ECHL Reading Royals

Reading Royals Weekly

Published on February 15, 2010 under ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


When you're used to consistently contributing on the offensive side of the ice, it has to a bit frustrating when the numbers go dry for a spell.

Even though ups-and-downs are inevitable for everyone, the frustra- tion was probably mounting a bit for

Ryan Cruthers prior to this past weekend. After a sustained offensive run for about 25 straight games, Ryan had registered only two assists over a stretch of nine games for Reading. But the switch flipped back again for him this weekend, as he racked up a total of 8 points (3g-5a), which included a four point perform- ance (and the GWG) in Saturday's whack-fest with the Trenton Devils.

But, more important than those points, Ryan's gritty edged desire on Saturday (and Sunday) was a pri- mary factor in grabbing the only points that really matter: the two for the team in the standings.

TOP NOTES OF THE WEEK

1. The Royals' 5-3 loss in Trenton last Friday extended the team's losing streak to a season high four games. That streak was snapped with the 6-5 win over the Devils on Saturday in Reading. The Royals' 5-3 win over Wheeling on Sunday marked the first time since mid-January (a span of ten games) that Reading has won back-to-back games.

2. Friday's loss also extended the Royals current road losing streak to a season long four games. The Royals have a pair of games out on the road this weekend against the Elmira Jackals. Reading has a road record of 11-11-1-1 with twelve more regular season road games to play this year.

3. Saturday's 6-5 win over the Trenton Devils was the 100th game in the nine year history for the Royals against the ECHL teams based in Trenton, New Jersey (i.e. the Titans and Devils). The Royals have compiled a record of 47-43-10 in regular season games against the teams from Trenton. Saturday's win snapped a two game losing streak for the Royals against the Devils. Reading has compiled a 9-2-0-0 record against the Devils this season with 3 more games to play against one another.

4. Sunday's 5-3 win over the Wheeling Nailers was the 300th regular season win the nine year history of ECHL hockey in Reading. The team's record through 626 regular season games played is 300-263-63, which is a win percentage of.530. Sunday's victory was also the 25th win of the year topping the total number of victories that Reading had during the 2008-09 season. The 54 points in the standings for Reading ties the total number of points the team had last season.

5. Ben Gordon scored his twentieth goal of the season in the 5-3 loss in Trenton on Friday. He is the twentieth player in team history to score twenty or more goals in a single season for Reading. (It has been done 22 times, as two players-Brad Rooney and Dany Roussin-did it twice). Gordon scored his twenty-first goal of the year on Sunday, when he bagged his third -˜first goal' of the season 9:47 into the first period. That ties the total number of goals that Gordon had in 63 ECHL games last year. (He has played 43 for the Royals this year). Gordon's two point performance on Sunday (1g-1a) was his team leading twentieth multi-point game of the season. Gordon, who is currently riding a four game point streak (2g-3a=5pts), is seventh overall in the ECHL scoring race with 55 points (21g-34a=55pts).

6. Ryan Cruthers racked up his third four point game of the year in Reading's 6-5 win over Trenton on Saturday. (He's done it three different ways for Reading this year, i.e. 1g-3a; 3g-1a; and 2g-2a, which is the way he got four points on Saturday). Cruthers first goal on Saturday snapped a nine-game goal scoring drought for him dating back to his last four point performance (3g-1a) against the Florida Everblades on January 10, 2010. Cruthers second goal on Saturday was his third game winner of the year (which is tied with Marc Cavosie and Charlie Kronschnabel for the team lead in that category).)Cruthers is currently riding a three game point (and three game multi- point) streak (3g-5a=-8pts). Cruthers has had twelve multi-point games for the Royals this year.

7. Charlie Kronschnabel scored a pair of goals, including the game winner in Sunday's 5-3 win over Wheeling. That marked the second multi-goal game of Kronschnabel's pro career. (He also scored a pair of goals in the Royals 7-3 loss to the Elmira Jackals on January 2, 2008). That was also the third multi-point game of the year for Kronschnabel who is currently riding a four game point streak (4g-2a) and has racked up ten points in his last ten games (5g-5a) with Reading.

8. Bryan Ewing broke a six game goal scoring drought when he scored the Royals' first goal (to tie the game at one) 1:55 into the second period while the Royals were on the power play in Friday's 5-3 loss to Trenton. For Ewing that was his first power play goal as a Royal. He also scored a power play goal in Saturday's 6-5 win over Trenton. That was his fifth power play goal of the season. (Three of them were with the Toledo Walleye prior to joining Reading.)

9. Andrew Sarauer scored the Royals' second goal last Friday while the team was on the power play to give the Royals their only lead of the night (at 2-1) in the second period. That marked Sarauer's first power play goal as a Royal. (He had six power play goals for the Johnstown Chiefs last season.) Sarauer also scored the Royals' third goal in Saturday's 6-5 win over the Devils to extend his personal goal scoring streak to three games. That goal scoring streak was snapped in Sunday's win, but Sarauer did register an assist on three of the Royals' five goals in that game. That marked the second three point game of the season for Sarauer, who had two goals and an assist in Reading's 4-2 win over the Elmira Jackals on January 2, 2010. Sarauer is currently riding a four game point streak (3g-4a-7pts) and has registered 18 points (9g-9a) in his last 17 games.

10. Marc Cavosie extended his scoring streak to six games (1g-7a=8pts) (and his assist streak to four games-5a) by registering a helper in Friday's loss in Trenton and a pair of assists (including one on the game winner) in Saturday's win. Those streaks were snapped in Sunday's win over Wheeling. Cavosie, who has had five multi-point games for the Royals this year, has picked up at least one point in 24 of the 31 games he's played for the Royals this season.

11. Ben McLeod scored the game's first goal in Saturday's 6-5 win over Trenton while the Royals were on the power play. That marked McLeod's first -˜first goal' of the year and his sixth power play goal-which leads all active players on the Royals' roster in that category. (Danick Bouchard had seven power play goals when he quit the team on January 11, 2010). Of his first seven goals, one was a power play goal; but McLeod's last five in a row have all come while the Royals were playing with the man advantage.

12. Yannick Riendeau became the tenth player in the nine year history of the Royals to score at least one goal and pick up an assist in his first game as a Royal. (Brian McCullough scored three goals and registered an assist in his first game with the team on October 11, 2002.) (The last player to accomplish the 1g-1a feat in his first game as a Royal was Vince Rocco on March 20, 2009.) For Riendeau, his goal at the 8:31 mark of the third period to give the Royals a 5-3 lead, was his first as a pro.

13. Matt Dalton played in all three games for the Royals last weekend, continuing a streak of nineteen consecutive games that he's played for Reading. Dalton did not start in Saturday's game, but when Andrew Engelage went down with an injury 51 seconds into the third period, Dalton came into the game, stopping 18 of the 20 shots that he saw over the final 19:09, registering the win and snapping a four game personal losing streak. On Friday night, Dalton saw 45 shots from the Trenton Devils, mark- ing the thirteenth time this year he's faced forty or more shots in a single game. Dalton had a veritable vacation in picking up his 16th win of the year on Sunday, as he 'only' faced 39 shots in the 5-3 victory. Dalton crossed over the 2000 minutes played plateau on Sunday (2001-fourth most in the league), and he is currently second in the league in total saves made at 1123.

14. The Royals scored a season high four power play goals (4-11) in Saturday's 6-5 win over the Devils. The Royals also scored a pair of power play goals on Friday against Trenton-and those two games marked the first time this year that Reading has scored more than one power play goal in back-to-back games. On Sunday, the Royals PP was held off the board for the 22nd time this season. This year, Reading is 44-271 on the power play, which is a 16.2% scoring ratio (16th in the league).

CLOSING NOTES

1. Reading's penalty killers gave up at least one power play goal against in all three games played this past week. The PK has allowed at least one PPGA in 20 of the last 23 games played by the team. Reading has allowed 47 power play goals in 247 chances for the opposition (79.4% kill ratio-19th in the league).

2. Defenseman Chris Clark was assessed with 35 penalty minutes in Sunday's win over Wheeling. He received two fighting majors, a major penalty for boarding and two game misconducts. That is the most PIMs ever assessed against a Royal in a single game. The record prior to Sunday was 32 PIMs in a single game which was held by Malcolm MacMillan (01/27/07) and David Masse (12/06/03).

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