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ECHL Reading Royals

Reading Royals Weekly: Raconteur Royale Number Twenty (02/20

February 28, 2017 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


LAST WEEK'S GAMES Wednesday February 22, 2017 v Greenville Swamp Rabbits Loss 3-5 Friday February 24, 2017 @ Adirondack Thunder Loss 2-4 Sunday February 26, 2017 v Greenville Swamp Rabbits Loss 3-6

TEAM RECORD

GP W L OTL SOL PTS WIN % GF GA STREAK Place in Standings Overall 54 31 20 1 2 65 .602 200 160 0-3-0-0 4th North Division Home 27 16 11 0 0 32 .593 104 77 0-2-0-0 Road 27 15 9 1 2 33 .611 96 83 0-1-0-0

THIS WEEK'S GAMES TUESDAY, February 28, 2017 @ Elmira Jackals First Arena - Elmira, NY (7:05 pm)* *Completion of Suspended Game From February 17* Royals Lead 2-0 with 6:07 Remaining in First Period

FRIDAY, March 3, 2017 v Manchester Monarchs Santander Arena - Reading, PA (7:00 pm)

Flyers Friday with Philadelphia Legend and Stanley Cup Champion Bob "The Hound" Kelly Reading Health System

SATURDAY, March 4, 2017 v Manchester Monarchs Santander Arena - Reading, PA (7:00 pm)

Autism Awareness Night Wall of Honor Induction of Ryan Cruthers Ryan Cruthers Bobblehead Giveaway Courtesy of Reading Health System On-Line Specialty Jersey Auction to Benefit Local Autism Causes Jersey Auction Details Available: bidpal.net/goyellow

SUNDAY, March 5, 2017 v Norfolk Admirals Santander Arena - Reading, PA (7:00 pm)

Battle of the Badges XII Reading Police - Fire v Allentown Police - Fire (at 1:30 pm) James Reimer Mini-Locker Room Giveaway Courtesy of Bethany Children's Home First 1000 Kids 16 & Younger

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

Digital Stream on iHeartRadio Rumba 1340 - Reading Deibler Dental In-Arena Broadcast - 99.3 fm Inside Santander Arena

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

Last week, the Royals sustained three consecutive losses, beginning with a 5-3 loss to the Greenville Swamp Rabbits on home ice last Wednesday. Reading then traveled to Glens Falls, New York, where the team fell to the Adirondack Thunder, 4-2, on Friday. The Royals closed out the week with a 6-3 loss to the Swamp Rabbits at Santander Arena on Sunday evening.

The Royals are currently riding a three game losing streak. This marks the fourth time this season that Reading has lost three or more straight. The season long losing streak for Reading extended for six games from November 9 through 19.

The three losses this past week dropped the Royals' record back to eleven games over .500 (31-20-1-2=65) through the three-quarter pole of the 2016-17 regular season-i.e., fifty-four games into a seventh-two game schedule, which puts the team in fourth place in the North Division of the Eastern Conference of the ECHL.

Friday's loss to the Adirondack Thunder served to knock Reading from second in the North to fourth. This marked the first time since a 6-2 win over the Elmira Jackals on January 16- a span seventeen games-that Reading was not holding onto second place in the North (and the first time the team was in fourth since December 28).

The two losses on home ice for the Royals this past week have dropped Reading's record to 2-5-0-0 in the last seven games played at Santander Arena and 16-11-0-0 on home ice this year.

Reading's 4-2 loss to the Thunder in Glens Falls last Friday served to snap a five game road winning streak for Reading-and a six game road unbeaten streak (5-0-0-1), which dated back to a 3-2 shootout loss to Adirondack on January 24. Overall, Reading has compiled a record of 15-9-1-2 in twenty-seven road games so far played.

The two losses sustained against the Greenville Swamp Rabbits dropped Reading's record to 0-4-0-0 in the four-game series against the Swamp Rabbits this season.

The Royals have now compiled a record of 4-9-0-0 against teams from the South Division.

Reading has seven more games to go against teams from the South-all against the Norfolk Admirals, beginning with the matchup this Sunday (March 5) at Santander Arena.

Friday's 4-2 loss to Adirondack was the first regulation loss sustained by the Royals at Glens Falls Civic Center this season in five games played (3-1-0-1). Reading has two more games left against Adirondack-both at Santander Arena-on March 24 and 25.

So far this season, the Royals have compiled a record of 18-10-1-1 against teams from the North Division with eleven more to go within the division, including back-to-back games against the first place Manchester Monarchs this Friday (March 3) and Saturday (March 4).

The opponent scored the game's first goal in all three games played this past week. Reading has given up the game's first goal twenty-five times this year, and has compiled a record of 9-14-0-2 in those games (and 4-8- 0-0 on home ice).

In 180 minutes of hockey this week, the Royals only led for 12:35: (i) 6:26 (at 2-1) in Friday's 4-2 loss to the Thunder; and (ii) 6:09 (at 3-2) in Sunday's 6-3 loss to Greenville.

Reading trailed the opposition for 122:13 in the three games played this past week. (The games were tied for a total of 45:12).

Since Reading held a lead (albeit for a rather short period of time) in the losses on both Friday and Sunday, those are technically "blown lead losses". The Royals have sustained thirteen BLLs (i.e. games in which the team held a lead at some point, but did not claim the two points) over the course of the season.

Reading allowed five or more goals against in two of the three games played this past week and were outscored 15 - 8 collectively in those games.

Over the course of the season, Reading has been touched up for five or more goals against twelve times (2-10-0-0). Six of those games have come in the last eleven played, during which Reading has given up a total of forty-one goals against- which is a 3.72 goals against average.

In the twenty-seven games prior to the eleven noted above, Reading allowed just 58 total goals against, which is a 2.15 team goals against average during that span. The team compiled a record of 20-6-0-1 in those games.

In the first sixteen games of the season, Reading allowed a total of 61 goals against (3.81 team goals against average), and the team went 6-8-1-1 in those games.

The Royals entered Sunday's game against Greenville with the leading team save percentage in the Eastern Conference at .910, which was second in the league only to the Allen Americans, who had a team save percentage of .916 at that time.

In the three games played this past week, the Royals team save percentage (not counting the two empty net goals that were scored on the team) was .854 (76 saves on 89 shots).

Entering Sunday's game against the Swamp Rabbits, the Royals had the sixth best shooting percentage in the league at 11.3%. In that game, Reading generated a season high 52 shots on goal-23 of which were taken in the first period (also a team season high for shots in a single period). Considering the three goals scored by the Royals in that game, the team's shooting percentage factored out to 5.8% on Sunday.

After being held off the board in the losses on Wednesday and Friday, Reading's power play struck 9:46 into Sunday's game to give the Royals the lone lead the team would have in that game at 3-2. Nonetheless in the last nine games, Reading's power play has gone just 4 for 35, which translates into an 11.4% scoring ratio during that time span.

Entering Friday's game against the Adirondack Thunder, the Royals were the second least penalized team in the league, averaging just 10.85 penalty minutes per game. Prior to that game, Reading had only faced a total of 183 power play chances for the opposition in the 52 games played, which was an average of 3.52 PP chances per game.

In Friday's game, Adirondack was awarded six power play chances and scored on their fifth chance with the man advantage on a heavily disputed goal which appeared to be batted in with a high stick. That goal, which proved to be the third period tie-breaking game winner (with just 9:46 left in regulation), snapped a streak of seven straight games-and twenty-nine consecutive kills-in which Reading did not allow a power play goal against.

Going into Sunday's game against the Swamp Rabbits at Santander Arena, the Royals had only allowed three power play goals against in the sixty-one prior chances on the man advantage for the opposition over the past twenty home games, which was a 95.1% kill ratio on home ice during that time span.

However, on Sunday, the Swamp Rabbits were awarded seven power play opportunities and scored on three of them- two coming within a span of thirty-three seconds late in the second period, the first of which tied the game at three and the second of which proved to be the game winner (which was scored on an 'unsportsmanlike conduct' minor assessed against Derik Johnson immediately after Greenville had scored their first power play goal to tie the game).

That marked the first time this season that Reading has allowed more than two power play goals against-and the last time the team did that was on November 13 in the 7-6 loss to the Atlanta Gladiators.

Greenville's first goal scored against the Royals on Sunday was notched while the Royals were playing with the man advantage 3:28 into the first period. That was only the third short-handed goal given up by Reading this year, which is the fewest allowed in the league to this point of the season. All three of Reading's SHGAs this year have been scored by Greenville.

Robbie Czarnik is tied with Chris McCarthy (who has been on recall to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms for seven games-eight if you include the 'suspended game' against Elmira) for the team scoring lead with forty- seven points (19g-28a) in forty-nine games played.

Czarnik, who picked up an assist on Reading's second goal on Sunday (by Mike Marcou) to snap a two game streak without a point, has eight points (2g-6a) in his last seven games played (including the 'suspended game').

Czarnik leads Reading with 168 shots on goal.

Justin Crandall, who played plus-1 (+1) in Sunday's loss, leads the Royals in plus-minus at plus-24 (+24).

Olivier Labelle snapped a six game streak without a goal when he notched the team's first in Sunday's 6-3 loss to Greenville.

That was Labelle's eighteenth of the season-and his team all-time career leading 119th goal (119g-122a$1 pts, 559 PIMs) in 276 career completed games with the team.

Labelle is on track to become the all-time team leader in games played with 279 on Saturday when the Royals face the Manchester Monarchs and induct Ryan Cruthers, the team's all-time leading scorer (87g-186a'3pts) and the current all- time leader in games played with 278, into the team's Wall of Honor.

Ryan Penny, who scored the Royals' second goal twenty-one seconds into the third period to give Reading a 2-1 lead over the Adirondack Thunder on Friday, has four goals (and five points) in his last seven played (including the 'suspended game').

Matt Willows assisted on both goals scored by Reading in Adirondack on Friday to register his sixth multi-point performance in his twenty-eighth complete game with the Royals this season.

Defenseman Florian Iberer, who tied his personal season high with seven shots on goal on Sunday against Greenville, is riding a three-game assist streak (0g-3a). Iberer is currently eighth in scoring amongst defensemen in the ECHL with thirty-six points (8g-28a) in fifty-two completed games.

Ian Watters recorded his first multi-goal game as a Royal when he scored back-to-back goals in the second period in last Wednesday's 5-3 loss to Greenville. Watters then scored Reading's first goal (to tie the game at one) 4:23 into the second period while the Royals were playing short-handed in Adirondack on Friday. That was his seventh goal of the season-and his second SHG. That goal extended his personal point streak to five games (3g-3a=6pts), which was snapped on Sunday.

For Watters, Sunday's game against Greenville was his 181st completed game as a Royal (18g-54a=72pts, 198 PIMs), which is fifth all-time-ten behind Bryant Molle (191) for fourth.

Mike Pereira registered his fifth multi-point performance of the season in Sunday's 6-3 loss to Greenville (1g-1a).

Since returning to action after a twenty-one game absence due to injury, Pereira has recorded eight points (5g-3a) in ten games played (including the 'suspended game').

Defenseman Jesper Pettersson recorded his third multi- point game of the year (1g-1a) last Wednesday against Greenville. His goal in that game had drawn Reading within one for the second time in the game (at 4-3) 6:23 into the third period.

Defenseman Derik Johnson, who was assessed with a team season game high twenty-two penalty minutes on Sunday (which included a ten minute misconduct and a game misconduct), has recorded an assist in each of his last two games, both coming on the first goal registered by Reading on Friday (by Ian Watters) and Sunday (by Olivier Labelle).

Defenseman Todd Perry played in his 174th career game as a Royal on Sunday (8g-38aFpts, 227 PIMs), which is seventh all- time-two behind Reagan Rome.

Defenseman Mike Marcou scored the Royals' second goal on Sunday to tie the game at two 8:28 into the second period of play.

That was the first goal for Marcou since October 28-a 3-2 shootout loss to the Idaho Steelheads, which was a span of forty- eight games (although he was out due to injury for thirty of those games). Marcou generated a personal season best seven shots on goal in Sunday's game.

Goaltender Martin Ouellette was the goaltender of record in all three losses for Reading this past week. On Wednesday against Greenville, he came on in substitution of Mark Dekanich, who started and played the first period, allowing three goals on seventeen shots. But the lone goal scored on Ouellette (who played the final two periods) in that game did prove to be the game winner, which left him as the goalie of record.

Collectively this week, Ouellette stopped 62 of 72 shots he faced this week, which was a .861 save percentage. His goals against average for the week was 3.85.

Overall, in twenty-five appearances for the Royals this season, Ouellette has compiled a record of 12-10-0-1 with a 2.78 goals against average (tenth best in the league) and .907 save percentage.

Goaltender Mark Dekanich started and played the first period of last Wednesday's 5-3 loss to Greenville. He made fourteen saves on seventeen shots and was not the goaltender of record. In twenty-eight appearances for Reading this season, Dekanich has compiled a 14-10-1-1 record with a 3.01 goals against average and a .909 save percentage with one shutout.

LAST WEEK'S TRANSACTIONS 02/24/17 Add Travis Jeke (d) Asserted Successful Waiver Claim (Added to Roster) Delete Maxim Lamarche (d) Placed on ECHL Reserve List

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