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ECHL Reading Royals

It May Be A Bit Early For "Magic Numbers" But...

November 26, 2007 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


With all due respect to Conjunction Junction (which is an indisputable all-time rock classic), the vintage Schoolhouse Rock masterpiece proclaiming three as a magic number is the song out of that collection that seems to resonate most closely with "the heart and the brain and the body". It seems true that, somewhere buried deep in the ancient mystic trinity, three does become a magic number. For the Royals this season, it's really been much more simple (and certainly less mystical) than that....when the team has scored three (or more) goals-as they have in eight of the seventeen games played so far this year-they have quite simply....won. If there's been a mystery for Reading, really, it's been how to get to three. In nine of the seventeen games played this season (including two of those played this past week), the Royals scored two or less-and that number has not been very magical, mystical or effective for the Royals, as the team has compiled a record of 1-7-1 in those games. The simple answer would seem to be to create more offensive opportunities; but that hasn't worked all that well, either-at least not against the Trenton Devils who have foiled the Royals' efforts to get to three in all three games the two teams have played despite the fact that the Royals have out-shot the Devils by a total of 115 to 63 in those 3 games-including Wednesday night's 3-2 loss for the Royals in Trenton. On Friday, the Royals got to the magic number with a third period goal by Chris Blight, who in the process registered his third multi-goal game of the season (and, at the risk of mystical over-kill, for the third time this year played to a +3). But on Saturday, the Royals were held to one goal (and, as fans of Schoolhouse Rock well know, that is awful lonely number) in the team's first trip in team history to First Arena in Elmira, New York. So as we study the past and live in the present, it's hard to avoid a conclusion that, in this Lucky Season Number Seven for the Royals' organization, 'three' may hold a key to our future...."no more, no less/ you don't have to guess/when it's three you can see/It's a magic number"......

TOP TEN NOTES OF THE WEEK

1. The Royals suffered the team's third one-goal loss (2-3) of the season to the Trenton Devils last Wednesday at Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, New Jersey. The Royals, who play the Devils more than any other team in the league during the regular season (12 times), are 0-2-1 against the Trenton this year. In those three games, Reading has out-shot Trenton by a total of 115-63 (+52); but have been outscored 5-8 (-3).

2. Reading extended the team's home unbeaten streak to five games (4-0-1) with a 3-2 win over the Columbia Inferno on Friday night. The longest home unbeaten streak for the Royals in team history is nine games (9-0-0), which extended from January 2, 2004 through February 15, 2004. Last year, the Royals longest home unbeaten streak extended for five games (5-0-0) (02/21/07 - 03/02/07).

3. Chris Blight scored two goals including the third period game winner in Friday's 3-2 win over Columbia. For Blight, that marked his third multi-goal game of the season. Last season with the Toledo Storm, Blight registered five multi-goal performances in 71 games for the Storm. Blight currently leads the Royals with ten goals and fifteen points. Friday's game also marked the third game this season that Blight has played to a (+3), and he is currently playing to a team leading Plus 10.

4. Bracken Kearns scored his first goal of the season for Reading on Friday against the Inferno. Kearns also picked up an assist on Friday to register his third multipoint game of the season. Kearns, who has at least a point in six of the ten games that he has played for Reading this season, is currently riding a three game assist streak.

5. Joe Zappala and Jeff Likens each registered two assists in Friday's win over Columbia. For Zappala, that marked his third multi-point game of the year for Reading; while, for Likens, this marked his first multi-point game of the year for Reading. Last season, after completing his career at the University of Wisconsin, Likens registered three separate multi-point performances in sixteen regular season and playoff games for the Manchester Monarchs of the AHL. On Sunday, Likens was recalled to the Manchester Monarchs of the AHL and registered an assist in the Monarchs' 5-1 win over the Providence Bruins.

6. Friday's 3-2 win over Columbia marked the eighth time this season that Reading has scored three or more goals in a single game. The Royals have an 8-0-0 record in those games. In both losses for the Royals this past week, the team scored two or fewer goals. Reading has scored two or less goals in nine of the seventeen games played so far this season, and the team has a record of 1-7-1 in those games. In Saturday's loss, the Royals scored only one goal, marking the fifth time this year Reading has been held to one goal or less. The team has a record of 0-4-1 in those games. Reading averages 2.71 goals per game, which is twenty-third in the league.

7. On Saturday, Rob LaLonde scored the lone goal for Reading, while the team was playing short-handed in the first period, in the 4-1 loss to Elmira. For LaLonde, that marked his fourth goal of the year-and his first short-handed goal as a pro. That goal was also the first goal of the game, which marks the second time this season that LaLonde has scored the game's first goal. (He also scored the first goal in Reading's 2-1 win over Gwinnett on October 30).

8. The Royals 4-1 loss in Elmira on Saturday dropped the team's road record to 5-6-0. Reading has three consecutive road games this week before to returning to the Sovereign Center on Wednesday, December 5. The loss to the Jackals also dropped the Royals below .500 against teams from the North Division. In the ten games played so far this season against teams from the North, the Royals have a record of 4-5-1. After Friday's win over Columbia, the Royals have a record of 5-2-0 against teams outside the North Division this season. 53 of the remaining 55 regular season games for Reading are to be played against North Division teams.

9. Goaltender Jeff Pietrasiak played all three games for the Royals this past week, stopping 74 of the 83 shots he faced in those games (.890 save percentage). The Royals average giving up 27.18 shots against per game, which is second best in the league in that category.

10. The Royals power play has been kept off the board since the 1:57 mark of the first period of the team's 2-1 overtime loss to Trenton on November 16. Since that time, Reading's PP has gone 0-24 over a span of 240:08 in four consecutive games. Reading is 10-102 (9.8%) with the man advantage this season (25th).

CLOSING NOTES

1. Elmira's game winning goal on Saturday night was scored by Frank Littlejohn on a penalty shot at the 4:59 mark of the second period. That marked the eighth penalty shot taken against the Royals in the seven year history of the team and only the second time a shooter has scored. Last season, Jordan Cameron for the Wheeling Nailers scored on a penalty shot on Jeff Pietrasiak (02/18/07).

2. Reading's penalty kill blanked the Elmira Jackals in six chances with the man advantage on Saturday night. That snapped a streak of eleven consecutive games in which the opposition had scored at least one power play goal against the Royals' PK. The Royals lone goal on Saturday was scored by the penalty killers, marking the sixth short-handed goal of the season for Reading, which leads the league in that category. (At the risk of stating the obvious, after Saturday's game, the Royals power play has now scored just four more times that the team's penalty killers).

3. Reading scored the game's first goal in Saturday's loss to Elmira. That game marked the first time this season that Reading has scored the FG and lost in regulation. The Royals 6-1-1 when scoring the game's first goal.

4. Goaltender Jon Quick got his first start in the AHL on Saturday night in the Manchester Monarchs 5-4 overtime loss to the Portland Pirates. But as Quick showed during his time in Reading, he's a quick study. In fact, he picked up his first win in the AHL on Sunday with the Monarchs when his shutout bid was foiled with only 2:37 left in the game, as Manchester won 5-1 over first place Providence.

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