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Reading Royals

Game Day: Royals at Brampton to Continue Canadian Swing

March 9, 2019 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Brampton, ON - The Reading Royals (25-25-4-5, 59 pts., 7th North), proud ECHL affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers and Lehigh Valley Phantoms, have split the first four games of a season-long six-game road trip and visit the Brampton Beast (29-23-5-1, 64 pts., T-4th North) for the final couple of games starting Saturday at 4:00 p.m. Reading has yet to play Brampton at the CAA Centre; the Beast took the first three games of the season series in Pennsylvania.

Broadcast Coverage: BCTV (Channel 15 Comcast, Channel 19 Service Electric) | Mixlr.com/ReadingRoyals

Reading is 2-2-0-0 through the first four games of the road trip; the Royals won the first two games vs. Norfolk before suffering back-to-back two-goal defeats at Newfoundland Tuesday and Wednesday. In each game, the Royals were down by one in the final three minutes before empty-net strikes increased Growlers leads.

Wednesday at Mile One Centre, Reading scored the first two goals but suffered a 4-2 loss. Eamon McAdam was perfect over the final 54 minutes to best Branden Komm. The Royals fifth-year netminder Komm has started seven straight games. Reading is 3-4-0-0 in those contests and Komm has allowed 18 goals (2.5 goals allowed per start).

Brampton and Manchester were idle Friday and the clubs are tied for the fourth and final North Division playoff spot at 64 points. Manchester holds the tiebreaker. In the Beast's last game on Wednesday, Jake Paterson blocked 31 shots and Brampton downed Toledo at the CAA Centre, 3-1. The Beast have won three straight games.

Reading has 13 games remaining to overcome a five-point deficit and qualify for the Kelly Cup Playoffs.

The Royals return home Fri., Mar. 15 at 7:00 p.m. for Mental Health Awareness Night against Indy. Get four burgers, four sodas and four tickets for $48.

Next Home Games

Fri., Mar. 15: Mental Health Awareness Night vs. Indy at 7:00 p.m.

- 4-for-48 Family Four Pack: 4 tickets, 4 burgers and 4 sodas for $48

- Supporting mental health initiatives with the Royals

- Enter for a chance to win a 2017 Toyota Camry, courtesy of AutoRide of Reading

- Special Mental Health Awareness Jerseys

- Meet Royals players after the game at DoubleTree's Cheers! Restaurant (701 Penn St.)

Sat., Mar. 16: St. Hat Trick's Day vs. Indy at 7:00 p.m.

- Chance to win $10,000 if Royals player gets a hat trick

- Free kids ticket game: Receive 1 free kids ticket (14 and under) for every adult ticket purchased

- Ice Angels Dance Team poster giveaway and postgame autographs, pres. by Rieck's Printing

- Enter for a chance to win a 2017 Toyota Camry, courtesy of AutoRide of Reading

- Special St. Hat Trick's Day Jerseys

Fri., Mar. 22: $1 Beer Night at 7:00 p.m. vs. Newfoundland, pres. by Deibler Dental

- $1 Draft Beer

- Enter for a chance to win a 2017 Toyota Camry, courtesy of AutoRide of Reading

Chris is fifth

Chris McCarthy leads the Royals with 46 assists and 62 points. His 46 assists place him fifth in Royals single-season history for helpers in a campaign. Here is the list for most helpers in a Royals season.

1. Brad Rooney (2002-03) - 60

2. Brian McCullough (2002-03) - 59

3. Greg Mischler (2004-05) - 51

4. Ryan Cruthers (2009-10) - 49

5. Chris McCarthy (2018-19) - 46

McCarthy has already notched a personal single-season high in points. He has four assists in his last four games. McCarthy is fourth on the Royals all-time points list with 168 points, trailing Yannick Tifu (222), Olivier Labelle (256) and Ryan Cruthers (273).

March Ballers

Six Royals are at a point-per-game pace or better through Reading's four March games and Josh MacDonald leads the squad with six points (3g) since the calendar flipped. MacDonald and Adam Schmidt are best on Reading with three goals this month. Schmidt scored Wednesday at Newfoundland. Tuesday, MacDonald scored twice for the fourth time this season.

Michael Huntebrinker has two goals, four points and a plus-three rating since coming back from Lehigh Valley. He scored twice in 21 games with the Phantoms before returning to Reading 10 days ago. Frank DiChiara plays to the center Huntebrinker's left on the line with Schmidt. DiChiara has five points since joining Huntebrinker.

Scouting Brampton

The Beast swept league-best Newfoundland last weekend and defeated Toledo, 3-1 Wednesday. The recent games have helped turn around a squad that squandered third place in the North with four straight losses Feb. 18-26.

Brampton has scored 16 goals in their last their games. David Vallorani generated a hat trick Mar. 1 against the Growlers and Nathan Todd followed up the next night with his first career hat trick in a 7-5 win.

Todd (25g), Vallorani (24g) and David Pacan (23g) are in a horse race for the team lead in goals. Vallorani is the team points leader (54).

Étienne Marcoux is 15-8-3-1 with a 2.85 goals against average and .911 save percentage (29 GP). Jake Paterson has pitched a 8-12-1-0 mark, 3.18 goals against average and .904 save percentage in 23 games.

Where do we sit at 60?

The Royals have 59 points through 59 games and Reading is 25-25-4-5, putting the team on a similar pace from the 2011-12 season. That season, the Royals were one game above .500 (61 pts., 27-26-7) through 60. Over the final 12 games, the Royals surged a 9-2-1 mark to sneak into the Kelly Cup Playoffs on the final day of the regular season, winning the first tiebreaker to rank ahead of Steve Martinson's Chicago Express at 80 points.

The Royals were four points out of the final playoff spot through 60 games, trailing Florida and Cincinnati. The Cyclones occupied the 7th seed at the 60-game mark of the 2011-12 season, but Cincinnati earned 12 points in the final 12 games to fall out of their spot, allowing Reading to jump in.

Mackin signed

The Royals signed Philadelphia, PA native F Corey Mackin to an ATO (amateur tryout contract) Thursday, marking the first 2019 NCAA player to ink with Reading.

Mackin captained Ferris State each of the last two seasons and scored 10 goals in 25 points in both his junior and senior campaigns.

The Royals have five Pennsylvania natives on the squad; Mackin, Adam Schmidt (Warrington), Joe Houk (Richboro), Chris McCarthy (Collegeville) and Nick Luukko (West Chester).

Under ATO rules, players may be on the Royals roster for five games or 10 days, which ever mark is hit first. At that point, teams must either sign the player to an ECHL contract or release the player.

Head-to-Head

The Royals have not beaten Brampton in three games this season. Tyler Brown and Chris McCarthy are the lone Royals players to score against the Beast, while Josh MacDonald and Nick Luukko both recorded assists against Brampton. This two-game set will be the first time the Royals travel to Brampton this season, and will mark the second half of the Royals' first four-game road trip to Canada ever.

Former Royals player David Vallorani has scored four goals and one assist to lead the Beast in both goals and points against Reading. Vallorani scored 17 goals and 42 assists (59 points) to help the Royals win the Kelly Cup in 2013 alongside former teammate and current Royals coach Kirk MacDonald. Brandon Marino has tallied four assists against Reading. Goaltender Étienne Marcoux has won all three contents between the two teams, recording a .978 save percentage.

Check out the Reading Royals Statistics

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