ECHL Reading Royals

Reading Royals Weekly

Published on March 29, 2010 under ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Well, it was about this time last year that goaltenderMatt Dalton was leading his Bemidji State Beavers on a historic run from the sixteenth seed in the NCAA hockey tourna- ment to the Frozen Four. So I guess it should come as no surprise that Matt's game been elevated another notch for the Royals of late. It must be the hint of Spring (and big games) that gets Dalts going. Who knows? But last Wednesday, Matt was instrumental in winning what might considered the biggest game of the year-in Gwinnett over the Gladia- tors; and then on Friday, he became the first goaltender in Royals' history to win at North Charleston Coliseum; and on Sunday, it was another shutdown game in an SOL in Char- lotte to inch us closer to clinching a playoff spot. Now, if we can just get him a shot at TRUE spring-time hockey, no telling what he might do.

TOP NOTES OF THE WEEK

1. The Royals stretched the team's unbeaten streak to a season long five games (4-0-0-1) (and the team's winning streak to four-which tied the season long in that cate- gory) with the back-to-back victories at Gwinnett last Wednesday and South Carolina on Friday. Those wins also extended the Royals road winning streak to three games, which tied the season long in that category. Reading's 4-2 loss in Charlotte snapped each of these streaks.

2. In the last fifteen games, the Royals have compiled a record of 9-4-0-2. In the last seven games, Reading has gone 4-1-0-2. During that time span the Royals have al- lowed a total of seventeen goals against (two of which were awarded to the opposition for the shootout win). That translates into a 2.37 team goals against average, a considerable improvement over the team's GAA prior to this most recent surge (3.92). The Royals current team GAA is 3.77, which is tied for seventeenth in the league.

3. The Royals held the South Carolina Stingrays to two goals against in Friday's win in North Charleston, South Carolina, and also held the Charlotte to two goals in Sun- day's 2-1 SOL. The Royals have held the opposition to two goals or less fourteen times this year and have compiled a record of 12-0-0-2 in those games.

4. Reading scored six goals in last Wednesday's victory in Gwinnett. That marked the ninth time this season that the Royals have scored six or more goals in a game, and the team is 9-0-0-0 in those games. Reading has scored five or more goals eighteen time this year and gone 16-1-0-1 in those games.

5. Ryan Cruthers had his eight game point streak (6g-8a=14pts) snapped on Saturday night in Charlotte. He registered his fifth four point game (2g-2a) of the year for Reading in last Wednesday's 6-3 win over Gwinnett. In that game, he scored two short-handed goals and played to a plus-5 (+5). Cruthers, who leads the Royals with 48 assists and 69 points-which are career high numbers for him-has registered 31 points (10g-21a=31pts) in his last 18 games. He is currently 8th in the ECHL scoring race.

6. Ben Gordon had his six game point streak (2g-8a=10pts) snapped on Saturday in Charlotte. Gordon did register an assist on the Royals' lone goal on Sunday against the Checkers. Gordon, who leads the Royals in plus-minus (+9), has registered seventeen points (4g-13a=17pts) in his last fourteen games and is currently tied for tenth in the ECHL scoring race with 67 points (23g-44a). Gordon surpassed the 200 shot plateau (201) in Sunday's game in Charlotte.

7. Andrew Sarauer had his five game point streak (6g-4a=10pts) snapped on Sunday in Charlotte. Sarauer, who became the first Royal to score three penalty shot goals in one season on Saturday in Charlotte, leads the team with 25 goals. He is the ninth player in the nine year history of the Royals to reach the 25-goal plateau for the team. Sarauer, who currently leads the league with eight short-handed points (3 shg-5 sha = 8 shpts), has registered twenty-four points (13g-11a=24pts) in his last fifteen games. Since January 1, 2010, Sarauer has racked up forty-two points (21g-20a) in thirty-six games.

8. Stefano Giliati had his seven game point streak (4g-5a=9pts) snapped on Sunday in Charlotte-although he did score on his shootout attempt in that game (shooting second for the Royals) and has now converted on three consecutive shootout attempts and is 4-7 this year in the shootout. In Saturday's loss in Charlotte, Giliati scored his third power play goal in his last nine games with the team. (He has six power play goals on the season). That goal was also the game's first, which was his second 'first goal' of the year. Giliati has racked up thirty points (13g-17a=30pts in his last twenty-three games with the Royals.

9. Daniel Steiner scored a pair of goals-including the game winner-in Wednesday's 6-3 win over Gwinnett. That was Steiner's second multi-goal game of the year for Reading. He followed that up with a two point performance (1g-1a) in Reading's 4-2 win against South Carolina on Friday. That was Steiner's thirteenth multi-point per- formance of the year in twenty-six games with the Royals. Steiner, who has thirty-four points for the Royals, averages 1.31 points per game for Reading.

10. Aaron Brocklehurst scored his first game winner as a Royal (and second of the season) in Friday's win at the North Charleston Coliseum. He also had an assist in that game, marking his fourth multi-point performance in twenty-four games played with he Royals. That game also extended Brocklehurst's point streak to four games (2g- 4a=6pts). Although he was held off the board in the two games played this weekend in Charlotte, Brocklehurst has 13 points (5g-8a) in his last 13 games for the Royals. During the recent four game win streak for the Royals, Brocklehurst played to a total of plus-11 (+11).

11. Goaltender Matt Dalton registered his 20th and 21st wins of the year this past week. He joins Jeff Sanger, Cody Rudkowsky (twice), Barry Brust and Jon Quick as the only goaltenders in team history to win 20 or more games in a single season for the Royals. Dalton is currently riding a five game unbeaten streak for Reading (3-0-0-2). In both of his wins this week, Dalton faced more than forty shots. 16 times this year and has compiled a record of 9-6-0-1 in those games. Dalton's 21 wins is tied for fifth best in the league; he his third in minutes played (2612) and the top rookie goaltender in the league (second overall) in saves made (1455).

CLOSING NOTES

1. The Royals four game southern swing this past week completed the team's regu- lar season schedule against teams from the South Division. In the seventeen games played against teams from the South, the Royals played .500 hockey: 7-7-0-3.

2. The Royals 4-2 win at North Charleston Coliseum over the South Carolina Sting- rays marked the first time in team history that the Royals ever won in that build- ing. The Royals have compiled a record of 1-5-0-1 at the North Charleston Coli- seum.

3. The Royals scored a pair of short-handed goals (both by Ryan Cruthers) in the 6 -3 win in Gwinnett onWednesday, marking the second time this year that Read- ing has scored two SHGs in a single game. (The other time it happened was on November 11, 2009-a 6-4 loss in Johnstown.) Reading also got a short-handed goal (by Jimmy Fraser) in Saturday's win in South Carolina. The Royals have now scored a total of 14 SHGs this season, which is second to the Cincinnati Cyclones (who have scored 16). The Royals led all teams in the ECHL with 16 SHGs in 2004- 05.

4. In Saturday's loss in Charlotte, the Royals held a 2-0 lead until the Checkers rang off three consecutive second period goals to take a 3-2 lead. (That was actu- ally the second time that the Checkers did that-as they bagged three straight second period goals to take a 3-2 lead in Reading on March 18-but in that game Reading came back to tie and get to the shootout). Reading has now been out- scored in the second period on the road by a total of 16 goals (31 scored and 47 allowed). Overall, the Royals are playing to a minus-24 (-24) on the season (236 goals scored and 260 goals allowed).

5. The Royals went 3-20 out on the road this past weekend (15.0%). Overall the Royals are scoring PPG at a 16.4% clip (15th in the league).

6. Reading's penalty killers allowed 4 PPGA in 26 chances with the power play for the opposition this week (84.6% kill ratio). Overall, the Royals PK is killing at a 80.4 ratio (15th in the league).

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