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Royals Hold On For Third Straight One Goal Win, 3-2 Over Johnstown

November 1, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL) - Reading Royals News Release


Reading, PA - The Reading Royals of the ECHL (4-2-1-1=10, 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, extended the team's winning streak to three games with a 3-2 win over the Johnstown Chiefs at the Sovereign Center in Reading, Pennsylvania. This marked the third consecutive one-goal win for the Royals-and the second in a row against the Chiefs. Olivier Labelle scored what proved to be the game winner when he broke a two-two tie in the third period with his first goal as a member of the Royals. Kevin Regan (2-2-1-1; 34/36) made a number of critical stops at critical moments, particularly the first couple of the minutes of the game when the Chiefs came out steaming. Johnstown's Shane Connelly (0-3-0-1; 27/30) was the hard-luck loser for the second day in a row. The Royals first goal was scored while the team was on the power play (1-4); while Reading's penalty killers kept the Johnstown power play off the board (0-3).

After surviving an early flurry by the Chiefs, Reading struck 15:08 into the first while playing with the man advantage. Joey Ryan and Nick St. Pierre used a pass-and-switch play in the high slot to free St. Pierre for the hard shot from the right point. Connelly made the stop on that shot; but the rebound fell to the left side of the net where Danick Bouchard punched it back in for his fourth of the season. Johnstown tied the game at one with 58.2 seconds remaining in the first when a series of defensive zone miscues ended with Connor Shields slipping a loose puck from the low slot into the right side of the net for his first goal as a pro.

The Royals re-gained the one-goal lead 6:10 into the second when Ben Gordon recognized that Eric Werner was stepping out of the penalty box after serving two minutes for a holding minor. Gordon fired a pin-point pass from the defensive zone to Werner who was off to the races on a clean breakaway. Werner's snap shot slipped through the upper body of Connelly and had just enough steam to slide over the goal line for his first of the year. Once again, however, the Chiefs-and Shields-tied the game back up. On this one, Ryan Menei made a nice pass into the high slot where a waiting Shields pounded the puck into the upper left corner for his second of the night at the 12:36 mark.

The Royals got what proved to be the game winner 10:04 into the third when a strong play on the wall in the defensive zone by Gordon freed the puck into the neutral area where Labelle picked up and carried into Johnstown's zone on the left wing side. Labelle gained the left circle, cut hard left-to-right towards the slot, and then fired a hard snap shot back against the grain to the low, short side on Connelly for his first of the year. Johnstown played with desperation down the stretch, but the Royals and particularly Regan held fast for the team's third consecutive home win.

The Royals are off until Saturday night (November 7, 2009 @ 7:05 pm) when the defending Kelly Cup Champion South Carolina Stingrays visit the Sovereign Center for the first time this season. Saturday's broadcast time is 6:30 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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