but again the rebound slid to the low, left slot where Scott Fletcher chipped the puck back into the net for his first goal as a pro. A minute later, the Chiefs cut the Royals' lead to 2-1, when Dan Collins took control behind Reading's net and slid a perfect pass to the top of the crease, where an unguarded Greg Gallagher forced it through Erickson for his first goal of the year.

The Royals regained the two goal lead (3-1) with a five-on-three power play goal 13:19 into the second period, when Giliati fired a perfect cross-crease pass from the right side of the net to the left side of the goal where a waiting Danick Bouchard jammed it home for his second goal of the year. Once again, the Chiefs bounced back again with a power play of their own 3:14 later when Jim McKenzie passed from behind the Royals goal to Trevor Hendrikx who slipped down from the left point to the low slot where his one-time snap shot went high into the net for his first goal of the year.

The Royals regained the two goal lead (4-2) at the 12:52 mark of the third period with the team's second power play goal of the night. Ben McLeod walked the goal line out of the right corner, cut towards the slot, eluded a Johnstown defender and shot back against the grain. The puck slipped through Connelly for McLeod's fifth goal of the year and what proved to be the game winner. However, once again, the Chiefs came back to the Reading lead to one-this time 1:04 later, when a Royals' defender coughed up the puck at the defensive blue line, giving McKenzie a clean break to the Reading net. McKenzie went forehand-backhand and slid the puck through the body of Erickson for his second goal of the year. The Chiefs pressed down the stretch, but Reading held on to extend the team's home unbeaten streak to three games (2-0-0-1).

The Royals and Chiefs go at it again tomorrow afternoon (Sunday, November 1 @ 1:05 pm) at the Sovereign Center. Sunday's broadcast time is 12:30 pm on the Royals Radio Network presented by Transmissions by Arbogast. To become a part of Royals hockey, call 610-898-PUCK or log onto www.royalshockey.com.

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