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ECHL Reading Royals

Reading Royals Weekly

January 4, 2010 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Last season, as a member of the Johnstown Chiefs, Andrew Sarauer slowly but surely started climbing his way up the -˜Royals Killer' ladder, racking up ten points (4g-6a) in seven games against Reading. So, when Andrew became available earlier in the season, the Royals took a page from the "if you can't beat -˜em, join -˜em- book and brought him on board. Since his arrival, Andrew has been an integral part of the Royals' success, often sacrificing his -˜numbers' for a consistent commit- ment to the defensive side of the puck, turning himself into a critically important two-way forward. Now, with a number of the Royals' offen- sive weapons in the AHL, Andrew has used his often deceptive speed to step up his offensive input, as well, which was certainly evident in Elmira on Saturday (2g-1a=3pts).

TOP NOTES OF THE WEEK

1. The Royals 7-1 loss to Elmira last Tuesday established the team high for goals against this season. (That marked the twenty-third time in the nine year history of the Royals that the team has given up seven or more goals in a single game.) The six goal margin of victory for Elmira was also the largest goal differential against of the year for Reading. The Royals have given up six or more goals seven times this season (three times to the Elmira Jackals) and have compiled a record 0-6-0-1 in those games. Reading's team goals against average of 3.56 is currently tied for fifteenth in the league.

2. Wednesday's 3-2 loss to Wheeling marked the third time this season that the Royals have lost back-to-back games in regulation time. Reading's 4-2 win in Elmira on Saturday snapped the two game losing streak. The Royals have not lost three games in a row to this point of the season.

3. Jimmy Fraser scored the game's first goal in the 3-2 loss to Wheeling on Wednesday. That was Fraser's first goal as a pro. That game marked only the second time this season that the Royals have lost in regulation after scoring the game's first goal. Reading has compiled a record of 12-2-1-2 when scoring first.

4. The 3-2 loss to the Nailers was also only the second time this year that the Royals have lost a game decided by one goal in regulation time. Reading has compiled a record of 12-2-1-2 in one-goal games this season.

5. The 4-2 win in Elmira on Saturday ran the Royals' road record to 11-7-1-1. The best road record in Royals' team history was established by the 2005-06 team that went 20-12-4 away from the Sovereign Center.

6. Ryan Cruthers, who had a four game point and assist streak (1g-7a=8pts) snapped in Wednesday's 3-2 loss to Wheeling, scored the game's first goal 1:43 into Saturday's win in Elmira. For Cruthers, that was his second 'first goal' of the year-he scored 1:06 into the 4-2 win over the Trenton Devils on November 27. Cruthers, who is tied for the team lead with 24 assists, has registered 32 points (8g-24a) in his last 24 games.

7. Nick St. Pierre, who scored the Royals' only goal in the 7-1 loss to Elmira on Tuesday, scored Reading's second goal while the team was on the power play in Saturday's win over Elmira. Three of St. Pierre's five goals have been against the Jackals-and two of them have been at First Arena in Elmira.

8. Andrew Sarauer scored what proved to be the game winner on Saturday in Elmira. That was Sarauer's second GWG of the season. (He also bagged the game winner in Reading's 5-2 win in Florida on November 20, 2009.) (Five different Royals now have scored two game winning goals: Sarauer, Danick Bouchard, Marc Cavosie, Charlie Kronschnabel, and Olivier Labelle.) Sarauer also assisted on Reading's first goal and bagged an empty netter with seventeen seconds left on Saturday to rack up his first multi-goal and three point performance for the Royals. (He also played to a +2 in that game). Last season with Johnstown, Sarauer had four multi-goal games-one of which came against the Royals (November 8, 2008).

9. Matt Dalton snapped a three game losing streak with his tenth win of the year in Elmira on Saturday. That game marked the fifth time this year that Dalton has held the opposition to two goals or less. In Saturday's game, Dalton faced his first ECHL penalty shot, which was awarded to Yannick Tifu at the 10:09 mark of the first period of play. Dalton stopped that penalty shot. (He also faced a penalty shot this season in his first pro game in the AHL this season. Hartford's Dale Weisse scored at the 10:31 mark of the second period in the Wolf Pack's 3-2 win.) Royals' goalies have stopped ten of the fourteen penalty shots they've seen over the nine years of team history.

10. Reading scored on the team's first power play chance on Saturday in Elmira, snapping a string of fourteen consecutive penalty kills by the Jackals against the Royals over a stretch of four games. (In the six games played against Elmira, the Royals are now 4 for 31 on the power play, a 12.9% scoring ratio). Over the last ten games, Read- ing is scoring power play goals at a 12.8% clip (5-39). Overall, Reading's PP is scoring at 15.6% ratio (28-179) (16th in the league).

11. The Royals' penalty kill kept the Jackals' power play off the board in the 7-1 loss on Tuesday (5-5), marking the thirteenth time this season that the PK has blanked the

opposition's PP. Wednesday, Wheeling scored on their only power play chance; and on Saturday, the Jackals scored their second goal on the power play (1-5). Over the last 15 games, Reading's PK has killed 63 of the 71 power play chances against, which is an 88.7% kill ratio. Overall, the team is killing at a 81.9% ratio (15th in the league).

CLOSING NOTES

1. Despite losing their last two games in the calendar year 2009, the Royals ended up with a record one game over.500 for that year: 33-32-6, which translates into a.507 win percentage. (Reading went 15-20-4 after January 1 last season).

2. On Saturday, Darren Reid (0g-2a) became the ninth player in Royals' team history to register a multi-assist game in his first game as a Royal. The last player to accomplish that feat was Ben Gordon, who racked up a pair of assists in his first game with Reading (a 4-2 win over the Wheeling Nailers on March 11, 2009). The team record for most assists in his first game as a Royal is held by Jeff Guili- ano, who bagged five assists in his first game with Reading, a 7-3 win over the Wheeling Nailers on October 11, 2002.

3. Olivier Labelle, who scored the Royals' second goal in the 3-2 loss to Wheeling on Wednesday, registered a pair of assists in Saturday's win-which included one on the game winner by Andrew Sarauer. That marked Labelle's third multi-point game in his last five played-and Labelle has had at least one point in four of those games (4g-3a=7pts).

4. Eric Werner also registered an assist on Sarauer's game winner on Saturday. Werner, who leads Reading defensemen with thirteen points (3g-10a), leads the team in plus/minus, currently playing to a plus-11 (+11). Werner has played to a plus in seven of the team's last eight games (+8).

5. Jon Quick became the first player to begin his pro career in the ECHL and be selected to the US Olympic Ice Hockey Team on New Year's Day when USA Hockey announced it's selections for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Quick, who began his pro career in Reading, played 38 games for Reading in 2007-08, compiling a record of 23-11-2-1 (2.79) (.905) with one shutout and one goal scored-in the same game (his 2nd pro game, 10/24/07 in Pensacola).

6. The Royals kick off a season long six-game home stand this Saturday when the Cincinnati Cyclones make their only trip to the Sovereign Center this season. The six games, which include a pair against the Florida Everblades and two more against the Elmira Jackals, will be played over a span of ten days.

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