ECHL Reading Royals

Reading Royals Weekly

Published on February 22, 2010 under ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Over the nine year history of the Royals in Reading, reliable constants have perhaps not been as abundant as one might like. Sometimes it seems that the only constant is change, but the one thing that has stuck through thick and thin has been the team's fans-none more dedicated and supportive than the Road Warriors, who have historically brought out the best in the team.

And that was once again in evidence on Saturday night in Elmira. Although there would be no Kirk MacDonald hattrick (like last year in Elmira) or 12-round shootout (as in Trenton a couple of years ago), the Road Warriors helped the Royals get back on track on Saturday after getting throttled by Elmira on Friday.

And even though the last second heroics came up short, it was a welcome touchstone to have the 'Adam Dance' out on the road.

TOP NOTES OF THE WEEK

1. The Royals' two losses in Elmira this past weekend extended the team's road losing streak to six games, dating back to an 8-5 loss to the South Carolina Stingrays at North Charleston Coliseum on January 22, 2010. This establishes a new team record for consecutive road losses, dating back to the Royals' inaugural season (2001-02), when Reading lost five consecutive road games (11/02/01 - 12/21/01). The Royals are currently 11-13-1-1 on the road with ten more regular season away games to go.

2. The 8-3 loss last Friday in Elmira tied the season high for goals allowed in a single game by Reading. (The team also allowed eight goals against in the loss to the Sting- rays referenced above.) This marks the ninth time in the nine year history of the Royals that the team has allowed eight or more goals against.

3. In Friday's 8-3 loss, the Royals allowed six second period goals. This ties the team record for goals allowed in a single period. Reading was also outscored 6-0 in the second period in what proved to be a 9-4 loss at the Cambria County War Memorial Arena in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, against the Chiefs on January 24, 2003.

4. Over the course of the season, the Royals have been outscored by the opposition by a total of fifteen goals in the second period on the road this year. (Through twenty- six road games, Reading has scored 21 goals and allowed 36 goals against in the second period.) Overall, the Royals are playing to a minus-17 (-17) on the road (89 goals for - 106 goals against); and a minus-7 (-7) at home (80 gf - 87 ga).

5. The Elmira Jackals fourth goal on Friday night, scored by Yannick Tifu at the 8:23 mark of the second period, which proved to be the game winner was the 2000th regu- lar season goal scored against the Royals in the nine year history of the team. (Reading is still 27 goals short of scoring the team's 2000th goal, having racked up 1973 regular season goals through the fifty-second game of the ninth season of the team.)

6. Saturday's 3-2 loss in Elmira marked the first game this season that the Royals have lost in regulation when holding a lead after one period. (Reading led 1-0 after 20 minutes on Saturday.) The team is 13-1-1-1 when leading after one period this year. That game also marked only the second this season that the Royals lost in regulation after entering the third period in a tie with the opposition. (The game was tied 1-1 after 40 minutes). Reading is 6-2-1-1 when entering the third period in a tie.

7. Ryan Cruthers continued what was a four game multi-point streak when he scored a goal (the Royals' first to tie the game at one) and picked up an assist on Friday in Elmira. That game marked Cruthers' thirteenth multi-point game of the year. Cruthers also registered an assist in Saturday's 3-2 loss to extend his personal point streak to five games (4g-7a=11pts). Cruthers currently has forty-nine points (15g-34a) in forty-three games with the Royals, which places him twentieth in the league scoring race.

8. Ben Gordon extended his personal point streak to five games (2g-4a) when he picked up an assist on the power play goal scored by Olivier Labelle at the 18:56 mark of the third period in Saturday's 8-3 loss in Elmira. Gordon's point streak was snapped in Saturday's 3-2 loss. Gordon's fifty-six points (21g-35a) in 45 games with the Royals is one point shy of the point total that he amassed in total sixty-three games with the Cincinnati Cyclones and the Royals. Gordon is currently seventh in the ECHL's scoring race.

9. Olivier Labelle returned to the Royals line-up after an eight game absence (dating back to January 23, 2010 when he sustained an injury in the Royals game against the the South Carolina Stingrays) when he was activated from the 21-Day Injured Reserve on Friday night. Labelle, who was riding a three game point streak when he went on the IR, extended that streak to four games (3g-1a) by scoring the Royals' third goal with 1:04 remaining in the game while the Royals were on the power play. That goal marked Labelle's sixth power play goal of the year, which ties him with Ben McLeod for the team lead in that category.

10. Marc Cavosie factored in both goals scored by Reading in Saturday's 3-2 loss. Cavosie, who scored a tie-breaking game winner with 1.2 seconds remaining in regula- tion against the Trenton Devils on January 18, 2010, scored with just 6.8 seconds left to make it a one-goal game. Cavosie also had a whack at one with clock ticking down after the face-off to restart play on Saturday night-but an apparent hack on the shaft of his stick left him holding half a stick and no way to jam the loose puck in.

11. The Royals scored a power play goal in each of the two games played last weekend (1-4 on Friday; and 1-6 on Saturday). Reading has scored at least one power play goal in four of the last five games the team has played. During those five games, Reading is 8 for 32 with the man advantage, which is a 25.0% scoring ratio. Out on the road this season the Royals are scoring power play goals at a 14.8% clip (21-142). Over the course of the season, the Royals have scored 46 power play goals in 281 chances with the man advantage, which is a 16.4% scoring ratio (17th in the league).

CLOSING NOTES

1. The Royals penalty killers kept the Elmira power play off the board on Saturday night (0-4), which marked the fifth time (of eleven games played) that Reading's PK has blanked the Jackals' PP. Overall, Reading has held the oppositions' power play off the board fifteen times out of the 52 games played so far this year. The Royals' PK has allowed 52 PPGA in 258 chances for the opposition, which is a 79.8% kill ratio (19th in the league).

2. Yannick Riendeau scored the Royals' second goal 1:20 into the third period in Friday's 8-3 loss in Elmira. That marked Riendeau's second goal in just his second game with the team. That goal scoring streak was snapped in Saturday's 3-2 loss to the Jackals

3. Brian Ewing scored the game's first goal while the Royals were on the power play 11:03 into the first period of Saturday's 3-2 loss in Elmira. That was Ewing's first 'first goal' as a Royal (and third of the season-he had two with the Toledo Walleye). That was Ewing's third power play goal of the year for Reading. In fact, his last three goals with team (of the six he has scored with the Royals) have been power play goals.

4. Goaltender Matt Dalton has now played in twenty-one consecutive games for the Royals. He has played in 36 of the 41 games played by Reading since he joined the team from Providence in the AHL on November 11, 2009. Dalton is currently fourth in the league in total minutes played (2118) and second in saves made (1184).

5. Goaltender Shane Davis got his first game action in the ECHL on Friday night when he played the final 3:22 of the second period. Davis made four stops on the six shots he faced during that time.

6. Of the 20 regular season games left for the Royals, ten are at home and ten are on the road. Reading has ten games left against East Division opponents; five against the North; and five against the South.

Check out the Reading Royals Statistics

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