Desrochers' Hat Trick Powers Chiefs Into Playoffs

April 7, 2007 - ECHL (ECHL)
Johnstown Chiefs News Release


Reading, PA - The Johnstown Chiefs defeated the Reading Royals by a score of 6-3 at the Sovereign Center in Reading, Pennsylvania on Saturday night.

Reading opened the scoring at 1:31 when Rob LaLonde floated a pass through a tangle of players, springing Dany Roussin on a breakaway, where he made a quick move and beat Chiefs goaltender Ryan Munce on the stick side.

The Chiefs answered back quickly, when Jean Desrochers scored at 7:47, picking up the rebound of a shot from Ben Wallace. Eighty seconds later, Andrew Martens scored with a drive from the point that beat Reading's Yutaka Fukufuji along the ice. With the Chiefs on the power play, Desrochers would pick up his second goal of the night, beating Fukufuji up high at 12:07. Gus Katsuras took a pass from Zbynek Hrdel and scored on a wrist shot at 13:28 to give Johnstown a 4-1 lead.

The Royals owned the second period, out-shooting the Chiefs 21-5. Joe Zappala cut the Chiefs' lead to two with a power-play goal at 4:02, and then scored his second of the game with a wrist shot from the top of the slot at 9:49.

Johnstown hung on through the third, allowing 21 shots for the second consecutive period. With Fukufuji absent from the Reading net in favor of an extra attacker, the Chiefs won a defensive-zone faceoff and chipped the puck out to center, where Desrochers fired at the empty net to complete his hat trick at 18:30. Sixteen seconds later, Hrdel fired a quick shot that beat Fukufuji along the ice to give Johnstown a 6-3 lead.

Kelly Cup Playoff tickets go on sale Monday, April 9 at 10:00 a.m. at the War Memorial box office! If you cannot get to the War Memorial, you can get your tickets by calling (814) 536-5156 or 1 (800) CHF-TIXX.



ECHL Stories from April 7, 2007


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