ECHL Reading Royals

Reading Royals Weekly

Published on December 13, 2010 under ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Royal of the Week Nomination

John Scrymgeour

Here we go again...now, lest we be misin- terpreted, I want to go on record stating that I love the skill guys. They give you those 'aha' moments of amazement. They're fun to watch. They provide the flash and dash that makes you spill your beer all over yourself. And very few teams put together consistent winning strings without having a line-up composed of a certain degree of skill. But I have to admit, I prefer the bang. And that's what John Scrymgeour provided for the Royals this past weekend after (again) biding his time and waiting for an opportunity to get his shifts. Now, to be sure, John's not a slug. He's a deceptively quick skater, has excellent vision and hockey sense and-as we learned when he scored his first goal as a pro (which also proved to be the game winner in Sunday's 5-0 win over the Elmira Jackals)-he's got a bit of a wicked wrister. But, to my mind, those skills pale in comparison to a couple of more subtle character traits exhibited by young John this past week-notably, an understated, if unflappable, sense of self.....

TOP NOTES OF THE WEEK

1. After being shutout in the opening game of the week (0-4 v South Carolina) last Thursday, the Royals won two consecutive games at the Sovereign Center on Saturday (4-3 v South Carolina) and Sunday (5-0 v Elmira). The Royals are now seven games over .500 (15-8-0-0) for the first time this season. The Royals are 12-3-0-0 in the team's last fifteen games and 14-4-0-0 in the last eighteen.

2. Thursday's shutout loss to Todd Ford and his South Carolina teammates on Thursday marked the first time this season that the Royals have been held off the score- board. That was the twenty-ninth time in the team's ten year history that the Royals have been blanked by the opposition in the regular season. It is the second time a South Carolina goaltender got the better of the Royals. On March 9, 2007, Davis Parley of the Stingrays zipped the Royals (0-3) at North Charleston Coliseum.

3. In both wins this past weekend, the Royals scored the game's first goal. Reading is 11-1-0-0 when scoring first this year for a league best .917 win % in those games.

4. Devin Timberlake scored the game's first goal in Saturday's 4-3 win over South Carolina. That was his first goal as a member of the Royals. He also assisted on the game winner by Todd Perry to register his first multi-point game for Reading. Timberlake also engaged in his first fight as a pro this weekend when he tilted with Yannick Tifu in the first period of Sunday's game.

5. Despite scoring first in Saturday's 4-3 win, the Royals fell behind the Stingrays 3-2 late in the second period, but were able to come back to win. That is the sixth come- from-behind win of the season for Reading.

6. In Saturday's 4-3 win over the Stingrays, the Royals entered the third period tied with the opposition 3-3. Reading has compiled a 6-1-0-0 record when they've entered the third period tied with the opposition.

7. Todd Perry scored the third period tie-breaking game winner for the Royals on Saturday. That is Perry's second goal as a Royal in 43 total games for the team (21 last year in regular season + playoffs and 22 this season). Both of Perry's goals have been dramatic game winners. (His other came in OT against Cincinnati on November 26).

8. Goaltender Ben Scrivens registered his seventh win for Reading in Saturday's win over the Stingrays. Scrivens has won six consecutive games for the Royals. (He also won two straight for the Toronto Marlies in the AHL within that string.) The longest win streak ever for a Royal goaltender is eight straight victories set by Matt Dalton in last year's playoffs (04/12 - 05/04/10). Cody Rudkowsky holds the team's regular season record with seven straight victories (11/12 - 12/10/05). Scrivens' 2.32 goals against average is fifth best in the league. He leads the ECHL with a .934 save percentage.

9. John Scrymgeour scored his first goal as a pro-which also proved to be the game winner-in the first period of Sunday's 5-0 win over the Elmira Jackals. Scrymgeour is the tenth different Royal to register a game winning goal this season.

10. Ben Gordon scored a goal in each of the Royals two wins last weekend. Gordon has scored a goal in six of the last seven games played by the Royals. Gordon has now scored 39 goals in 91 games for Reading over the last three seasons. He is currently tied for sixth (with Greg Hogeboom and Brian McCullough) on the team's all-time goal scoring list. (Dany Roussin and Brian McCullough hold the top spot in that category with 53 goals.) Gordon is playing to a plus-15 (+15) through 23 games for the Royals, which is tied for second best in the league.

11. Goaltender Matt Dalton registered his second shutout of the season when he stopped all 27 shots he faced in Sunday's win over the Jackals. Dalton is the first Royal goaltender since Jeff Pietrasiak in the 2006-07 season to have more than one shutout in a single season. (Barry Brust had four shutouts in 2004-05 for the Royals, which is the most ever in a single season for Reading.) That was Dalton's eighth win of the year and thirti- eth regular season win as a Royal (over the past two seasons). That ties him with Brust for second all-time amongst Royals' goaltender in regular season wins. (Cody Rudkowsky won 56 regular season games over three seasons with Reading.)

CLOSING NOTES

1. Matt Caruana's goal at the 11:18 mark of the first period on Sunday against the Jackals, which gave the Royals a 2-0 lead, snapped a seven game goal scoring drought for Caruana. He currently leads the Royals with 13 goals and is tied for the team lead (with Ben Gordon) with 24 points in twenty-three games.

2. Dallas Jackson scored his first goal as a pro while the Royals were playing with the man advantage 12:37 into the first period in Sunday's win over Elmira.

3. The Royals power play was blanked in the first two games played this week, but did come through with a PPG in Sunday's win over Elmira. Reading's PP has been held off the board thirteen times this season. The Royals are 3 for their last 46 chances on the PP over a span of thirteen games. Overall, Reading is 13 for 90 on the PP, which is a 14.4% scoring ratio (14th in the league).

4. Reading's penalty killers kept the opponent's power play off the board in two of the three games played last week. The Royals' PK has blanked the opposition's PP nine times this season. Overall, Reading has allowed 21 PPGA in 119 chances for the opposition this year, which is a 82.4% kill ratio (eleventh in the league).

5. The Royals now head out on a five game road trip. The Royals are currently 7-3 -0-0 on the road this season and are riding a four game win streak in games played on the opposition's home ice. In the 2005-06 season, Reading won nine consecutive road games to establish the team record in that regard.

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ECHL Stories from December 13, 2010


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