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ECHL Reading Royals

Reading Royals Weekly: Raconteur Royale Number Nine

December 12, 2016 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Week Nine (December 12, 2016)

LAST WEEK'S GAMES Friday December 9, 2016 v Indy Fuel Win 8-2 Saturday December 10, 2016 v Indy Fuel Win 3-1

TEAM RECORD

GP W L OTL SOL PTS WIN % GF GA STREAK Place in Standings Overall 24 14 8 1 1 30 .625 85 74 8-0-1-0 3rd North Division Home 9 6 3 0 0 12 .667 41 29 5-0-0-0 Road 15 8 5 1 1 18 .600 44 45 3-0-1-0

THIS WEEK'S GAMES

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15 @ GREENVILLE SWAMP RABBITS Bon Secours Wellness Arena - Greenville, SC (7:00 pm Eastern)

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16 @ GREENVILLE SWAMP RABBITS Bon Secours Wellness Arena - Greenville, SC (7:00 pm Eastern)

Broadcast: Broadcast Begins 30 Minutes Prior to Opening Face-Off With Pre-Game Warm-Up Show

Digital Stream on iHeartRadio Rumba 1340 - Reading

Road Games Only: BCTV Telecast in Berks County, PA (Comcast Reading Cable Channel 15, Service Electric Cable Channel 19, Comcast Southern Berks Channel 965)

Pay-Per-View Streaming Video at ECHL.TV Weekly Notes

This past week, the Royals returned home and continued the team's recent winning ways, defeating the Indy Fuel in both ends of a two-game weekend set, 8-2 on Friday and 3-1 on Saturday.

Reading is currently riding a season-long eight game winning streak and nine game unbeaten streak (8-0-1-0), which began with a 4-3 overtime loss to the Manchester Monarchs in Manchester, New Hampshire on November 19.

The current eight game win streak is the longest string of victories put together for Reading since the team record twelve consecutive wins notched in the 2014-15 season (January 17 through February 11, 2015). (The team actually went fourteen games in a row during that stretch without a loss: 13-0-1-0).

This marks the seventh time in the sixteen year history of the team that the Royals have won eight or more games in a row. Six of those streaks have come during the tenure of Head Coach Larry Courville.

The only one that did not was in 2004-05, when the Royals won nine straight in regulation time from November 7 through November 20, 2004.

All of the wins in the current streak have come in regulation time. This is only the fourth time in team history that Reading has won eight or more in a row in regulation time.

After the back-to-back wins at Santander Arena this past weekend, the Royals are riding a season-long five-game home win streak (5-0-0-0).

This week, Reading returns to the road with a pair of games against the Greenville Swamp Rabbits in Greenville, South Carolina. The team is riding a three-game win streak and four-game unbeaten streak on the road (3-0-1-0).

This week's wins pushed the Royals record to a season-best six games over .500 (14-8-1-1=30) through the first one-third of the regular season, which places the team in third place in the North Division.

Indy was the first team that the Royals have faced this season from the Central Division of the Western Conference. Reading has three more games this year against teams from the Central: (i) one against the Fort Wayne Komets at Santander Arena on January 28; and (ii) two against the Toledo Walleye at Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio, on February 1 and 3.

Overall, Reading has played eight games so far against teams from the Western Conference and has compiled a record of 6-1-0-1 in those games.

This week, the Royals play a pair against the Greenville Swamp Rabbits who are in the South Division of the Eastern Conference. So far, the Royals have gone 4-2-0-0 against teams from the South with fourteen more to play against teams from that Division.

During Reading's eight game win streak, eight different players have scored the game winning goal.

This week, it was defenseman Florian Iberer who scored the GWG in Friday's 8-2 win over Indy; and defenseman Mike Boivin who bagged the game winner in Saturday's 3-1 victory.

Iberer and Boivin join Jesper Pettersson, Justin Crandall, Tyrell Goulbourne, Ian Watters, Mike Pelech and Olivier Labelle as notching a GWG during the streak.

The Royals have now won fourteen total games and twelve different players have scored a GWG for the team, as only Mike Pereira (3) has scored more than one.

Reading had to overcome deficits in order to win both games this past week. The Royals have now recorded eight come-from- behind wins this season.

The first four come-back wins for Reading this year were all on the road; the most recent four come-backs have all come consecutively in the last four games played on home ice.

On Friday, Reading's offense exploded for a season-high eight goals. That marked the fourteenth time in team history that the Royals have scored eight or more goals-and the first time the team accomplished that feat since an 8-3 win over the Elmira Jackals on October 28, 2015.

The Royals have now scored a total of 85 goals, which translates into a 3.54 team goals per game average- ninth best in the league.

Three of the goals scored on Friday came in the third period.

Reading has now scored a league-leading total of 37 goals in the third period.

The Royals' plus-16 goal differential in the third period (37-21) also leads the league.

Seven different players scored during Friday's 8-2 win-with only Chris McCarthy scoring more than one.

Fifteen of the sixteen skaters for Reading in the team's victory on Friday registered at least one point-and five players recorded multi-point performances: (i) Chris McCarthy (2g-1a); (ii) Mike Pereira (1g-1a); (iii) Matt Willows (1g-1a); (iv) Michael Boivin (0g-2a); and (v) Robbie Czarnik (0g-2a).

Fourteen skaters also played to a plus in Friday's win with Chris McCarthy, Derik Johnson, Tyrell Goubourne and Michael Boivin leading the way at plus-3 (+3).

On Friday, the Royals generated a season-high forty-three shots on goal.

That marked the fourth time this year that Reading has generated forty or more shots in a single game. The team has gone 2-2-0-0 in those games.

Overall, Reading averages 32.38 shots per game-11th best in the league.

Saturday's 3-1 win marked the third time in a span of the last four played that the Royals have held the opposition to just one goal.

Over the course of the eight game win streak, Reading has outscored the opposition 33-13 (+20).

During the current win streak, Reading has averaged just 1.63 goals against. In the sixteen games prior to this recent streak of success, Reading's allowed 61 goals against, which translated into a 3.81 team goals against average.

Reading's first goal on Friday (which tied the game at one) was scored while the team was playing with the man advantage. That extended the team's streak of scoring at least one power play goal in the game to five.

Although that streak was snapped in Saturday's win (0-2), the Royals have scored at least one power play goal in six of the eight games played during the win streak, going 7 - 25 on the PP in that stretch (28.0%).

Overall, Reading is scoring PPGs at a 21.4% clip (18-84), which is sixth best in the league.

The Royals' penalty killers knocked off all three power play chances awarded to the Fuel in the two games this past week.

Reading's PK has blanked the opposition's power play eight times this season-and seven of those games have come in the team's last ten played.

Dating back eleven games ago, Reading's PK has killed 29 of the last 32 power play chances for the opponent, which is a 90.6% kill ratio.

Chris McCarthy tied the team-season-high by recording three points (2g-1a) in Friday's 8-2 win. That was his team-leading fifth multi-point performance of the season.

McCarthy, who also scored the Royals' first goal-the organization's Teddy Bear Toss Goal-in Saturday's 3-1 win, is currently riding a seven game point streak (4g-5a). There have only been four games of the twenty-one that he's played for Reading in which he has not registered at least one point.

McCarthy, who leads the Royals with twenty-four points (11g-13a) in twenty-one games, is currently tied eighteenth in the ECHL scoring race.

Playing in his 251st game as a Royal on Friday, Olivier Labelle, who has thirteen points (6g-7a) in his last thirteen games, recorded an assist on the Royals first goal (by Ryan Penny) while Reading was playing with the man advantage.

That was Labelle's eleventh power play point (6g-5a) of the season, which is second most in the league.

Labelle's assist on Friday was also his 222nd point as a Royal, which tied him with Yannick Tifu (84g- 134a=222pts in 245 games) as the team's second leading scorer all time.

On Saturday, Labelle recorded an assist on the organization's Teddy Bear Toss Goal (by Chris McCarthy) for his twenty-second point of the year (11g-11a), which is second most on the team, and his 223rd point (second most all time) as a Royal.

Mike Pereira, who recorded his fourth multi-point game (1g-1a) of the year in Friday's 8-2 win, has four points in his last four games (2g-2a). He leads the Royals with 70 shots on goal.

Steven Swavely, who re-joined the Royals on Friday after missing eight games while on recall to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the American Hockey League, registered an assist on a delayed-penalty sixth-attacker goal (Reading's fourth) in the 8-2 win that night and bagged the empty net goal to ice Saturday's win.

Swavely, who has had at least a point in thirteen of the sixteen games he's played with the Royals, is currently tied eleventh in scoring amongst rookies in the ECHL with fifteen points (6g-9a).

Swavely was recalled to Lehigh Valley on Sunday.

Ryan Penny scored Reading's first goal (to tie the game at one) while the team was playing on the power play 8:52 into the first period on Friday. For Penny, who has seven points in his last eight games (2g-5a), that was his second power play goal of the year.

Defenseman Florian Iberer snapped a nine game goal scoring drought when he bagged the Royals' third goal-the game winner-in Friday's 8-2 victory.

Iberer, who leads all defensemen on the Royals with fourteen points (4g-10a), is tied fourteenth amongst defensemen in the league in scoring.

Second year forward Matt Willows, who joined the Royals on Friday, promptly became the thirty-fourth player in team history to record a multi-point performance (1g-1a) in his first game with the team, when he scored the team's fifth goal virtually on the buzzer at the end of the second period and registered an assist on Mike Pereira's goal (the team's seventh) that night.

Robbie Czarnik registered his first multi-point game of the year (0g-2a) on Friday when he picked up the primary assists on the game winning goal by Florian Iberer, as well as the team's seventh goal (by Mike Pereira)

Justin Crandall, who is riding a four game point streak (1g-4a), registered his second multi-point game of the year (0g-2a), when he picked up assists on the first two goals scored by Reading in Saturday's 3-1 win.

Defenseman Michael Boivin, who is riding a three game point streak (1g-3a), picked up his fourth multi-point performance (0g- 2a) of the year (in only thirteen games with Reading) in Friday's 8-2 win.

Boivin scored his first game winning goal as a Royal when he notched the second period tie-breaker in Saturday's 3-1 win.

Boivin, who has twelve points (2g-10a) in thirteen games with Reading, had his second plus-three (+3) game of the year on Friday and is playing to a collective plus-seven (+7) for the Royals.

Defenseman Nick Luukko, who picked up the primary assist on Reading's sixth goal (by Tyrell Goulbourne) on Friday, leads all defensemen on the team with six goals, which is tied second amongst defensemen in the league.

Luukko is tied with fellow defenseman Derik Johnson for the team lead in plus-minus at plus-nine (+9).

Matt Wilkins, who did not play in Saturday's win, recorded an assist on Reading's sixth goal (by Tyrell Goulbourne) on Friday to extend his personal point streak to five games (2g-3a).

Defenseman Derik Johnson scored his second goal of the season 17:04 into the first period while Reading was playing with a delayed-penalty sixth-attacker to give Reading a 4-2 lead on Friday.

Johnson, who also registered an assist on the game winner by Michael Boivin on Saturday, is tied with Nick Luukko for the team lead in plus-minus at plus-nine (+9). He played plus-3 (+3) in Saturday's victory and has played plus-10 (+10) in his last seven games.

Ian Watters recorded the primary assist on the empty net goal by Steven Swavely to ice Saturday's victory.

Tyrell Goulbourne, who scored Reading's sixth goal on Friday, has four points (2g-2a) in his last six games, during which he has played to a plus-seven (+7).

Defenseman Jesper Petterssson picked up the lone assist on a back-breaking goal (by Matt Willows) with about a tenth of a second remaining in the second period-to make it 5-2 Reading-in Friday's 8-2 win.

Defenseman Maxim Lamarche, who was loaned to the Royals from Lehigh Valley in the AHL on Friday, played in his first game for the team since October 21 (a span of nineteen games) that night. He played to a plus in each of the two games this past weekend and has played to a plus in four of the five games that he's played for Reading this year (collectively plus-six).

Historically, Lamarche has played ninety-two games for the Royals and has played to a collective plus-45 (+45), which is second all-time to Bryant Molle (plus-55 in 191 games).

Goaltender Mark Dekanich is riding a seven game win streak- and an eight game unbeaten streak (7-0-1-0). His ten wins (10-6- 1-1) are tied fourth in the league. His 2.80 goals against average is sixteenth best in the league. He is second in the ECHL in minutes played (1051); and he is third in saves made (518).

LAST WEEK'S TRANSACTIONS 12/07/16 Delete Zach Hall (f) Traded (along with Futures) to Allen Americans for Futures 12/08/16 Add Matt Willows (f) Loaned from San Jose Barracuda (AHL) Delete Matt Wilkins (f) Placed on ECHL Reserve List 12/09/16 Add Steven Swavely (f) Loaned from Lehigh Valley Phantoms (AHL) Add Maxim Lamarche (d) Loaned from Lehigh Valley Phantoms (AHL) Delete Kevin Sundher (f) Recalled to Lehigh Valley Phantoms (AHL) Add Matt Wilkins (f) Activated from ECHL Reserve List Delete Mike Pelech (f) Placed on ECHL Reserve List 12/11/16 Delete Steven Swavely (f) Recalled to Lehigh Valley Phantoms (AHL) Delete Maxim Lamarche (d) Recalled to Lehigh Valley Phantoms (AHL) Delete Kevin Sundher (f) Loaned from Lehigh Valley Phantoms (AHL)

End. 16 12-12

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